5-E Integrated Subject Unit Plan
Title of Unit: Human Impacts on the Environment
Unit Planners (names): Cathy Harron & Stephanie Good
School(s) & School Division (if applicable): Warren County (Ressie Jeffries & E.
Wilson Morrison)
Grade Level: second
Unit learning focus habitats, graphing
Unit learning goal(s): Human actions effect the environment.
Standards (list)
Knowledge (Know)
Skills (Do)
Values (Be)
math 2.21
math 2.17
repeating patterns
how to convert data into
graph form
parts of a graph
read and interpret a graph
create and identify patterns
use data to create graphs
honesty
teamwork
analyze and interpret graphs
ask and answer questions
based on graphs
skip count by 5s
add and subtract basic facts
Make informed decisions
regarding the respect for
living things.
Classify objects as to whether
they are living or nonliving.
teamwork
teamwork
math 2.19
math 2.8
math 2.4a
math 2.5
science 2.5
write the tallies
number concept
living organisms are
interdependent with their
living and nonliving
surroundings
honesty
honesty
It is important to respect
and take care of that
environment and habitat in
a way that is best for
everyone and everything
that is involved.
Students will understand
that their actions and the
actions of others directly
affect the environment and
habitat of people, animals,
and plants.
science 2.5
habitats change over time due
to many influences
Construct and interpret
simple models of different
kinds of habitats (including a
forest and a stream).
Describe how animals are
dependent on their
surroundings.
science 2.5
living things are part of a
system
Describe the nonliving
components of an organism’s
surroundings, including
water, space, and shelter.
Respect for nature.
Everything works together.
science 2.1
The students will plan and
conduct simple investigations.
Develop and use an
experimental design in
scientific inquiry.
Teamwork, honesty, respect
for nature
social studies 2.7
natural resources
social studies 2.5a
continent and ocean names
Describe and identify natural
resources.
Locate the continents and
oceans.
Humans can affect natural
resources.
Being aware of the world
around you
social studies 2.6
how to hold a compass
language arts 2.9
ability to read/comprehend at
a second grade level
language arts 2.13j
what adjectives and verbs are
language arts 2.7c
what antonyms and synonyms
are
information that they’re
sharing
what nouns are
how to write sentences
language arts 2.3
language arts 2.13d
language arts 2.12
Demonstrate map skills by
constructing a compass.
Students will read and
demonstrate comprehension
of nonfiction texts.
Use adjectives correctly in
sentences.
Use knowledge of antonyms
and synonyms.
Share information orally
Using tools
Use singular and plural nouns
Student will write simple
explanations.
observation skills
communicate ideas through
writing
understand what you’re
reading
observation skills
observation skills
communication skills
Attach a Concept Map that diagrams the relationships among the disciplines. Include science
process skills and math problem-solving skills for your unit.
Type of Integration: Thematic Integration
Level or Extent of Integration Science Focus
Systems concept(s): Humans can have a positive or negative effect on ecosystems.
5E Learning Cycle Instructional Strategies for our Unit
Phase 1: Engage
Capture student attention, activate student prior knowledge, stimulate thinking, raise key questions, etc. 1
Lesson 1.

Items are groups ambiguously and students need to figure out why. They will also need to add a
personal item to the correct group and justify their choice.
Lesson 2.

The class will go outside.
Phase 2: Explore
Allow students to observe, record data, isolate variables, design and plan investigations, create graphs, interpret results,
develop hypotheses, and organize their findings.
Lesson 1.




Students will do the hands-on sort whole group
Students will do a paper sort individually with living and nonliving objects.
Students will create patterns with their living and nonliving objects.
Questions: What characteristics are the same about each group?
Lesson 2.





