Posted by:
Theresa Ferrer
9/11/2008 10:37:19 AM
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| Title: |
Wild Animal Science! |
| Grade Level: |
Middle School |
| Subject Area: |
Language Arts
Science
Social Studies
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| Lesson Time: |
four class periods |
| Introduction: |
What is the impact of an environment on the
survival of a population? To answer this question,
students will , by combining and juggling animal
traits, create a new animal and develop theories about the
relationship between their new animal and the environment.
This is a creative project that has no wrong answers
but which requires sufficient knowledge of an animal and
its environment. This project guides students to
form scientific estimations, conduct research, document
findings in a scientific format, write a creative article,
and design a habitat for the animal they have chosen.
But there is a twist! Half way through the
project the students juggle scientific facts with their
classmates, and the animals become fictional, altered in
fantastic ways. The process will lead students
through several exciting career experiences: animal
scientist, adventure journalist, and habitat designer. |
| Standards: |
Thinking and Reasoning Standard 1. Understands and applies
the basic principles of presenting an argument Standard 2.
Understands and applies basic principles of logic
and reasoning Standard 3. Effectively uses mental processes
that are based on identifying similarities and differences
Standard 4. Understands and applies basic principles of
hypothesis testing and scientific inquiry Standard 5.
Applies basic trouble-shooting and problem-solving
techniques Standard 6. Applies decision-making techniques
Life Sciences Standard 6. Understands relationships among
organisms and their physical environment Standard 7.
Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life
Nature of Science Standard 11. Understand the
nature of scientific knowledge Standard 12. Understands the
nature of scientific inquiry Standard 13. Understands the
scientific enterprise Language Arts Standard 1. Uses the
general skills and strategies of the writing process
Standard 4. Gathers and uses information for research
Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for
different purposes |
| Objectives: |
Students will be able to: - explain how environmental
factors impact survival of a population
- identify and
describe the effects of limiting factors on a given
population
- draw conclusions and make inferences in
oral and written responses about ideas and information
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use technical information from a variety of resources
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use various modes of writing for differing purposes
including scientific, and journalistic media
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| Resources: |
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| Materials: |
Items found in and around the student’ s home will
be used to construct a model of an animal habitat. These
might include: - cardboard
- plastic wrap
-
grass
- sticks and twigs
- small wild plants
-
paper
- glue
- markers
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| Vocabulary: |
- habitat: the type of environment in which an organism or
group normally lives or occurs
- ecosystem: a dynamic
complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and
their non-living environment, interacting as a functional
unit
- behavioral adaptations: the things organisms do
to survive; for example, bird calls and migration are
behavioral adaptations
- non-native species: species
that are not natural to the ecosystem they have been
introduced to; species that originated elsewhere
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population success: when a particular population thrives in
a particular environment or ecosystem
- mutualistic
relationship: any relationship between two species of
organisms that benefits both species; this is the
relationship most people think of when they use the word
"symbiosis”
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| Procedures: |
Activity 1: Ask the students to select a single wild
animal from a set of images that you have provided. You can
pull images from the wild animal lists on www.
wildanimalsonline. com or https://animal. discovery.
com/ . Have the students form scientific estimations
based on the appearance of the wild animal they have
chosen. Provide a list of questions such as: What does the
animal eat? Where does it sleep? What other
animals does it interact with or rely on? What type of
environment does it live in? What physical traits
does it have that help it survive in that environment? what
temperature does it prefer? Who are its predators?
Next, ask the students to research the animal they have
chosen by using the library and internet to find the real
answers to these questions. Lead an interactive discussion
about how their findings compare to their estimations. In
the discussion ask questions like: What
characteristics in the animal image that led them to make
their estimations? What they were right about?
Wrong about and what surprised them most? Also ask
them to share how they conducted their research and what
resources were the most helpful or interesting.
Homework: Use all your research findings to write an
informative article for a scientific magazine about the
wild animal you have chosen. Credit yourself in the article
as “ Dr. so-and-so, Wild Animal Scientist” or
some equally creative title. Activity 2: Have each
student swap their article with another student in the
class. Ask them to read the article silently and choose a
physical trait about the animal they have just read about
that is very dissimilar to their own animal. Ask them to
consider how the addition of this physical trait to their
own animal would change the relationship of that creature
to its environment. Have them answer the same questions
they researched previously but this time to do so using
their imagination about the fictional animal. Tell
your students that they will now design a habitat
specifically for this new animal. Allow them to
research how similar animals live and how they adapt to
their surroundings. This habitat must address all of
the answers they gave about their new animal, including
where it sleeps, where it finds food, what other animals
also live there, the climate, and where geographically it
is located. Ask your students to build a 3D model of
their habitat to illustrate their plan. Have each
student write an article for the “ local paper”
announcing the discovery of this new animal and describing
the habitat that has been built to accommodate it at the
local zoo. The article should entice people to visit the
zoo to see the new wild animal. Have the student sign the
article as “ So-and-so, Adventure Journalist”
or some equally creative title. Activity 3: Have
the students split into groups of three or four to share
their habitat models and corresponding articles. Encourage
them to ask questions and critique each other’ s
work. Allow them to make changes to both the model and the
article based on the peer feed-back. Activity 4: Have
the students present their final models and articles to a
staff member or members from the local zoo or veterinary
office. |
| Assessment: |
In this lesson plan successful learning will be determined
by evaluating the two written articles and the two
presentations. |
Enrichment
Extension Activities: |
Encourage the students to discuss their projects at home.
Create a contest doing the same project with another class
or school. |
| Teacher Reflection: |
I have not done this one yet. . . looking forward to it!
I'll update this lesson plan when we've completed the
series. |
Related
Files: |
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