Lesson Plan
Topic/Theme: Science/Animal Adaptations
Grade Level: 3rd
Objectives:
Students will be able to provide a definition for habitat, adaption, and ecosystem based on classroom discussion
Students will be able to list the five different types of ecosystems (desert, forest, grassland, tundra, and aquatic)
Students will be able to provide the name of one animal for each type of ecosystem
Students will be able to provide one example of how an animal contributes to its habitat based on classroom discussion
Students will be able to provide two characteristics of one animal of their choosing that lives in the tundra, desert, grasslands, aquatic, or forest
Instructional technique: Individual, discussion, pairs, group work
Instructional Materials: Handouts, crayons/colored pencils, pencil, book, two pieces of blank paper, http://interactivesites.weebly.com/animal-adaptations.html
Theoretical Perspective: Animal adaptations and the different ecosystems are important for students to learn about because every animal has a role in our ecosystem whether they help bring nutrients out from the cycle or help in decomposition, carbon, and nitrogen cycle. It is important for students to know about the different habitats and how animals are able to survive in certain ecosystems. Students will learn that as the environment changes, animals that can adapt will and have offspring but animals that cannot adapt to their environment will die out. If students learn about the different animals and the five different types of ecosystems then it will teach them that we should be treating our environment with care and respect so these animals will be able to adapt to their environment and survive in their ecosystem.
Procedure:
Introductory Activity: The teacher will read the students a book, Over and Under the Pond, and have a discussion about the different animals they noticed and what type of ecosystem was being shown in the book by asking them questions such as can you list the animals you saw and describe what types of plants were in the ecosystem in the book. Then the teacher will ask them if they noticed what adaptations some of the animals had. The teacher will give them an example, such as polar bears live in the arctic and one of their adaptations is their thick fur to keep them warm before asking them to give me an example from the book we just read.
Step by step:
First, the teacher will ask the students to list all the clothes we wear for each season and write summer, fall, winter, and spring on the board
Then the teacher will ask the students to share what clothing items they came up with and write the answers under the season they belong to
Then the teacher will ask them to give her some reasons why we wear these types of clothes during each season
Next, the teacher will ask the students to list all the ways humans have adapted to survive in each season (Example: our homes have heat, electricity, and running water and windows to either open or close, cars, fire place, generators if we lost power, AC, fans)
After, the teacher will have a discussion about how we adapt to our environment in order to survive and lead it into how animals also have adaptations that help them to survive and how they contribute to their habitat
Next, the teacher will ask the students to list some animals and some ecosystems located in places like the rainforest or the tundra
After looking into their background knowledge, the teacher will provide them with the definition of a habitat, adaption, and ecosystem, and other challenging vocabulary
Then the teacher will list the different animals that live in the five different types of ecosystems for the students
Next, the teacher will describe the five different types of ecosystems and where they are located
The teacher will explain to them and provide them with some examples of adaptations animals have that allow them to survive in their habitat
Then the students will go onto the interactive website, http://interactivesites.weebly.com/animal-adaptations.html, and do the ‘Living Things in their Environemt” activity and complete a worksheet that goes along with it
After the activity, the teacher will review the worksheet with them and have the students put it in their mailboxes.
Then the teacher will review with them what they have learned and ask them if they have any questions
Closure: The teacher will have the students pick one of the animals and one type of ecosystem from the interactive website that they found interesting and then identify two structural adaptations so we can create a bulletin board for the classroom. On the bulletin board, we will put a picture of the animal and a blurb explaining their animals adaptation that helps it to survive next to the picture. As the year goes on, students will add new animals to the bulletin board, which allows them to learn about all the different species and the five different types of ecosystems in our world.
Adaptation for Different learners: One adaptation the teacher could do is pair the students up to work on the worksheet. Another adaption the teacher could use would be to do the worksheet as a whole class. Another adaptation would be to work with the student one-on-one and guide him on the worksheet without giving him the answers. For ELLs, the teacher could do teacher modeling which means the teacher will explain and fill the worksheet out first as the students watches what the teacher does, which will allow the student to see what he has to do step-by-step and has guidance from his teacher. For ELLs and SPEDs, the teacher can add photos of the animals that live in each type of ecosystem and the five different types of ecosystems. The teacher can also mention the website again or provide the student with a paper that has the link to the website on it.
