Unit Plan Template - University of North Texas



Perfectly Penguins Unit Plan

|Unit Author |

|First and Last Name |Jessica West |

|Author's E-mail Address |Jlw0329@unt.edu |

|Course Name(s) |CECS |

|Course Number(s) |4100 |

|Course Section(s) |008 |

|School City, State, Zip |Denton, TX 76201 |

|Instructor Name(s): |Rhonda Christensen |

|Unit Overview |

|Unit Plan Title |Perfectly Penguins |

|Curriculum-Framing Questions |

| |Essential Question |What is necessary for life? |

| |Unit Questions |What are the physical characteristics of penguins? |

| | |What do penguins eat? |

| | |Where do penguins live? |

|Unit Summary |

|This is a unit all about penguins. It covers three main topics including what penguins eat, where they live, and what their physical |

|characteristics are. The activities give students an opportunity to learn this information in a fun and interesting way, such as creating |

|penguin habitats and watching live penguins on a web cam. In addition to being an interesting way for students to learn about penguins, |

|the activities also provide an opportunity to critique what the student’s performance and what they learned. |

|Subject Area(s): |

|Reading, writing, social studies, art, music, and technology |

|Grade Level |

| K-2 | 3-5 |

|6-8 |9-12 |

|ESL |Resource |

|Gifted and Talented |Other:       |

|UQ # |Student Objective/Learning Outcome |Targeted State Standard/Benchmark |Procedures/Activities |

|1 |Students will be able to describe what a |§117.2 Art K-3 |Activity 1: |

| |penguin looks like, and explain how their| | |

| |physical characteristics help them |§126.2 Technology Applications, |Have the students go to the website and |

| |survive. They will do this by drawing a |Kindergarten-Grade 2 |watch the penguins on the web cam. Then, using the computer program "Paint," have the students |

| |picture of a penguin including certain | |draw their own picture of a penguin. They can be creative, but they must include eyes, |

| |criteria, completing a power point quiz |§110.2. English Language Arts and Reading |flippers, a beak, a tail, and feet. |

| |on penguins with 80% accuracy, and taking|K-3 | |

| |part in a penguin walk activity. In | |Activity 2: |

| |addition, the students will complete an | | |

| |activity where they will discover how | |Instructions for teacher- Create a power point quiz with 5 multiple choice questions about what |

| |emperor penguins keep their eggs warm. | |penguins use their body parts for. For example: What do penguins use their flippers for? |

| |They must participate in the activity and| |A. To swim B. To fly |

| |answer the discussion questions | |Try to include pictures of the body parts and actions. Present the quiz to the class using a |

| |afterward. | |projection system. |

| | | | |

| | | |Instructions for student- Write your answers to the quiz down on a piece of paper. Students must|

| | | |get 4 out of the 5 questions correct. |

| | | | |

| | | |Activity 3: |

| | | | |

| | | |Have a penguin walk - explain that Emperor penguins have to carry their eggs and babies on their|

| | | |feet. Have the students take off their shoes and try to walk around with an egg shaped ball of |

| | | |Play-Doh. Students must participate in the walk. |

| | | | |

| | | |Activity 4: |

| | | | |

| | | |Students will go to the website and|

| | | |follow the directions to imitate an emperor penguin keeping its egg warm. After completing the |

| | | |activity have the students write down their answers to the discussion questions on the web page.|

| | | | |

| | | |      |

|2 |Students will be able to tell you what |§126.2 Technology Applications, |Activity 1: |

| |penguins do and do not eat by circling |Kindergarten-Grade 2 | |

| |pictures of what they do eat with 75% | |Instructions for teacher- using the internet, find pictures of 4 things penguins do eat, and 4 |

| |accuracy. Students will also create a |§110.2. English Language Arts and Reading |things penguins do not eat. Copy and paste these pictures into a word document and write the |

| |brochure about penguins. They can make |K-3 |words of what they are underneath them. Print off copies and hand them to the class. |

| |it about what penguins eat, what the | | |

| |physical characteristics of penguins are,| |Instructions for the student- Look at the pictures, then circle the things that penguins do eat,|

| |where penguins live, or a combination of | |and cross out the things they don't eat. They must circle at least 3 of the right things and a |

| |all three. Students must include | |maximum of one of the wrong things. |

| |everything that is on the brochure | | |

| |rubric. | |Activity 2: |

| | | | |

| |      | |Students will use Microsoft publisher to create their own brochure about penguins. They will |

| | | |use the grading rubric to see what they need to include on it. |

|3 |The student will know what parts of the |§110.2. English Language Arts and Reading |Activity 1: |

| |world and what kind of habitats penguins |K-3 | |

| |live in. They will demonstrate this by |§113.2 Social Studies K-3 |Break the students into groups. Assign each group a continent in the Southern Hemisphere and |

| |creating songs in groups about different |§117.2 Art K-3 |have them go to the website: Have them|

| |types of penguins, including where the | |click on their continent and then click on one of the species that live there. As a group, they|

| |species they chose lives. Everyone must |§117.3 Music K-3 |are to create a song about the type of penguin they chose, being sure to include where they |

