Appalachian State University



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An Ecosystem Unit Using Mindtools

The following is a list of science goals touched on with this series of activities:

Competency Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals.

Objectives

1.01 Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment).

1.02 Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem:

• Producers.

• Consumers.

• Decomposers

1.04 Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature, and soil composition in an ecosystem’s capacity to support life.

After studying various features of ecosystems, students will work in cooperative groups to research a selected ecosystem in depth. This assignment addresses objective 1.01 specifically.

For the project students will be given an ecosystem (such as desert) and a list of specific locations of the ecosystem. (ex: Mojave Desert, (North America); Saharan Desert (Africa); Gibson Desert (Australia); Atacama Desert (South America))

Each member of the group will collect information about his/her ecosystem location under the following fields: average rainfall, range of temperatures, abiotic factors, and the biotic factors of producer and consumers.

(Knowledge Construction Tool- gathering information to create presentations, teach classmates, and inform 1st graders)

Students will collect information from library books, encyclopedias, and websites such as , , and .

(Semantic Organization Tool-organizing data to be analyzed, compared, and also studied for relationships)

Using a Microsoft Access database, students will organize data according to the given fields.

This information will be gathered for multiple purposes. One purpose for the research will be to become experts on their ecosystems in order to “teach” the rest of the class about it. Students will do this by creating a visual that displays their researched information with pictures drawn or retrieved from another source. One additional feature for the visual will be a requirement of a food chain that is specific to that ecosystem.

The visual will look something like this:

This is an example of a food chain. Students will be required to have specific names of animals and plants whenever possible, and will also include drawings or pictures.

Ecosystem: Desert Specific Location of Food Chain: Mohave Desert in North America

Is a predator of the Eats mostly

(Conversation Tool- sharing information with audience)

Another purpose will be for students to become experts in order to provide data to a partner class of 1st grade students. Donna Byrd-Wyatt’s group of 1st grade students will be learning about plant and animals in their natural environments. Their class will develop questions throughout her unit of study and post them on a blog. My students will answer their questions with the knowledge they have gained and also find answers to questions they don’t know. In addition, my students will share their food chain diagrams with her class through email attachments. Another way they could share would be to send photo stories like the example in the blog.

These opportunities to share motivate students and give them a purpose to learn and write about their learning.

An example of a blog entry:

(password is mountaineers)

Mrs. Byrd-Wyatt’s students might ask a question like:

What kinds of animals live in the desert?

My students would respond with information like:

In the desert there are animals that have special qualities that allow them to live in such dry climates. Two examples of animals in the desert are a kit fox and kangaroo rats.

This large project is essentially three small projects put together. Students will:

1. Locate information on assigned ecosystem and post to database. Students will use the database to compare/contrast different ecosystems as well as different locations of their own ecosystem.

(Knowledge Construction Tools, Semantic Organization Tools)

2. Create paragraphs from database information and place on an information board with food chain. Share information boards and gain knowledge from classmates’ information.

(Semantic Organization Tools, Communication Tools)

3. Communicate knowledge gained from ecosystem research with first grade students (answering questions on the blog).

(Communication Tools)

Each small project will be assessed using a rubric stating exact requirements. A small piece of each rubric will be a self assessment of participation and learning. This project also meets writing goals for students in the 5th grade. (writing to explain)

Mrs. Thomas’ Kindergarten Lesson Plans on Animals

Objectives

01. Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including:

-Structure

-Growth

-Changes

-Movement

02. Observe how animals interact with their surroundings.

03. Observe the behaviors of several common animals.

1.05 Observe the similarities of humans to other animals including:

-Basic needs

-Growth and Change

-Movement

Day 1 Make a Semantic Organizer of the basic needs of humans and animals using . Discuss the similarities such as water, food, shelter and air.

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Day 2 Make a collection of photos of children and adults that are familiar to the children. Ask “How do you think these people have changed?” and “How will they change as they grow older?” Show various baby animal pictures along with the adult picture of the animal. Ask how they have changed. Read Baby Animals (Fog City Press). Discuss how animals and humans grow and change. Students will write about one or two ways they have changed since they were a baby.

Day 3 Observe the similarities of humans and animals as they move. Brainstorm all the different ways animals move. They can fly, walk, slither, slide, crawl, swim, gallop, jump, run, etc. Have students act out the movements. Ask students “What ways can animals move that humans can not?” “What ways can animals move that humans can?” View and (Information Interpretation Tools). These are two websites that show movement of various animals. Have a bag filled with animal picture cards. Have students place these animals on a graph titled “Ways Animals Move.” Ask if some animals could be placed under more than one movement.

Day 4 Using a Visualization Tool, Kid Pix, on the computer, have students click on pencil in tool section and draw two lines from top to bottom to make three columns. Using animal stamps, have students place in correct column. The columns are 1. Fly, 2. Walk, Slither, Slide, Crawl, and 3. Swim. Some animals may be stamped in more than one section.

Day 5 Have students cut out pictures out of National Geographic. Ask them to sort them on a chart “Animals that Fly,” and “Animals That Don’t Fly.” Explain to students this is called classification.

Day 6 Brainstorm animals using a circle map (Semantic Organizer) using .

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Tell students that animals have to have a place to find food and water and they need space to live in. Animals need a home.

Ask students to draw a picture of their home and include pictures in their drawing of things they need such as a bathroom, kitchen, bed, etc.

Display pictures by making “A Gallery of Homes.”

Ask students to imagine an ant’s home, a bird’s home, their home.

Show students pictures of places that animals live such as the ocean, farm, desert, pond, Antarctic, forest and grasslands. Look at circle map and see if any animals named live in these places.

Discuss the differences and similarities of the homes. Homes are different but every animal needs a home. Home is bigger than a house. It’s like a neighborhood. For animals we can call it a habitat. People go outside their homes to get food at a store. Animals have to go outside their homes to get things they need to live.

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Facts about the Desert Ecosystem

Abiotic

Factors

Temperature

Ranges

Average

Rainfall

Food Chain

Consumers

Producers

Kit Fox

Kangaroo

Rat

Grasses and Seeds

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