8.4.3: Design a solution to monitor or mitigate the potential effects of the…
Design a solution to monitor or mitigate the potential effects of the use of natural resources. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well each solution meets the criteria and constraints of the problem.
The Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards outcome 8.4.3 (Earth and Space Sciences) for Grade 8 says: “Design a solution to monitor or mitigate the potential effects of the use of natural resources. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well each solution meets the criteria and constraints of the problem.” This Fieldbook unit teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials and a printable teacher guide and student sheet for every lesson. Official wording: Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards.
Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact Grades 5–8 · partly supports this outcome
Where the copper, cobalt, lithium, oil and sand in a phone come from and why, which energy sources refill and which do not, what real population and energy data say about people and resources, and how real towns cut their waste. Four no-materials lessons built on printed data cards, with a hopeful, evidence-first tone for Earth Day or any time.
- How can a town use less and waste less? 50–60 min
Teams act as a town council with a waste problem. They rotate around four stations describing what real places did, from Ljubljana's food-waste collection to Kamikatsu's 45 sorting bins, score each against criteria and constraints, and design a plan with a way to measure whether it works.
Printable practice for 8.4.3
These pages practise a closely related idea; the match to 8.4.3 is partial.
- Our Changing Planet: Resources and Human Impact workbook included with the unit
1 word wall, 1 English-support page, 1 practice page, 1 reading, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.
Need just this outcome? Build a custom pack from these pages, with its answer key, in about a minute. Custom packs come with All-access and school licences.
Compared with NGSS: MS-ESS3-3 (partial).
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