· Subject Area: Science
· Grade Level: 3rd Grade
· Date: March 24, 2017
· Class Demographics/Description: 8 years old; 12 boys & 8 girls; 3 Asian, 3 Hispanics, 2 Caucasian, 12 African Americans; 1 Spanish ELLs, 1 Mandarin Chinese ELL; 4 IEPs, 3 ADHD and 1 visually impaired student
Alignment
· This lesson plan is tittled “Food chains/ Food Webs”, this lesson explores the ecosystem and introduces the hierarchy of the food chains. Students will be able to distinguishing the differences between the animals that are prey or predators including the different plants in the ecosystem. Also this lesson plan will focus on the students writing skills. There are a variety of lessons that will allow students to have the opportunity to do either hands on written activities or a chance to be more creative.. Lastly, with this lesson there will be the use of technology that will be developmentally appropriate for students to do on their own.
Standards
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
NAEYC:
Key elements of Standard 4:Standard 4. Using Developmentally Effective Approaches to Connect with Children
4b: Knowing and understanding effective strategies and tools for early education
4d: Reflecting on their own practice to promote positive outcomes for each child
Standard 5. Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum
5a: Understanding content knowledge and resources in academic disciplines
5b: Knowing and using the central concepts, inquiry tools, and structures of content areas or academic discipline.
Part Two
Learning Objectives
ABCD Format: After completing the lesson Animals in the food chains/ biome, students will be able to answer questions with 90% accuracy on the post-test. The post test would be given for the students to have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have learned new facts about the topic presented. In this lesson plan the post test would be students demonstrating their knowledge by completing the “food chain quiz” attracted to this lesson plan.
(A) Audience = A third grade science class of eight year olds.
(B) Behavior = Students that are respectful, and well behaved. Students will be attentive to the instructions and follow all directions given. As well as participate in the classroom activity.
(C) Conditions = After completing the unit, students will finish the unit understanding the topic, animals in the food chain, and take the quiz for understanding the topic.
(D) Degree = 90% correct (Instructional Design and Learning Theory, 1998) Students must have 90% correct on the activity. Students will demonstrate their knowledge by participating in the classroom activities. Students have a variety of activities that should be completed, individually and some while working with their peers.While students complete these activities this will show the level of comprehension about the topic.
Students will learn about the different animals and their place in the food chain. Also, students will be able to gain knowledge of the animals, students will define different organism, classify and distinguish organism and their place on the food chain, or which biome it could be found in. In addition students will also be able to analyze the different organism and where they belong.
Teaching Materials
· The materials are needed to teach this lesson are scissors, access to computers, list of organism worksheet, assessment worksheet, vocabulary worksheet, pencil, paper, construction paper, article and short video clip about food web.
· The technologies that will be used to enhance this lesson will be computers to be able to show the videos provided for the students. Also, the computers or audio players would be materials need to present the information such as the activities that students would need to do. For example, students have the opportunity to watch a video or listen to an article. Because of the demographics of the classroom there will be a variety of activities that students will be able to do.
· Websites:
· Wordle (http://www.wordle.net/create)
· Hardware/software titles would be the Microsoft to make the worksheets and rubrics for students.
· Assistive technologies:
The demographics of the classroom includes a few ELL’s so, for these students we will make sure that the activity they will participate in doing is developmentally appropriate. We want to make sure the students are learning and taking new information of the topic presented to them. On the other hand, we also have one visually impaired student that we will provide audio recordings of the same information that the other students are working on. The only different to help this one student would be that he/ she would hear the information.
Anticipatory Set
· The “Hook” of the lesson that will gets the students interested in the content will be the following video. The video is a catchy song that will grab students attention.
Part Three
Procedures
The teacher will first start a discussion to obtain prior knowledge. Some starter questions may be:
· Tell me what you know about prey vs. predator.
· What are some characteristics of each?
· What is a producer? Consumer? Decomposer?
· What is the sun’s role in the food chain?
· What is a human’s role?
After 5-10 minutes of discussion the teacher would then play: https://youtu.be/ylNqv0E_Ge8
This video will help to fill in those gaps and get the students more interested in the lesson.
Once the video is complete hand out a “Key facts/Vocab Sheet” which is provided. This will allow them to have a sheet with answers to any further questions they may have in order to complete the activities.
The students will then all be given a list of organisms, to create a food web. They will use arrows to show the energy flow within the ecosystem. After this activity is when they will be given their formative assessment. This is explained below. After they complete this activity, please follow the link to gonoodle.com and play the “cha cha slide” https://app.gonoodle.com/channels/youtube/cha-cha-slide?source=channel
Students should have a good understanding of the food web by now, so they will be able to choose two more activities to complete from the sheet that was provided. There are several options for all types of learners.
Once the activities are completed, each student will receive a quiz (attached) in order to assess their knowledge. Also they will be instructed to complete a Wordle. The link is: http://www.wordle.net They will each need to create a word cloud with at least 15 words based on the animal they are given. (use the same index cards) This can be a cloud of whatever words describe the organism they have: environment, characteristics, etc. Each student will print their wordle and turn it in when they are finished.
Part Four
Assessment Plans
· What assessments will you use to evaluate and document whether or not the students met the stated objective?
A formative assessment will be given after completion of the first activity and before we commence a wiggle break. The teacher will provide an index card to each student with an organism from the environment (animal, plant, etc.). Then each student will list a fact about the organism, whether that be their place on the food chain, or which biome it could be found in. Once they have finished the index cards will be mixed up so that each student had one of their classmates’. We will then discuss as a class whether or not we agree with the written fact. This will be anonymous.
