‘Smart’ Recycling Next Generation Science Standards Alignment

Grade 3

Grade 3 students engage with the water cycle, water scarcity, and solutions like filtration systems. The content encourages scientific inquiry and observation, fostering an understanding of the interdependence of Earth’s systems.

3-ESS2-1 (Earth’s Systems)
Students learn about the water cycle, which is an essential process that maintains Earth’s potable water supply. Understanding weather patterns can help students appreciate the importance of water conservation and greentech solutions.

3-ESS3-1 (Earth and Human Activity)
Students explore greentech solutions that can help reduce the negative impacts of droughts or floods, which may affect the availability and distribution of potable water.

Grade 4

Fourth graders explore the water cycle’s impact on Earth’s systems and engage in hands-on engineering by designing water filtration systems. This interdisciplinary approach integrates scientific principles and engineering practices.

4-ESS2-1 (Earth’s Systems)
Students learn about how water sources can become contaminated or depleted due to natural processes, leading to the need for greentech solutions to ensure the availability of clean drinking water.

4-ESS3-2 (Earth and Human Activity)
Students examine greentech solutions for creating and distributing potable water to minimize the negative effects of water scarcity or contamination on human populations.

Grade 5

For Grade 5, students deepen their understanding of the water cycle’s role in shaping the Earth’s surface and contribute to solving real-world problems by designing and refining water filtration systems.

5-ESS2-2 (Earth’s Systems)
Students learn about the limited availability of fresh, potable water and the need for greentech solutions to create and distribute clean drinking water to people around the world.

5-ESS3-1 (Earth and Human Activity)
Students explore real-life examples of communities using greentech solutions to create and distribute potable water, thereby protecting Earth’s resources and environment, and informing the design of their own prototypes.

5-PS1-3 (Matter and Its Interactions)
Students select materials for their water purification system prototypes, taking into account the properties of these materials (e.g., durability, effectiveness in filtering contaminants, and environmental impact).

Engineering & Design Grades 3-5

Within the realm of engineering and design, students engage in the engineering design process, identifying problems related to water scarcity and applying their understanding to design effective water filtration systems. The unit encourages creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration as students become young engineers tackling global challenges.

3-5-ETS1-1 (Engineering Design)
Students work to design a water purification system that meets specific criteria (e.g., efficiently removes contaminants, cost-effective, uses sustainable materials) while considering constraints on materials, time, or cost.

3-5-ETS1-2 (Engineering Design)
Students brainstorm different water purification system designs, compare their merits, and analyze how effectively each solution addresses the specified criteria and constraints.

3-5-ETS1-3 (Engineering Design)
Students build prototypes of their water purification systems, conduct tests to evaluate their performance, and identify areas for improvement or modification