Homework: The students will bring in either a stuffed animal, picture, drawing, or plastic figure of their favorite animal with one sentence explaining why it is their favorite animal or one word to describe the animal they have chosen.
Evaluation:
Part A:
Objective 1: Students will be able to provide a definition for habitat, ecosystem, and adaptation based on classroom discussion
-The teacher will have the students discuss with a peer and then have the two of them write out the definition in one sentence for each word on a worksheet the teacher has created. The teacher will tape the papers on the chalkboard to see what students wrote and then discuss the meaning of the words as a whole class. Then the teacher will collect them from the students to be graded using the check system so students will either receive a check or check plus depending on what they wrote and for completing the assignment. Then the students will add the new vocabulary words to their vocabulary list. If a student has not mastered the definition for each word then the teacher will send home the definition of the word and the word in a sentence for the student to study. As the students are writing out the definition of the words, they are using their cognitive thinking skills because they are building on their background knowledge and using their thought process to remember what their teacher had on the board earlier. It will also teach them how to work collaboratively with their peers and listen to each other’s ideas.
Objective 2: Students will be able to list the five different types of ecosystems (desert, forest, grassland, tundra, and aquatic)
-The teacher will give the students a worksheet with pictures of the five different ecosystems that will ask them to match the type of ecosystem using the word bank to its correct picture. The teacher will review the worksheet with them after giving them ten minutes to complete it. If the student doesn’t match the correct word to the picture then the teacher will ask them to write down their reasoning for matching that word to the picture. This activity will benefit students in critical thinking because the students need to critically think about the meaning of the word in order to match it, but they also need to think about the picture and which word best fits with it. Also, if they students answers incorrectly for any of them, then they have to explain their thinking and put it into words while giving their own opinion.
Objective 3: Students will be able to provide the name of one animal for each type of ecosystem
-The teacher will create a velcro chart that has pictures of the five different types of ecosystems at the top and the five different types of ecosystems are labeled underneath the pictures, so underneath each picture it will have either grasslands, deserts, forests, tundra, or aquatic. The teacher will print out pictures of the five different ecosystems and different animals that live in the five different ecosystems. As the teacher shows the students an animal, the teacher will ask them what type of ecosystem the animal belongs in. Once the students answer the question then the teacher will attach it to the velcro chart underneath the correct ecosystem. Eventually, the teacher will have each student come up and place the animal under the correct ecosystem after they have discussed it as a class. For example, the teacher would ask what ecosystem do giraffes live in and the students will answer the grasslands. The teacher will continue until the class has gone through all the animals and then the teacher will leave the velcro chart hanging up so students can reference back to it when needed. As the students attach the picture to the velcro chart they are using their fine motor skills because they are using their fingers and muscles to attach the velcro to one another.
Objective 4: Students will be able to provide one example of how an animal contributes to its habitat based on classroom discussion
-For this objective, the teacher is going to have the students do the snowball activity so the students will write down their name and then write one animal at the top of the page and then write two sentences explaining how the animal contributes to its habitat on a blank piece of paper. Then the students will crinkle the paper and throw it to the spot the teacher assigned to each student. Next, the students will pick up the paper laying in front of them and the teacher will ask the students to draw a line under what their classmates wrote. Then the students will write their name and respond to what their peers said under the line they were asked to draw. This activity would be good to do because the students will come up with different answers and it allows students to practice their written communication, which means it teaches them how to properly and appropriately respond to their classmates ideas. It shows the teacher that students think differently than their peers because one student may choose an animal from the tundra while another student may choose an animal from the desert.
Objective 5: Students will be able to provide two characteristics of one animal of their choosing that lives in the aquatic, deserts, grasslands, tundra, or forest
-The teacher will ask the students to draw a picture of one of the five types of ecosystem that is listed above and the animal in the ecosystem on a blank piece of paper. Then the students will label the two characteristics of their chosen animal on the drawing. This activity will improve student’s fine motor skills because they are moving their hands when they draw a picture and they are practicing their writing skills when they write the sentence. It allows them to be creative because they get to make every decision so they get to choose the animal and one of the ecosystems out of the five and what colors they want to use when drawing the type of ecosystem.
Part B:
One concern the teacher may have about teaching this lesson plan is that something may go wrong. Another concern the teacher might have about teaching this lesson is that students may not understand what she is asking them to do for some of the activities.
One question the teacher has is how long would this lesson take her to teach to the students?