A summative assessment will be given to the students after all of the activities have been completed. (Quiz worksheet attached at the end.) They will also create a Wordle for an organism with a minimum of 15 words. This will allow them to show what they have learned about biomes, characteristics of organisms, what they eat, if they are predator or prey, etc. This component will allow them to use their creativity and allow the teacher to assess their knowledge appropriately.
Part Five
UDL Implementation
· Reference the UDL Educator’s Checklist for this section
· Provide specific examples, of the components in this lesson plan, which exemplify the following:
· Multiple Means of Representation:
In our hook, there is a video that gives the students a visual setup of how the food chain works and it's in song form so it gives auditory learners a great advantage as well. Following the video, their first activities consists of receiving a list of the organisms and the vocabulary mentioned in the video this is where the use of visual dictionaries and glossaries are implemented.
· Multiple Means of Engagement: The students will optimize individual choice and autonomy through the multiple options of activities that they can pick from. One of the activities require collaboration with another peer in order to complete a picture book which fosters collaboration and community. Before turning in their activities the students will perform a self-assessment to make sure they have completed everything.
· Multiple Means of Action and Expression: The students will receive a grid of various activities that can chose to complete apart of the lesson. This gives the students a chance to pick from various activities to which they seem they can best utilize their knowledge.
Part Six
Closure
To bring this lesson to an appropriate conclusion, we would allow student to have more than enough time to work on the activities that were provided. Since this lesson does have a lot of parts to it, we will allow time to complete the assignments so the students do not feel rushed or pressured.
The lesson is titled, Food Chain/ Food Web. In our lesson the main points that we want the students to learn is the difference between the animals and role they take. As educators we want to make sure students understand the difference of the animals that are predators or animals that are prey, as well as producers or consumers. With this lesson we give the students a lot of flexibility to do work alone or in groups. Giving the students flexible work is a good thing because we want our students to learn in their pace. Because we have all types of learners, we want to make sure they have different options in the classwork. This allows students to do their own work. When students get the assessed it will be much easier for them to apply the new information learned.
Name: _______________________
Date: ________________________
FOOD CHAIN QUIZ
In the food relationship where the lion eats the wildebeest, and the wildebeest eats plants ...
A. The lion is the prey and the wildebeest is the predator
B. The lion is the predator and the wildebeest is the prey
C. The lion is the primary consumer and the wildebeest is the secondary consumer
D. The lion is the secondary consumer and the wildebeest is the primary consumer
A and C only
A and D only
B and C only
B and D only
If there is a shortage of wildebeest in the area, what are some things the lions might do?
A. move to another area to hunt for food
B. eat the bark and roots of trees
C. hunt for other animals
C only
Animals that feed on both plants and animals are called …
carnivores
herbivores
detritivores
omnivores
There are more herbivores than carnivores in a food chain because
A. much energy is lost in the transfer of energy from herbivores to carnivores
B. a larger number of herbivores is needed to support a smaller number of carnivores
C. this is the way for the food chain to stay in equilibrium
A only
B and C only
A and B only
All of the above
Over a period of time, the number of wildebeest drops. Which of the following statements could explain the drop in the wildebeest population?
A. A drought occurred
B. An increase in the lion population
C. The death rate of the wildebeest was lower than the birth rate
D. An increase in the number of predators
A and B only
B and C only
A, B and C only
A, B and D only
When a population of animal 'X' was introduced into the community, the number of lions increased while the number of wildebeest decreased. Animal 'X' could be a … (circle the best choice)
herbivore e.g., zebra
carnivore that is a predator of wildebeest and lions
carnivore that is a predator of wildebeest but a prey of the lions
Rubric for Food Chains/ Food Webs
Criteria
Part 4-
Activity Sheet
Create (Everyone Completes)
Given a list of organisms, create a food web. Use arrows to show the energy flow within the ecosystem.
Write/Draw
Collaborate with a partner to create a picture book for a younger student teaching them about a particular habitat and the interdependence of the organisms within it.
Draw
Ask your teacher for the name of a biome and draw a food web that would be found in that biome.
Create
Write a rap, song, or poem from an animal’s point of view within their food web. If they are a predator, describe how they feel as an example.
Read/Write
Use vocabulary words to create a crossword puzzle for your classmates to complete.
Read / Summarize
Read an article or watch a short video clip about food webs. Write a 1 paragraph summary when completed.
Compare/Contrast
Choose similar organisms such as an arctic hare and a rabbit and compare and contrast their roles in their given habitats.
First activity: List of organisms for the food web.
Carnivores:
Key Facts/Vocabulary Sheet
Food Chain: A food chain shows how each living thing gets food, and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature. Food chains begin with plant-life, and end with animal-life. Some animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals.
Carnivore: A carnivore is an animal that gets food from killing and eating other animals.
Herbivore: A herbivore is an animal that gets its energy from eating plants, and only plants.
Omnivore: An omnivore is a kind of animal that eats either other animals or plants. (Humans)
Plants: They provide all the energy for the ecosystem, because they can get energy directly from sunlight. They use a process called photosynthesis to use energy from the sun to grow and reproduce. They also must get nutrients from the soil.
Biome: a community that has certain plants and animals that have adapted to its climate.
Types of Biomes
Desert
Aquatic
Forest
Tundra
Grassland
Ecosystem: includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere).
Producer: Plants are called producers. This is because they produce their own food!
Consumer: Animals are called consumers. This is because they cannot make their own food, so they need to consume (eat) plants and/or animals.