Animals and Plants in their Environment

Animals and Plants in their Environment Eva Leung Helena Roberson Wilberta William EDU 7204T – Advanced Pedagogy and Curriculum II Prof. O’Connor-Petruso, Spring 2011 MST Inquiry Unit Presentation

Table of Contents • Graphic Organizer – Summary of lessons • MST Lesson Plans: • Lesson #1: Plants Need Energy • Lesson #2: Let the Competition Begin • Lesson #3: The Producer and Consumer • Filamentality Self-Created Web Site

Animals and Plants in their Environment: Graphic Organizer Lesson #1 How does a plant use energy? Lesson # 6 How have humans changed the environment overtime? Lesson # 2 How do animals compete for resources? Animals and Plants in their Environment Lesson # 3 What are the roles of producers and consumers in the ecosystem?” Lesson # 5 What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? Lesson # 4 What is the role of decomposer in the ecosystem?

MST Lesson # 1: Plants Need Energy How does plant use energy? NYC Science Scope & Sequence: Inquiry Skills: Communicating - giving oral and written explanations or graphic representations of observation Process Skills: LE 6.2a,b Explore how plants manufacture food by utilizing air, water, and energy from the sun. LE 4.2b Understand that food supplies energy and materials necessary for growth and repair Behavioral Objective (s): • To define the term energy • To explain how plants manufacture food by utilizing air, water and energy from the sun in a paragraph. • To create a graphic organizer showing what give plants energy and what they need to manufacture food.

Summary of Lesson # 1 - Plants Need Energy • The lesson begins with the students looking at a picture of two plants (one wilted and the other fully blossomed) and trying to figure out what the wilted plant need to look like the blossomed one. This allows the teacher to know what prior knowledge students have about why plants need energy. • Then read the book called Living the Sunlight aloud to the students. After the read aloud, the students will define energy and discuss the three main energy sources plants need. Use the following website http://www.growingthenextgeneration.com/agrium-games/Animation/index.htmto explain how plants use the sun, air, and water to produce food to live andgrow. • To close the lesson, students will complete a graphic organizer and write a paragraph explaining how plants use each source of energy to make food and grow. • A quantifiable rubric (scale of 1-3) will be used to assess the students’ performance based on the objectives. A full score of 3 will consist of the student completing the graphic organizer, defining energy and explaining how plants use each energy source to make food.

Student Work: Graphic Organizer Energy Water Sun Air Photosynthesis Plants Growth Leaves Stem Roots

MST Lesson #2: Let the Competition Begin How do animals compete for food? Behavioral Objective (s): • To identify a Biome and some of the competitive resources • To complete a T-chart by grouping prey/predator pictures • To create bar graph showing the difference in size between preys/predators NYC Science Scope & Sequence: • Inquiry Skills:Classifying., gathering and organizing data • Process Skills: LE 6.1e Identify populations within a community that are in competition with one another for resources. • xviii. Collect and organize data, choosing the appropriate representation • xx. Compare and contrast organisms/objects/events in the living and physical environment

Summary of Lesson # 2 - Let the Competition begin The lesson begins with the students watching a short 1:40 minute video clip on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsNklFGRPHY&feature=related which shows different predators attacking their preys . Have students write what they saw in their science journals. After the video, have two students participant in a short competition for an apple to introduce how animals compete for limited resources. Then read the book called Predator vs Prey: Owl and Mouse by Mary Meinkingaloud to the students. Key terms will be defined (predator/prey). Students will explore the different biomes using http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/. The students will be asked to categorize animals as predator and prey using a T-Chart. They will also be encouraged to find a subgroup if another column was added to the T-Chart. To close the lesson, students will be given data with the average weight of the predators and preys to createa bar graph. A quantifiable rubric (scale of 1-3) will be used to assess the students’ performance based on the objectives. A full score of 3 will consist of a completed T-Chart and Bar graph and a detailed paragraph that identified one biome and a predator and prey in that biome.

Student Work: PET Manipulative – Grouping Predator Subgroup If the prey becomes a predator, what will it eat? Prey Bug Task: Group/Classify the animals to their appropriate category. Mouse Herbivore therefore, do not hunt for prey • Herbivore therefore, do not hunt for prey

Student Work: Bar Graph Task: Use the data chart below to create a bar graph Generated bar graph

MST Lesson # 3: Producer and Consumer What are the roles of producers and consumers in the ecosystem? Behavioral Objective(s): • To fill out a KWL chart about producers and consumers. • To define the terms producers and consumers and its roles in an ecosystem. • To participate and complete the scavenger hunt worksheet. NYC Science Scope & Sequence • Inquiry Skills: • Communicating - giving oral and written explanations or graphic representations of observations. • Comparing and contrasting – identifying similarities and differences between or among objects, events, data, systems, etc. • Generalizing – drawing general information, using multisensory representations. • Inferring – drawing a conclusion based on prior experiences. • Process Skills: LE 6.1a-d Classify population of organisms as producers, consumers, or decomposers by the role they serve in the ecosystem (food chain and food web).

Summary of Lesson # 3 - Producer and Consumer The lesson begins with the student filling out a KWL chart. This allows the teacher to know what prior knowledge students have about producers and consumers and what they would like to know about it. Then read the book called The Loraxby Dr. Seuss aloud to the students. After the read aloud, the students will participate in a scavenger hunt in pairs using links provided in the Filamentality website. To close the lesson, students will fill out the “what have I learned” section in their KWL chart. For homework, students will define the terms producers and consumers and its roles in an ecosystem in their science notebook. A quantifiable rubric (scale of 1-3) will be used to assess the students’ performance based on the objectives. A full score of 3 will consist of the student completing the KWL chart, providing a clear definition of producer and consumer and can identifying their roles in the environment as well as completing all the questions in the scavenger hunt.

Students Work: Scavenger Hunt Scavenger hunt questions • What are producers? • How do producers get their food? • Name two examples of producers. • What are consumers? • What are the three groups of consumers? • Who are considered the primary consumers? • Name two examples of primary consumers. • Who are considered the secondary consumers? • What is the role of the producer? • What is the role of the consumer? Answers: • Producers are organisms that make their own food. • Producers make their own food from the sun through a process called photosynthesis. • Two examples of producers are bamboo, & algae. • Animals are called consumers. This is because they cannot make their own food,; they need to consume plants and/or animals. • The three groups of consumers are: Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores • Herbivores are considered primary consumers. • Two examples of primary consumers are squirrel and elk. • The secondary consumers are carnivores. • Producers/plants take energy from sunlight and use it to make their own food. • Consumers generally carry on a process of cellular respiration which releases the energy for use for their own life functions.

Scavenger Hunt Links • http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/science_up_close/314/deploy/interface.html • http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_foodchain.html • http://www.growingthenextgeneration.com/agrium-games/Animation/index.htm • http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm • http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/producersconsumers.htm • http://info.rforests.tripod.com/biotic_factors.htm • http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html#Overview • http://www1.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=161083 • http://www.chs.k12.nf.ca/science/b3201/WebCT-Copy/units/unit1-05.htm • http://ipstube.ips.k12.in.us/video/24/Producers-and-Consumers • http://www.crickweb.co.uk/ks2science.html#foodchains

FilamentalityWebsite • In order for students to be active participants in their own learning, incorporating a Filamentality webpage is needed. It organizes and contains important hyperlinks about plants and animals in their ecosystem. This willassist students in enhancing their knowledge on the topic of their interest. • Filamentality website Link: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/fil/pages/listanimalsel1.html

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Animals and Plants in their Environment