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Lake Ice-Out Lesson 4 - Write a Recommendation Letter

Provided by: Gulf of Maine Research Institute |Published on: August 29, 2023

Lesson Plans Grades 6-8

Synopsis

This lesson challenges students to compose a letter that presents data about ice-out day, describes the trends, and recommends future scheduling of the ice-out fishing derby based on the observed data.
A student graphic organizer, slides of the data, and sample grading rubric are included in the lesson plan.

Subjects: Science, Social Studies, English Language Arts, Mathematics

Authors: Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Region: North America, USA - Northeast, United States, Maine, Maine - Coastal

Languages: English

Positives

This lesson shows students how to be active members of their community.
This lesson reinforces the idea that evidence and reasoning are the pillars of a strong argument.

Additional Prerequisites

Students may need to zoom in to clearly read the data.
Students have to make a copy of the "Lesson 4 Graphic Organizer" in order to fill it out.

Differentiation

Teachers could craft a similar lesson where students write to state officials about combating climate change that uses both local and global data.
This lesson could fit within a larger unit on the human impacts of climate change.
To finish the lesson, the teacher could instruct students on the various ways they could communicate their recommendations to derby organizers.
Younger students may need assistance with filling in the graphic organizer and/or transferring their statements into a letter format.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format