ELA  /  5th Grade  /  Unit 3: Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution

Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution

Students explore how plastic pollution is choking the world’s oceans, and explore a variety of solutions for reducing plastic waste and reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean.

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ELA

Unit 3

5th Grade

Unit Summary

In this unit, students explore how plastic pollution is choking the world’s oceans. Students first learn about the history of plastic, how plastic ends up in the ocean, how plastic in the ocean impacts the ecosystem, and why it’s so hard to remove plastic from the ocean once it’s there. Students then explore a variety of solutions for reducing plastic waste and reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the ocean. Students will learn about large policy-based changes that can be made and also explore smaller voluntary actions they can take that will make a difference. Finally, students end the unit by doing a research project aimed at educating others about the dangers of plastic and its impact on the environment. 

In this informational unit, students will be challenged to explain the relationship between two or more scientific ideas, noticing how authors use description, sequence, or cause- and-effect paragraph structure to help readers notice and explain the connections between events. Students will also analyze how authors use a variety of reasons and evidence to support their points, depending on their purpose for writing the text.  

Throughout the unit, students learn how to prepare for class discussions, determining which evidence best supports a particular idea and how to elaborate on that evidence. By writing daily in response to the Target Task question, students build their writing fluency, seeing the power of writing as a tool for understanding what they are reading. Students also set the foundations for strong literary analysis and opinion writing by learning how to craft strong paragraphs and multiple-paragraph essays. 

Please Note: In October 2025, this unit and its lesson plans will be updated to reflect a round of enhancements that improve writing, language, and reading instruction.

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Texts and Materials

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Core Materials

Supporting Materials

Text Selection Rationale
All Course Materials

Assessment

The following assessments accompany Unit 3.

Content Assessment

The Content Assessment pushes students to synthesize unit content knowledge or unit essential questions in writing. The Content Assessment should be used as the primary assessment because it shows mastery of unit content knowledge and standards.

Fluency Assessment

The Fluency Assessment allows teachers to monitor students' oral reading fluency progress with a reading passage drawn from one of the unit's core texts. Find guidance for using this assessment and supporting reading fluency in Teacher Tools.

Unit Prep

Intellectual Prep

Unit Launch

Before you teach this unit, unpack the texts, themes, and core standards through our guided intellectual preparation process. Each Unit Launch includes a series of short videos, targeted readings, and opportunities for action planning to ensure you're prepared to support every student.

Essential Questions

  • Why do we have a plastic pollution problem? 
  • How is plastic pollution hurting the world’s oceans? 
  • What steps can be taken to lessen the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean?

Reading Focus Areas

  • Authors use description, sequence, or cause and effect paragraph and sentence structure to help readers notice and explain connections between ideas.

  • Authors use a variety of reasons and evidence to support their points. The type of evidence an author uses depends on the author’s purpose.

Writing Focus Areas

Opinion Writing

  • Write strong topic sentences that clearly state an opinion or answer the question.

  • Logically group details and reasons to support the opinion.

  • Identify and elaborate on details and reasons that support the opinion.

  • Use coordinating conjunctions to explain supporting details.

  • Provide concluding sentences or statements.

Writing Focus Areas

Informational Writing

  • Generate strong questions and use reliable sources when starting a research project.

  • Determine which details are the most important and best support the main point.

  • Use details to create topic sentences and coherent paragraphs.

  • Elaborate on reasons by providing more facts and details.

Speaking and Listening Focus Areas

  • Prepare for discussion.

  • Elaborate to support ideas. Provide evidence or examples to justify and defend a point clearly.

  • Use specific vocabulary. Use vocabulary that is specific to the subject and task to clarify and share their thoughts.

Vocabulary

Text-based

affordableartificialastoundingbiodegradabilitybiodegradationbiodegradeconveniencedecomposerdiscardeddisposabledramaticemanatefinitefragmentgrotesqueincentiveintriguedmechanismmicroplasticmoldableplasticrelentlesssynthetictragic

Root/Affix

-able-less-tionbio-de-micro-

To see all the vocabulary for Unit 3, view our 5th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.

Supporting All Students

In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the intellectual preparation protocol and the Unit Launch to determine which support students will need. To learn more, visit the Supporting All Students Teacher Tool.

Lesson Map

Common Core Standards

Core Standards

L.5.1
L.5.2.a
L.5.2.e
L.5.3
L.5.3.a
L.5.3.b
L.5.4.c
RI.5.3
RI.5.8
RI.5.9
SL.5.1
SL.5.4
SL.5.5
SL.5.6
W.5.1
W.5.1.a
W.5.1.b
W.5.2
W.5.2.a
W.5.2.b
W.5.2.e
W.5.5
W.5.6
W.5.7
W.5.8
W.5.9

Supporting Standards

L.5.1.a
L.5.2
L.5.4
L.5.4.b
L.5.5
L.5.6
RF.5.3
RF.5.4
RI.5.1
RI.5.4
RI.5.7
RI.5.10
W.5.4
W.5.9.b
W.5.10

Read Next

Protecting the Earth: Plastic Pollution
Lesson 1
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