ETE 335
Elementary Social Studies Lesson
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
ETE 335
Elementary Social Studies Lesson
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Chelsea Fouts
Social Studies-Geography
4th Grade
Oil Spills
ETE 335
Elementary Social Studies Lesson
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Goals:
The main goal of this unit on oil spills is for students to gain a better
understanding of where oil spills have occurred geographically, how they
occur, and how they can be prevented and cleaned up.
Objectives:
Content/Knowledge:
1.) The student will be able to describe the geographical locations of wellknown oil spills that have occurred around the world.
2.) The student will be able to describe the effects that oil spills have on
the environment/geographical location in which they occur.
Process/Skills:
1.) The student will be able to work collaboratively with partners and
small groups, as well as individually.
2.) The student will be able to stay on task and focus on the assignments
during in class work time.
Values/Dispositions:
1.) The student will be able to reflect on their personal feelings towards
the effects of oil spills on the environment.
2.) The student will be able to express their opinions about oil spill
prevention in a journal entry format.
ETE 335
Elementary Social Studies Lesson
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Rationale:
This is an important topic for students to learn about because oil spills are
a major part of geographic history, as well as present day events.
Students need to be aware of the issue of oil spills, as they are problems
that can be prevented when societies are knowledgeable about them.
Standards:
State – Illinois Common Core or Learning Standards
17.A.2a Compare the physical characteristics of places including soils, land
forms, vegetation, wildlife, climate, natural hazards
17.A.2b Use maps and other geographic representations and instruments to
gather information about people, places and environments.
17.B.2a Describe how physical and human processes shape spatial patterns
including erosion, agriculture and settlement.
17.C.2c Explain how human activity affects the environment.
National – NCSS Themes
-Knowledge and understanding of the past enable us to analyze the causes and
consequences of events and developments, and to place these in the context of
the institutions, values and beliefs of the periods in which they took place.
-The study of people, places, and environments enables us to understand the
relationship between human populations and the physical world.
Musical/Rhythmic
Musical/Rhythmic
•Activity:
•This activity is designed to introduce students to the
unit on oil spills. For this activity, students will be
shown a short clip about the effects of oil spills on
different types of birds. Students will then write a one
page journal reflection based on their thoughts on the
video and the following questions.
• What thoughts came to your mind as you
watched this video clip?
• Have you ever heard of an oil spill occurring
somewhere in the world? If so, where did it
occur/how?
• Other than birds, what other types of animals
do you think are affected by oil spills?
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•Link to Video:
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0nmgjsPy
L4&feature=fvwrel
Visual/Spatial
Visual/Spatial
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will be split into groups
of 3 and 4 and instructed to study this map of
some of the world’s largest oil spills. They will
then answer the series of questions listed below
that are based on the information on the map
(physical locations of oil spills).
• 1.) Where did the world’s largest ever oil
spill occur?
• 2.) Where did the 1988 Odyssey oil spill
occur?
• 3.) Where did the 1979 Atlantic Empress
oil spill occur?
• 4.) Which 1979 oil spill occurred in the
Gulf of Mexico?
• 5.) Which 1991 oil spill occurred in the
Atlantic Ocean?
•Resources/Materials
Needed:
•Link to Map:
•http://geology.com/articles/largest-oil-spills-map/
Body/Kinesthetic
Body/Kinesthetic
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will first work in
small groups of 3 and 4 to study and watch
the stop-motion oil spill tracker of the BP oil
spill. Students will discuss the location
(geography) of the oil spill, the rising
estimated number of gallons spilled (in
billions), environmental effects, and the
overall area of land/water that was reached
by the spill. Students will then demonstrate
the growth/spreading of the oil spill using
aluminum pie tins full of water and vegetable
oil. Using a stopwatch, they will increase the
amount of oil in the pan, simulating that of
the oil spill.
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•Link to oil spill tracker:
•http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/
01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html
•Aluminum pie tins, water, oil, paper towels,
etc.
Verbal/Linguistic
Verbal/Linguistic
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will work in pairs or
groups of three to research about the
environmental/geographical effects of oil spills.
They will be given library research time to look
through some of the pre-approved websites
below and take notes about these effects. They
will then give a brief (3-5 min.) presentation to
the class about what they have learned.
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•Links to Approved Websites:
•http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spil
ls.htm
•http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/OilSpills-Impact-on-the-Ocean.html
•http://www.amsa.gov.au/marine_environment_
protection/educational_resources_and_informa
tion/teachers/the_effects_of_oil_on_wildlife.as
p
•http://www.itopf.com/marine-spills/effects/
Interpersonal
Interpersonal
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will work with a
partner to collaboratively create a map of the
famous Exxon Valdez oil spill. Students will be
given blank maps and a website to use as a
resource to study and create a map of the
growing oil spill. Students must also include in
their maps a “timeline” of the passing days
corresponding to the spreading oil. Finally,
students must research and record the
estimated number of gallons of oil spilled.
After finishing this assignment, the maps will
be hung around the classroom for the
remainder of the oil spills unit.
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•Link to Exxon Valdez Website:
•http://www.eoearth.org/article/Exxon_Valdez_o
il_spill?topic=58075
•Print-outs of blank map
•Colored pencils/ markers, tape
Logical/Mathematical
Logical/Mathematical
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will work
independently to answer a series of
questions based on mathematical
data tables about the geographical
locations of oil spills and the amount
of oil spilled. The link provided below
will be used in correspondence to the
worksheet to answer the questions.
•Resources/Materials
Needed:
•Link to Website:
•http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resource
s/oceanography-book/oilspills.htm
•Worksheet
Intrapersonal
Intrapersonal
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will be writing a
short (1-2 pages) reflection about what they
have learned from the oil spills unit. They
must discuss the following topics in their
reflection, but are not limited to only these.
Students will be given the opportunity to
share these reflections with the class if they
choose.
• Your personal feelings/opinions
towards oil spills and their effects on
wildlife/environment
• What you believe should be done to
help prevent/stop oil spills both in the
U.S. and around the world
• Three facts that you learned about oil
spills from this unit
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•Any materials used throughout this unit may
be used to write this reflection
Naturalistic
Naturalistic
•Activity:
•For this activity, students will study the
effects of oil spills on the environment.
Students will be in larger groups (5-8
students) and will work outside. Each group
will observe one child-pool filled with water
and oil with several objects inside. The
activity is meant to simulate that of the
effects of oil spills on the environment.
Students will observe and take notes on what
they see. Students will be allowed to touch
the objects in the pools, but must wash hands
before returning to the classroom. After the
activity, the class will meet for discussion of
the observations.
•Resources/Materials Needed:
•3 or more child-pools filled with water
•3 medium-sized bottles of vegetable oil
•Feathers, sand, small tree branches, small
toy boats, etc.
ETE 335
Elementary Social Studies Lesson
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
Assessment:
I will assess how much my students have learned by
observing their individual and group presentations,
by grading their worksheets, and also by reading and
analyzing their reflections and journal entries. I will
also observe their researching and data collecting
processes to see how well they work collaboratively
with one another.
Online Resources:
http://www.delicious.com/cefouts/Geography