Students will look at mulch/blacktop/grass areas to determine what is living and nonliving in each area.
Students will record tallies for each living and nonliving object in each area.
Students will create graphs based on the tallies they made.
Students will ask and answer questions based on their graphs.
Question: Ask them to look closer at the area to see everything in it.
Phase 3: Explain
Introduce laws, models, theories, and vocabulary. Guide students toward coherent generalizations, and help students
understand and use scientific vocabulary to explain the results of their explorations
Lesson 1.


Living/Nonliving- model and real life scenarios, vocabulary poster
What do the living things have in common?
Lesson 2.


Students will review the living and nonliving posters.
Guide students to see that humans have a direct impact on their environment.
Phase 4: Elaborate/Extend
Provide students an opportunity to apply their knowledge to new domains, raise new questions, and explore new
hypotheses. May also include related problems for students to solve.
Lesson 2.

Give students an area they haven’t observed (sandbox, wooded area…). Have them predict the
amount of living things they would find there. Would there be more or less than what we found in the
grass, mulch, and blacktop?
Phase 5: Evaluate
Administer formative assessment (although checking for understanding should be done throughout the lesson)
1
Phase descriptions adapted from Eisenkraft, Arthur. “Expanding the 5 E Model.” http://www.its-about-time.com/htmls/ap/eisenkrafttst.pdf
Lesson 2.

Posttest on living and nonliving things.
Lesson
Lesson 3
time= 1 hour
SOL:
science 2.5
math 2.8, 2.17, 2.19
language arts: 2.9
social studies: 2.7
Objectives/Activities
Introduce habitats by watching “Habitats:
Homes for
Living Things” on www.discoveryeducation.com
(15 min.)
Five E stage
Engage
Discuss different habitats- show pictures of each
and talk about key features. What type of
animals would fit into each habitat? Why do
they belong there? What resources do they
need to survive?
Explore
Explain
Read Animals Building Homes in Journey’s
(second grade, story number 6). (Published by
Pearson)
Explain
Pass out the animal sort paper and habitat
graph. Students should cut apart the animals
and sort them into their correct habitat on the
graph. Have them come up with other animals
they could put into each category on the graph.
Spot check it to see if it’s correct. Ask questions
based on the graph that they have to answer.
Explore
Elaborate
Evaluate


Lesson 4
time= 1 hour
SOL:
science 2.5
math 2.8, 2.19
language arts 2.3,
2.13j
Differentiation: Struggling students can be
given a graph/animals that they separate
into land and water habitats.
Other students will have a graph containing a
variety of habitats/animals.
Talk about different types of animals that were
sorted on the habitat graph yesterday. What
adaptations do they have to make them belong
in that habitat?
Explain
Bring in an animal (or have a student bring in a
Engage
pet). Have students observe it, listing adjectives Explore
and making notes about its appearance. Discuss Elaborate
how these features are adaptations to help them
survive. Talk about animal’s characteristics that
will be on their game cards in the next activity.
Tape a card on the back of each kid with a
different animal’s name on it. Have students
partner up and try to act out the animal on their
partner’s back. They cannot use words. Tell
Engage
Explore
Explain
Evaluate
them to only use verbs. After both have made
guesses have a class discussion about the
adaptations that they acted out.

