4 th Grade MST INQUIRY UNIT Owls, Kapoks & Oil Spills, Oh My!

1. 4th Grade MST INQUIRY UNITOwls, Kapoks & Oil Spills, Oh My! Education 7204 Khalia Booth Ramona Fabian Cecilia Gerald Hope Van Velsen

2. Owls, Kapoks & Oil Spills, Oh My!Table of Contents:

3. Standards:Major Understandings from NYS Science Core/NYC Scope & Sequence

4. Lesson Overview Lesson 1: Introduction to Living Things: What is the difference between a living thing versus a non-living thing? Activity: Students will work collaboratively to classify pictures cut out from magazines as living or non-living things. Using their observation skills, they will note the similar characteristics that define all living things. Lesson 2: Consumer versus Producer: Everyone is connected. Utilizing the book, The Wolves Are Back, students in groups, will create their own food chains/webs based on the pages from the book. Lesson 3: Seeing For Survival. How do animals use their senses to survive? Students will work collaboratively to research how the owl species uses their unique sense of sight to survive in their environments. Activity: Students will use binoculars to simulate an owl’s vision and record/draw their observations of various objects, then compare/contrast findings to their natural eyesight.

5. Lesson Overview (cont’d.) Lesson 4: The Effects of Environmental Change. Why do some plants/animals survive and reproduce, while others die or move to new locations when the environment changes? Students will participate in a demonstration that represents the impact of deforestation on praying mantises, as well as humans and soil. Lesson 5: Pollution: From Air to Sea. How do different types of pollution affect different animals? Students will participate in an oil spill experiment and put a spin on researching the effects of pollution on plants and animals by participating in a scavenger hunt on the site, Filamentality. Lesson 6: Oil Spill: Beginning to End. How do oil spills affect the food chain? Students will return to Filamentality to delve deeper into the messy facts about oil spills. Students will create an impact web to show how oil spills directly and indirectly affect the food web.

6. Lesson 3: Seeing for Survival • Motivation: Read-aloud-Animal Senses by Pamela Ackerman • Constructivist Question: How do animals use their senses to survive? • Activity: Group discussion to complete 5 Senses Graphic Organizer.

7. Lesson 3: (cont’d.) How do owls use their sense of sight to survive? Here’s a video that will give students an overview of these unique creatures! http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-pets-kids/wild-detectives-kids/wd-ep2-owls/ Students will take notes during the video and answer these questions: • Can you describe an owl’s environment? • What do they eat? • What other senses help them to survive?

8. Lesson 3 (cont’d.) Procedure: • Small group work: Students conduct internet research about owl’s unique sense of vision using article “Owl’s Eyes and Vision”. • Whole group: Students discuss their answers to worksheet questions. • Experiment: Students draw/write descriptions of various materials using their natural eyes and their “owl eyes” (binoculars). • Extension (PET Manipulative Skill): Students observe unknown objects (owl pellets). They write letters to a science with clear descriptions to help the scientist identify the object, and ask additional questions. • For fun, students can play interactive owl games here: http://www.kids-learn.org/owlprowl/interactive.htm

9. Lesson 4: The Effects of Environmental Change • Motivation: Read-aloud: The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry • Constructivist Question: Why do some plants and animals survive and reproduce, while others die or move to new locations when the environment changes? • Activity: Group discussion to complete class chart.

10. Lesson 4: (cont’d.) What will happen to the praying mantises if trees were cut off? Students will watch this video from the filementality site to learn all about these unique creatures!http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.evo.camouflage Students will take notes during the video and the accompanying activity and answer these questions: • How does this model illustrate the impact that cutting down trees has on the praying mantis population. • If trees were cut down would all the praying mantis die? What features might help some of the remaining mantises survive in a treeless environment? • What factors might be even more critical to mantis survival than lack of camouflage?

11. Lesson 4:(cont’d.) Procedure: • Small group work: Students conduct the Atmospheric Oxygen activity found in http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.oate.oxygen • Whole group: Students discuss their answers to worksheet questions. • Extension: For homework, have students explain to their families why it's so important to preserve the tropical rain forest. Ask them to brainstorm things they as a family can do to help.

12. Lesson 5: Pollution from Air to Sea • Motivation/Constructivist Question: Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt? • Activity: Students will research different types of pollution on the Filementality webpage and complete a questionnaire. Students will be able to answer the following questions: • Can you name the 4 types of pollution you learned about today? • Name 2 ways pollution affects plants. • How does air pollution affect animals in the oceans?

13. Lesson 5: (cont’d.) How do different types of pollution affect different animals? • Experiment: After a simulation of an oil spill, students use various tools and materials to see which ones are most effective in cleaning it up. • Activity: Students create charts to record data. • Pie Chart/Spreadsheet: Students use recorded data to create corresponding spreadsheets and pie charts.

14. Filementality Web Page The Global Age has produced various technological advances in society that provide us with easy access to information through communication. Virtually anything we want to know is at our fingertips, which is of particular value to the field of education. According to O’Connor-Petruso (2010), “the explosive impact of the chameleonic Internet, Web 2.0 tools, and sourceware has changed not only how we teach and learn and motivate our youth but has provided educational leaders with the opportunity to help bridge the Digital Divide as everyone with Internet access can learn Information Age skills and collaborate on the global platform.” As educators we must prepare ourselves as well as our students to become “global citizens” through the integration of technology in the classroom. Our self-created Filamentality Web Page can be used as a supplement to each of the 6 lessons within our MST Unit. It includes a hotlist of interactive sites that will give students a good overview of what to expect in the unit. It is full of interesting facts and eye-catching activities that arerelated to animals and plants in their environment, which will appeal to young learners and engage a myriad of perceptual modalities. This web page will appeal to a diverse group of learners, including those that are kinesthetic, intrapersonal, visual, and especially those that are naturalistic learners because of the subject matter. Take a look at our interactive, child-friendly Filementality Web Page! http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listanimalho.html