Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Course: Health
Grade(s): Third Grade
Unit 6: Environment and Individual Health
Time Frame: 3 – 30 minute lessons
I Can…
Explain interrelationships between the
environment and individual health
STATE STANDARDS:
Explain interrelationships between the environment and individual health (pollution and
respiratory problems, sun and skin cancer)
Lesson 1: How Long Does Trash Last?
(Lesson 1 reproduced with permission from
www.educationworld.com, submitted by
Garey Hopkins.)
Learner Outcomes:
Students will learn how long trash remains in
the landfill.
Content:
Materials:
 Aluminum can (soda pop can)
 Banana
 Cigarette butt
 Cotton rag
 Glass bottle
 Leather boot
 Paper bag
 Plastic 8-pack ring
 Plastic jug
 Rubber sole of a leather boot
 Styrofoam cup
 Tin can (soup or vegetable can)
 Wool sock
What do all the items have in common? If your
students are too young to figure out the
answer to the question, you can share with
them that each of the items will likely end up
in a landfill one day.
Next, ask What will happen to these items when
they end up in the landfill? How long do you think
they will last there? Do they disappear,
disintegrate, or degrade immediately? Or will they
continue to take up space in the landfill? Let
students freely discuss those questions.
Draw students’ attention to the list on the
board or chart. Ask students to copy the list.
Then ask them to:
 Think on their own about how long each
of the items on the list might last when
buried in a landfill.
 Recreate the list by writing each item in
order according to how long they think it
might last in a landfill. Students should
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools
Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Lesson 1: How Long Does Trash Last?
(continued)
start their lists with the item they think
will degrade fastest and end with one that
will last the longest.
Next, arrange students into small groups.
(Groups of 4 to 5 students will work best.) Let
students share their lists and discuss what they
believe to be the correct sequence. Ask each
group to come to a consensus about the correct
order of the items.
Now it is time for the groups to share their
lists. Call on one group to share their answers
first. Have them tell you the sequence they
decided on. As they call out “sheet of paper –
number 1,” write a number 1 on the chart next
to the words sheet of paper. Do the same for the
other groups. When the activity is completed,
draw students’ attention to the discrepancies
on the chart. For example, Why did some people
include the sheet of paper before the banana? At
the conclusion of the discussion reveal to
students the best guess-timates of scientists,
who say the following is the correct sequence:
 Banana
 Paper bag
 Cotton rag
 Wool sock
 Cigarette butt
 Leather boot
 Rubber sole of the boot
 Tin can (soup or vegetable can)
 Aluminum can (soda pop can)
 Plastic 6-pack rings
 Plastic jug
 Styrofoam cup
 Glass bottle
Point out to students that conditions could
result in some items degrading more or less
quickly than the list indicates.
Now, turn the assignment back to students.
Now that they know the correct order, ask
them to brainstorm in their groups how long
(how many weeks, months, or years) each item
will last. Repeat the procedure above as
groups discuss, and then share, their best
guesses about how long items will last. Then
share scientists’ approximations listed below:
 Banana – 3 – 4 weeks
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools
Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Lesson 1: How Long Does Trash Last?
(continued)
 Paper bag – 1 month
 Cotton rag – 5 month
 Wool sock – 1 year
 Cigarette butt – 2 to 5 years
 Leather boot – 40 to 50 years
 Rubber sole (of the boot) – 50 to 80 years
 Tin can (soup or vegetable can) – 80 – 100
years
 Aluminum can (soda pop can) - 200 – 500
years
 Plastic 8-pack rings – 450 years
 Plastic jug – 1 million years
 Styrofoam cup – Unknown? Forever?
 Glass bottle – Unknown? Forever?
After you have provided students with data
about the longevity of the displayed items,
discuss the following questions: What does the
data tell you about landfills? Do items
continue to degrade and make room for new
garbage? Or will those landfills eventually fill
up? Do those trash life spans say anything to
you about the importance of recycling? Why
or why not?
Lesson 2: Humans and the Natural
Environment
(Lesson 2 adapted from David C. King, ed.
Center for War/Peace Studies, New York, NY,
Environmental Education, Interdependence:
A Concept Approach.)