Lesson 5
time= 30 minutes
SOL:
science 2.5
Lesson 6
time= 1 hour
SOL:
science 2.5
social studies: 2.5a,
2.6
Differentiation: Assign students to certain
partners based on ability. Animals on cards
will range in difficulty. Teacher can read the
animal name to students who can’t read
well.
Introduce camouflage. Have different colors of
construction paper ripped into little pieces in
baggies. Give each student a different color
4”x4” piece of construction paper and a bag of
ripped pieces. Lay the small pieces on the big
piece. Talk about which pieces are easiest to
see. If the pieces were bugs and you were an
animal that ate them, which ones would you
eat? Why?
Engage
Explore
Explain
Discuss what would happen if the environment
changed. (ex: What would happen to the arctic
hare if it didn’t snow one year?...)
Elaborate
Introduce hibernation. Watch Brain Pop Jr.
“Hibernation” video. Take the quiz afterwards.
Students should write their answers on their
whiteboards and hold it up to check for
understanding.
Engage
Evaluate
Introduce migration. Watch the Brain Pop Jr.
Engage
“Migration” video. Take the quiz afterwards.
Evaluate
Have students record and show their answers on
their whiteboards.
Look at a world map and draw the path
Explain
butterflies migrate. Discuss what continents it is
on and how long it takes to complete its journey.
Do the same with whales. Talk about cardinal
directions and which direction these animals
migrate.
Students can act out “The oak tree, the
caterpillar, and the fly catcher”.
The Pied Flycatcher (bird) spends its winter in
Africa and relies on the angle of the sun to know
what to migrate to Europe. In Europe, when the
leaves are on the oak trees there are lots of
caterpillars. The flycatcher uses the caterpillars
Engage
Explore
Evaluate
as food after its long migration. Because of
warming temperatures, the oak tree gets leaves
too early, so the caterpillars come out early too.
The flycatcher still migrates at the same time.
Now when it gets to Europe there are no
caterpillars left.
Discuss human impacts on the environment,
migration, and what adaptations the fly catcher
will have to make to survive. Also discuss what
could happen if the fly catcher cannot make any
adaptations.
Lesson 7
length= 45 minutes
SOL:
science 2.5
math 2.8, 2.17, 2.19
language arts 2.12
Discuss how people affect habitats.
Explain
Do the “Ethi-Thinking” activity on p.303 of
Project Wild.
Engage
Explore
Elaborate
End by having students share their ways to help
the environment.
Evaluate
Give posttest.
Evaluate
Select at least 2 of the lessons outlined in your unit plan and develop a full lesson plan for
each.
5-E Integrated Subject Lesson Plan
Title of Lesson: Living and Nonliving
Lesson Planners (names): Cathy Harron & Stephanie Good
School(s) & School Division (if applicable): Ressie Jeffries & E. Wilson Morrison (Warren County)
Grade Level: second
Lesson specific Science & Math SOL Students will classify living and nonliving things and will be able to create
and explain individual mathematical patterns and begin to understand that living things and their environment
should be treated with respect.
Standards (list)
Knowledge (Know)
Skills (Do)
Values (Be)
Math
repeating patterns
create living and nonliving honesty
2.21 students will
patterns
create and identify
patterns
Science
2.5
what living and nonliving
means
distinguish characteristics
of living things
teamwork, honesty
Level or Extent of Integration for this lesson (Mathematics Specific, Mathematics Focus, Balanced Math &
Science, Science Focus, Science Specific):
Instructional time: 1 hour
Materials needed: a number of objects (mixture of living and nonliving), blank paper, magazines, vocabulary
poster paper, pencil, crayons, scissors, glue
Web resources used (if any; Give urls): none
Advance preparation needed: find about 10 objects (some living and some nonliving), tell students to bring in
one item from home for this lesson
Formative assessment(s): The students will correctly sort the living and nonliving pictures, as well
as create patterns with the pictures.
Lesson Description (step-by-step teaching procedure):
1. Give pretest on animal environments and student survey.
2. Divide the objects you’ve chosen in the front of the classroom into living and nonliving groups. Have
students brainstorm with each other to figure out why you’ve divided the groups this way. After
they’ve determined how they think the groups are separated, they can one at a time add their item to
the correct group. The class will give thumbs up or down to show if they think they’re right or not. (If
the class disagrees, ask for reasoning for both sides.) Have a group discussion to figure out a definition
of the word “living” and what makes something living or nonliving.
3. Give students a paper to fold in half. Write the words living and nonliving on the board and have them
