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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 30 minutes

Actions that help or harm the environment

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.K-ESS3-3England: EYFS Understanding the World: The natural worldEngland: KS2 Y4 Living things and their habitats

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Actions that help or harm the environment.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Reduce, reuse or recycle?

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Reduce, reuse or recycle?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is this reducing, reusing or recycling: refilling a water bottle? (reduce / reuse / recycle) → reusePrompt: Reduce = use less. Reuse = use again. Recycle = make into something new.
  2. Which of these is a way to recycle? (giving outgrown clothes to a friend / putting empty cans in the recycling bin / refilling a water bottle / using a jam jar to store pencils) → putting empty cans in the recycling binPrompt: Is the item used less, used again, or turned into something new?
  3. A class drinks from paper cups and throws them away every day. Which change makes the biggest difference? (Everyone uses their own refillable bottle. / Use bigger paper cups. / Use a new cup for every sip. / Throw the cups away twice as fast.) → Everyone uses their own refillable bottle.Prompt: Which choice means fewer cups are thrown away?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Actions that help or harm the environment. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Does this help or harm the environment: picking all the wild flowers in a meadow?
  • Step 1: These actions waste resources or hurt living things.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: harms
  • Answer: harms
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Does this help or harm the environment: walking or cycling to school? (helps / harms) → helpsPrompt: Would animals, plants, water or air be better off or worse off?
  2. Turtles in the sea can get tangled in plastic bags. What is the best way to help? (Throw more bags into the sea. / Paint the turtles. / Use cloth bags and put rubbish in a bin. / Leave plastic bags on the beach.) → Use cloth bags and put rubbish in a bin.Prompt: How could we stop plastic reaching the sea?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Why does planting trees help the planet? (Trees use up all the water so nothing else can drink. / Trees make rubbish. / Trees make the air dirtier. / Trees give homes to animals and clean the air.) → Trees give homes to animals and clean the air.Prompt: Who lives in trees, and what do leaves take in from the air?
  2. True or false? Picking wild flowers helps bees. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think about animals, plants, water and air.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Reduce, reuse or recycle?.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/kindergarten.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Actions that help or harm the environment

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Does this help or harm the environment: picking all the wild flowers in a meadow?

    • A. helps
    • B. harms

  2. Question 2

    True or false? Rubbish dropped on the ground disappears by itself in a day.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  3. Question 3

    Bees are visiting fewer gardens. How can a school help?

    • A. Plant flowers that bees like.
    • B. Cut down all the flowers.
    • C. Cover the garden in concrete.
    • D. Spray the flowers with paint.

  4. Question 4

    Does this help or harm the environment: leaving lights on all night in empty rooms?

    • A. helps
    • B. harms

  5. Question 5

    True or false? Litter can harm birds and fish.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

    Why does planting trees help the planet?

    • A. Trees give homes to animals and clean the air.
    • B. Trees make the air dirtier.
    • C. Trees make rubbish.
    • D. Trees use up all the water so nothing else can drink.

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Answer key: Actions that help or harm the environment

  1. 1. B. harms

  2. 2. B. False

  3. 3. A. Plant flowers that bees like.

  4. 4. B. harms

  5. 5. A. True

  6. 6. A. Trees give homes to animals and clean the air.