Learner Outcomes:
Students will learn how humans depend on
trees, identify objects around them that are
made of wood, give examples of how trees are
used/misused, increase their awareness of the
environment.
Assessment:
Have students write a paragraph explaining
what they learned about landfills or recycling
from the activity.
Content:
1. Trees as systems: use pictures in science
texts to have children point out the
parts of the system. Ask: What other
things (or systems) does the tree system
need? (Water, soil, sun)
2. Provide pictures of different kinds of
trees, forests, aspects of the logging
industry, trees at a sawmill, and boards
in a lumberyard.
 There will be some quick answers, but
children often have difficulty
distinguishing wood from non-wood
products.
 Have the children feel, touch, and tap
wooden objects in the classroom. You
might point out that you can
sometimes tell what kind of tree was
used. (A lumber yard can give you
color cards showing the grains of
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools
Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Lesson 2: Humans and the Natural Environment (continued) different woods; two common
varieties good for contrast are oak
and pine.) Have children find objects
at home made of wood and describe
them.
3. Using pictures and/or text materials
develop a lesson to show that we
depend on trees for paper, packaging,
beauty, furniture, boxes, and oxygen.
 Needing trees for oxygen can be
developed in a science lesson. (Note:
Oxygen production through
photosynthesis may not be covered in
your science texts. You can simplify by
pointing out that all animal life,
including humans need oxygen in the
air they breathe. Plants help all living
things by producing oxygen, Your
science text is likely to have a simple
experiment to show plants making
oxygen - - usually using the water
plant called Anachris.)
 Then deal with trees as objects of
beauty. Show pictures of woods and
forests. Ask the children to imagine
themselves in the picture. What do
they see, smell, hear or feel? This can
also be used for story writing.
 Next, have them imagine the scenes if
all the trees were gone. How have
things changed without trees? Notice
if anyone asks what would happen to
the oxygen supply. If this comes up,
take time to point out that we depend
on the total air system of the whole
planet. You might ask what would
happen if there were no plants at all to
produce oxygen.
4. Supply old magazines for the children
to find pictures of ways we need trees;
use the pictures for a bulletin board
display.
5. For enrichment, use story or activity
books about trees and other plants.
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools
Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Lesson 3: Plants and People Need Space
(Lesson 3 adapted from David C. King, ed.
Center for War/Peace Studies, New York, NY,
Environmental Education, Interdependence:
A Concept Approach.)
Learner Outcomes: Students will guess how plants will grow in different conditions. Content:
1. Use a study of growing plants in pots to
illustrate the needs of plants for light,
water and space.
 Plant seeds (beans or peas) in four
different pots. Thin the sprouts in all
the pots but one, which will be used to
show the effects of crowding. This pot
should have plenty of seeds.
 Making guesses: Tell the class that pot
#1 will not be watered for a few days.
Cover pot #2 with cardboard or foil to
block out sunlight. Point out that pot
#3 is very crowded. Pot #4 will receive
normal amounts of water, light, and
space. Ask the children to guess what
each pot will look like after four days.
You might write the guesses on the
board.
 After four days, observe the
differences. (If may take longer to
show the effects of crowding.) Ask
why each of the first three pots did
poorly. What did pot #4 have that
allowed it to do better? (Light, water,
space)
2. On a field trip: Around the school or in
a field, find examples of plants that
have trouble meeting their basic needs.
 Examples: plants that aren’t receiving
enough water (perhaps too sheltered
by trees or buildings); plants that
aren’t receiving enough light (turn
over rocks or board to reveal the
feeble growth underneath); plants
that struggle for space (a plant
pushing through a crack in the
pavement; a tree that grew too close
to a building).
 Compare plants and people. Talk
about, or observe examples of
crowding (a traffic jam, or a long line
of people in a store.) Use the sample
lesson on crowding. Questions to
pose: How do people feel when
they’re crowded? Do people need
space, too?
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools
Health Grade 3 Unit 6 Lesson 3: Plants and People Need Space
(continued)
3. Have the class consider what problems
there could be over food water and
shelter. If there are examples of
crowding in the classroom or school,
like long lunch lines, talk about ways
the situation could be made better.
Grade 3 Unit 6 Health July/2012
Springfield Public Schools