copy one to each side of their paper. Give students magazines. They are to cut out 5 living and 5
nonliving items. Have them sort and place the pictures on the correct side of their paper. (For
students who struggle with writing, give them the prelabeled living/nonliving paper and have them
trace the words. Cut out pictures for them to sort.)
4. Spot check the sorts to assess for understanding. When all the sorts are correct, have students place
their pictures in a pattern. (ex. ABABA, ABBA ABBA…) Students will glue these patterns on the back of
their sort paper.
5. Have students share the pattern they created with the class. The rest of the class will decide what the
pattern is.
6. Conclude with anchoring the vocabulary in their minds. Put students in groups of 2-4 people and have
them fill out the vocabulary poster for the word living. The poster includes the definition, a picture,
examples or synonyms, and nonexamples or antonyms.
7. Have students share their poster. Be sure to point out the definition of nonliving when they get to the
antonym section of living.
Differentiation Strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
 Some students will fold a blank paper in half and label it living and nonliving, while others will be given
a prelabeled paper and trace the words living and nonliving.
 Some students will be given premade sorts, while other students will need to find objects in a
magazine to do their sort with.
Attach Worksheets &/or Hand-outs:
Homework Assigned (and applicable worksheets):
no homework assigned for this lesson
5-E Integrated Subject Lesson Plan
Title of Lesson: Living and Nonliving in the Real World
Lesson Planners (names): Cathy Harron & Stephanie Good
School(s) & School Division (if applicable): Ressie Jeffries & E. Wilson Morrison (Warrant County)
Grade Level: second
Lesson specific Science & Math SOL (or other standards covered). Describe desired gains in
Knowledge/Skills/Behaviors for each, where applicable). These are your specific Learning Objectives for the
lesson.
Standards (list)
Knowledge (Know)
Skills (Do)
Values (Be)
Math
tallies
make tally marks for living teamwork, honesty
2.17 construct a
and nonliving things
graph
how to read a graph
2.19 read a graph
translate tally marks to a
2.8 ask and answer
bar graph
questions based on
graphs
ask and answer questions
based on a bar graph
Science
2.5
meaning of living and
nonliving
identify living and
nonliving objects in
different areas
understand that humans
effect the number of
living objects in an area,
respect for nature
science
2.1
The students will plan and
conduct simple
investigations.
Develop and use an
experimental design in
scientific inquiry.
Teamwork, honesty,
respect for nature
Level or Extent of Integration for this lesson: Science Focus
Instructional time: 1.5 hours
Materials needed: 1 meter square areas in mulch, blacktop, and grass; pencil, living/nonliving tally paper,
graph paper; completed living/nonliving posters from the previous day, crayons
Web resources used (if any; Give urls):
Advance preparation needed: teacher will need to mark off 1 meter square areas in the mulch, blacktop, and
grass
Formative assessment(s): Formative assessment- students can correctly identify living and
nonliving things and translate that to tallies; students translate the tallies they’ve made to
correctly fill out their graph; students can correctly answer questions based on their graph
Lesson Description (step-by-step teaching procedure):
1. Discuss yesterday’s definitions of living and nonliving. Look at the posters students made the day
before to remind them.
2. Divide the class into 3 groups. One group will visit the mulch section, one group will visit the grass
section, and one will visit the blacktop section. Give students 5-10 minutes at each station before
rotating them.
3. During each station students will tally the living and nonliving objects found in their section. Students
will also draw/write what was found in each station.
4. Come back together as a class and discuss what was found in each section. Discuss why one section
had more living things in than another. Try to get them to talk about human’s impact on the
environment and what that means for animal/plant life. Keep tallies on the whiteboard for students
who didn’t complete their chart to use to graph.
5. Pass out the blank graph form and discuss how it’s set up and the different parts of the graph. Have
students translate the tallies on their chart to the bar graph.
6. Ask why some student’s graphs look different than other student’s.
7. Using only the graph, ask students questions like “How many more living things were found in the grass
than nonliving things?” Have students make up one question to ask a partner about their graph.
8. Have students get into small groups. Say a different environment (such as a sandbox or a wooded
