ECOSYSTEMS

ECOSYSTEMS

Author(s): Brie Moore and Samantha Morris (K. Scott also helped create parts of this lesson plan during Block II)


Grade Level: 4th Grade
Timeframe: 1 class period (45 minutes to 1 hour)


Lesson Description or Explanation

All children by this age are aware of our dependence on food and water in order to survive. This lesson will increase children’s current understanding of how dependent living and non-living organisms are upon each other to survive. By creating a diagram of an ecosystem, using a garden as an example, children will begin to think more in depth about the relationships that living things have with each other as well as the relationships living things have with non-living things.


Indiana Curricular Standards

Science
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one another in various ways, such as providing food, pollination, and seed dispersal. (Core Standard)
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow. (Core Standard)

Art
4.8.2 Create artwork incorporating concepts, subject matter, or the sign systems of other disciplines that communicates in-depth knowledge gained through integrated study.
4.8.4 Create an interdisciplinary work integrating concepts, processes, technology, and sign systems of more than one art form.

Language Arts
4.7.1 Comprehension: Ask thoughtful questions and respond orally to relevant questions with appropriate elaboration. (Core Standard)
4.7.11 Speaking Applications: Make narrative presentations that: • relate ideas, observations, or memories about an event or experience. • provide a context that allows the listener to imagine the circumstances of the event or experience. • provide insight into why the selected event or experience should be of interest to the audience. (Core Standard)


ISTE Standards

3. Research and Information Fluency - Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students:

a. plan strategies to guide inquiry.
b.locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks.
d. process data and report results.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts - Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations. Students:

a. understand and use technology systems.
b. select and use applications effectively and productively.
c. troubleshoot systems and applications.
d. transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies.


Assessments
Formative/Summative

Students will write a short paragraph describing an ecosystem.
When the students created his/her own ecosystem, was it composed of living and non-living things that link together to create an ecosystem?
‘Think Aloud” Discussion


Prior Knowledge

Curricular Knowledge or Skills:

Students should be able to:
Create an oral or silent presentation of his/her findings on any given topic to an audience
Be able to use as many resources available to get the most information for their research so to stay accurate.
Compose a poem based upon a given and researched topic
Have the idea that things do depend on each other to survive

Technology Knowledge:

Students should be able to use:
The internet appropriately for research
A digital camera
A digital camcorder
Paint and/or Power Point programs
Digital photo printer
Students should be able:
To upload photos properly to a computer
Research ecosystems in the appropriate websites so to avoid misinformation as well as spam that may infect the computer as a virus.
To print off photos from the digital photo printer

Technology

Internet Resources: (please list URLs):
Images.google.com
www.yahooligans.com/learn
www.altavista.com
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/ecosystems.html&edu=elem

Hardware:
Computer with Windows XP or greater
Digital Camera with memory card
Digital Camcorder
Digital Photo Printer

Software:
Office 2000 or greater with Power Point and Paint programs
Any software that’s compatible with the use of camera or camcorder

Procedure

1.) What is an ecosystem?
· Ask the students to imagine standing in a garden.
· Each student will have a blank piece of paper in front of them.
· The students will say out loud and write down the different things that would be in the garden around them (grass, animal, plant, air, water, soil, sun, etc.).
· Have the students write each word spread out from the rest. An example will be made by the teacher.
· Students will draw a line from one word to the next where they feel the words are “linked” in some way. For example…you need water to grow plants.
· Walk around and help students find the “link” between the words.
· Once the students have drawn the lines, explain to them that they have just drawn a diagram of an ecosystem.
· Ask the students if they know what an ecosystem is?
· Then explain to the students that: An ecosystem is a community of living things and their non-living environment. Many parts of an ecosystem are linked together in some way.
· Title the ecosystem…a “Garden Ecosystem” and talk with the students about other ecosystems. Rain forests, ponds, deserts, fields, or anything else the students can come up with.
2.) Creating their own ecosystem - First, present an example of this exercise. Use the garden theme from above and show the example mural. It will include a picture of each of the words chosen above as well as a poem to go along with the picture:

This is my garden,

I'll plant it with care,

Here are the seeds I'll plant in there,

The sun will shine,

The water I’ll pour

The seeds will sprout and grow up tall

Students will have crayons, colored paper, markers, and glue. They will be asked to choose between rain forest, pond, desert, grassland, or field ecosystems.
Once an ecosystem is chosen each student will create his/her ecosystem mural (draw a picture and poem).
3.) “Think Aloud” Discussion - Discuss the murals as a group. Have each student explain his/her mural.

Differentiated Instruction

ESL
Students can use the website Alta Vista to translate any website they don’t understand to aid them in their research. When other students are presenting, a student fluent in English as well as the home language of some of the other students can arrange to translate for the ESL students to help them gain an understanding.
Students can create more of a visual presentation as a gallery walk or a slideshow of photos to represent their knowledge.
Students can create a presentation via the Power Point presentation or typing out their found information (with appropriate citations) in their home language. The teacher may then translate their presentation via the Alta Vista program for assessment.

Challenge/Extend
Students requiring further extension of the lesson can create a video of the ecosystem of their choosing. This can be a presentation using representations of how it would feel to live in that ecosystem, a news report, or a simple lecture about the ecosystem.
Students can get more in depth with the information about the ecosystem by researching the wildlife that may live there and add that to their presentation.
The poem can be a more complex presentation (song, Haiku, etc). This will give more in the entertainment factor to their presentation.

Special Needs
Students with Autism or other social impediments may present their projects via gallery walk, a pre-recorded video, or a collage to help demonstrate their knowledge.
Students with oral impediments or hearing impediments can create a silent presentation as aforementioned. Peers could also partner with them to help them in interpreting the completed project so all students can understand what was going on.
Students with physical disabilities can give an entirely oral presentation with either a digital camcorder, a voice recorder, or the teacher taking notes during the presentation.