| |record their song and present it to the | |live. Show one group how to record their song on a tape recorder. Have them record their song,|

| |class. They will also complete a craft |§126.2 Technology Applications, |then have them show the next group how to use the recorder, and so on. Have all the groups |

| |project where they create their own |Kindergarten-Grade 2 |present their songs to the class. After everyone has finished, use a computer projection system|

| |penguin habitats, and work in groups on a| |to show what happens if you click on a continent only in the Northern Hemisphere. They will |

| |Penguin Expedition web quest. They must | |learn that penguins do not live in the Northern Hemisphere. |

| |complete all of the tasks and fill out | | |

| |the evaluation form afterwards. | |Activity 2: |

| | | | |

| |      | |Assign every student a penguin from the website: |

| | | | |

| | | |Have them click on their species and find out as much as they can about the habitat their |

| | | |penguin lives in. They can search for information on other websites as well if they like. Have|

| | | |the students make a representation of their penguin using clay. Give each student a 9x13 foil |

| | | |pan and have them create a habitat similar to the one their penguin lives in. They can use |

| | | |materials such as pebbles, grass, dirt, sticks, glue, cotton balls for snow, and blue sand or |

| | | |paint for water. Have them place their clay penguin in its habitat when they are finished. Set|

| | | |the habitats up around the room so everyone can go around and look at them. |

| | | | |

| | | |Activity 3: |

| | | | |

| | | |Break the students into groups and have them complete the web quest: Penguin Expedition, found |

| | | |at . After they complete all the steps and present|

| | | |to the class, make sure they fill out the evaluation form. |

| | | | |

| | | |     |

|Approximate Time Needed |

|Total time required to complete the unit: approximately ten hours. If the unit is worked on for an hour every school day, the entire unit |

|will take about two weeks to complete. |

|Prerequisite Skills |

|Skills needed include familiarity with the internet and the computer. Students need to be able to follow explanations and instructions for|

|computer programs such as “paint” and Microsoft Publisher. Students must also be able to somewhat write so it is understandable. In |

|addition, students must be able to work with others in groups. |

|Materials and Resources Required For Unit |

|Technology – Hardware |

| Camera | Laser Disk | VCR |

|Computer(s) |Printer |Video Camera |

|Digital Camera |Projection System |Video Conferencing Equip. |

|DVD Player |Scanner |Other: tape recorder and tapes      |

|Internet Connection |Television | |

| |

|Technology – Software |

| Database/Spreadsheet | Image Processing | Web Page Development |

|Desktop Publishing |Internet Web Browser |Word Processing |

|E-mail Software |Multimedia |Other:       |

|Encyclopedia on CD-ROM | | |

|Printed Materials |Handouts and quizzes created by the teacher. |

|Supplies |Pencils |

| |Play-Doh |

| |9x13 foil pans |

| |Pebbles |

| |Grass |

| |Dirt |

| |Sticks |

| |Glue |

| |Cotton balls |

| |Blue sand |

| |Paint |

| |Paint brushes |

| |Clay |

| |Poster board |

| |Markers |

| |Softballs or foam balls |

| |Large pillows |

| |Belts or rope |

|Internet Resources |Websites: |

| | |

| |This is the website of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. This page provides a live webcam |

| |featuring the penguins that live there. You can observe all the different kinds of |

| |penguins that live there, and watch them get fed twice a day. |

| | |

| |This website provides an activity for students to do where they imitate emperor penguins |

| |keeping their eggs warm. The page also provides a set of discussion questions to be |

| |completed after doing the activity. |

| | |

| |This website provides information on penguin habitats. You can click on a certain type of|

| |penguin and find out all about its habitat. |

| | |

| |This website has an entire web quest on penguins where students work in groups to map a |

| |route to areas where penguins live, create a flag to represent their expedition, and do |

| |research on penguins to create a poster that compares and contrasts two penguin species. |

| |The website provides complete instructions for the web quest. |

| | |

| |This website lets students look at a map of the world and click on a continent to learn |

| |about the penguins that live there. Students can also click on a type pf penguin and find|

| |information about it such as where it lives, what it looks like, and how it takes care of |

| |its young. |

|Others | |

|Accommodations for Differentiated Instruction |

| |Resource Student |For students who are not performing on grade level, extra time can be spent helping them |

| | |one on one with the activities to make sure they understand and complete everything. The |

| | |teacher should allot extra time to finish assignments if needed and offer extra help |

| | |before and after school. |

| | |For students with physical disabilities, such as students that are in a wheelchair or |

| | |cannot walk, alternate assignments can be given to them instead of doing the penguin walk |

| | |and egg activity. For other physical needs, differentiate instruction as is required. |

| |Gifted Student |Gifted students can be given assignments with more depth and requirements. For example, |

| | |with the brochure activity, gifted students can be given a separate rubric that requires |

| | |more information and pictures, etc… They can also be given alternate assignments that are |

| | |a little more difficult. For example, instead of doing just the penguin egg activity, in|

| | |addition they can research online how penguins have and care for their babies, and write |

| | |a paragraph or two about it. |

|Student Assessment |

|To assess the students using this unit plan, methods such as quizzes, rubrics, and completion grades will be used. |

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