area). Have students brainstorm in groups what kinds of living and nonliving things they would find
there. Have them predict if there would be more or less than what they found in the mulch, the grass,
and on the blacktop. Talk about why they thought this.
9. Give the posttest on living/nonliving things.
Differentiation Strategies to meet diverse learner needs:
 Students who weren’t able to complete their own tally charts will use the data the class brings
together and the teacher writes on the board.
 Some graphs have the parts labeled while others have blanks for students to label themselves.
 Roles can be assigned in each group- some people to observe, some to record tallies, some to draw the
pictures or write the words.
Attach Worksheets &/or Hand-outs:
Homework Assigned (and applicable worksheets): no homework assigned
Name _________________________________
Student Survey
Circle every vocabulary word that you used with science:
Living non-living, graphing, habitats, chair, environment,
patterns, migration, tally, calendar, human impact,
lemonade, skip counting, adaptations, bar graph, hibernation,
migration, camera, song
Circle every vocabulary word that you used with math:
Living non-living, graphing, habitats, chair, environment,
patterns, migration, tally, calendar, human impact,
lemonade, skip counting, adaptations, bar graph, hibernation,
migration, camera, song
Were there any words that you circled in both science and
math?
Name _____________________________________
Animal Environment Pre/Posttest
1. Water, soil, and air are
a. Living things
b. Non-living things
c. Plants
d. Systems
2. Plants and animals are
a. Living things
b. Non-living things
c. Plants
d. Systems
3. What do animals and people need for habitats?
a. Food, water, and clothes
b. Food, water, shelter, and space
c. Other animals, berries, and caves
d. Caves, trees, forests, and dirt
4. When a bear grows a thick coat of fur and fat and falls into a deep sleep for the winter
this is called
a. Migration
b. Habitat
c. Hibernation
d. Camouflage
5. The snowshoe hare changes its coat to match the seasons. In the winter it has white fur
and in the summer it has brown fur. This adaptation is called
a. Migration
b. Habitat
c. Hibernation
d. Camouflage
6. Monarch butterflies migrate every year in the fall. What is one reason they migrate?
a. To see a new place
b. To escape predators that might eat them
c. To go somewhere warmer for the winter
d. They like to fly long distances
7. The bald eagle is our national bird. They live in high cliffs or rocks. A rock is a
__________________ shelter.
a. Living
b. Non-living
8. The Cardinal is our state bird. The Cardinal lives in trees. A tree is a
________________________ shelter.
a. Living
b. Non-living
9. The Pied Flycatcher migrates from Africa to Europe in the summer. How has the
temperature changed to affect this birds’ ability to survive?
a. The temperature hasn’t changed, everything is the same
b. The temperature has frozen all the leaves off of the trees
c. The temperature has gotten colder and all the caterpillars have died
d. The temperature has gotten warmer and all the caterpillars have turned to
butterflies
10.Write a sentence telling one way you can help the environment.
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
NAME: __________________________________________
REFLECTION/SUMMARY:
Even though we were at two different schools, our data was very similar. When we gave the pretest, more
than 50% of our classes showed no knowledge of the subject matter. When we gave the posttest, more than
90% of both classes understood the subject matter 80% or better.
We also gave a survey on the integration of math and science to see if students understood that. What we
found was that it was very difficult for seven year olds to know the difference between subjects. They had no
prior concepts formed in their minds of “this is math because it is numbers, or this is reading because it is a
book”. Both classes did, however, show that more students circled more words on the “this is math AND
science” part after we had done our lesson than before.
Students were very much engaged in the activities we did. In the future we will predetermine the areas to lay
the hula-hoops and give strict instructions not to move them on their own. We also considered placing
additional objects in the circles so that students in the blacktop area were occupied as long as the students in
the grass area.
Throughout the year both of us continued to integrate math and science. We also tried to tie in reading and
even social studies as much as possible. We worked the content areas into our reading groups whenever we
could.
This was a wonderful workshop and we learned valuable skills that will help us and all of the students we
teach in the future!