UBD Planning Template

Title: Exploring Ecosystems Unit Topic: Ecosystems Grade: 5 Subject/Course: Science Designer(s : !nna Gallac"er and #egan $ea%er

Stage &' Desired (esults

Establis"ed Goals including State Standards) District mandates) and measurable aspects o* your #ission Statement :

+,S Standards: Standard &: !nalysis) -n.uiry) and Design Key Idea 1: o The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process. S1.1 Ask "why" questions in attempts to seek greater understanding concerning o !ects and events they have o served and heard a out. S1.1a " serve and discuss o !ects and events and record o servations S1.1 Articulate appropriate questions ased on o servations S1.# $uestion the explanations they hear from others and read a out, seeking clarification and comparing them with their own o servations and understandings. S1.#a %dentify similarities and differences etween explanations received from others or in print and personal o servations or understandings S1.& 'evelop relationships among o servations to construct descriptions of o !ects and events and to form their own tentative explanations of what they have o served. S1.&a (learly express a tentative explanation or description which can e tested Standard /: -n*ormation Systems Key Idea 1: o %nformation technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning. use computer technology, traditional paper) ased resources, and interpersonal discussions to learn, do, and share science in the classroom select appropriate hardware and software that aids in word processing, creating data ases, telecommunications, graphing, data display, and other tasks use information technology to link the classroom to world events Standard 0: Systems T"in1ing Key Idea 1: o Through systems thinking, people can recogni*e the commonalities that exist among all systems and how parts of a system interrelate and com ine to perform specific functions. o serve and descri e interactions among components of simple systems identify common things that can e considered to e systems +e.g., a plant, a transportation system, human eings,

Understandings: Students 2ill understand t"at3 "rganisms and their environments are interconnected. -ultiple communities can exist within one ecosystem. (hanges in one part of the system will affect other parts of the system. -atter needed to sustain life is continually recycled among and etween organisms and the environment. The food chain and we illustrate how organisms coexist and survive in their environments. .umans can alter the living and non)living factors within an ecosystem, there y creating changes to the overall ecosystem. The characteristics of the ecosystem influence the survival of organisms within that ecosystem. Scientific inquiry involves asking questions, collecting evidence, forming explanations, and communicating and !ustifying explanations.

Essential 4uestions: .ow are plants and animals in an ecosystem connected/ .ow can change in one part of an ecosystem affect change in other parts of the ecosystem/ .ow does matter and energy link organisms to each other and their environment/ .ow do animals adapt to their environment as a way to survive in their ecosystem/ .ow do humans influence the diversity and sta ility of ecosystems/ .ow do various communities live amongst one another in an ecosystem/ 0hat is the importance of recycling matter in an ecosystem among and etween organisms and the environment/ .ow is matter and energy transferred and transformed in living ecosystems/

Students 2ill be able to 3 1xamine and recall a variety of ecosystems. (ompare how the organisms, the ha itat, and the food chains are similar and different in these ecosystems. 2redict and descri e how a dramatic change to an ecosystem affects an entire ecosystem. (ategori*e the organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve as producers, consumers, or decomposers. Analy*e why an organism is classified in terms of a producer, consumer, or decomposer. 3ecogni*e that an organism has dependent and independent relationships in an ecosystem. 1xplain that all organisms require a form of energy to survive and that humans and other animals o tain energy and materials from food. 'raw conclusions a out how all parts of an ecosystem are connected and are recycled in a never)ending circle of life. -ake o servations and draw conclusions a out food chains from dissecting owl pellets. %dentify how animals adapt to their environment as a method of survival. (reate their own ecosystem ased on research ased evidence. 4enerate focused questions and informed predictions a out ecosystems. Stage /' !ssessment E%idence

5er*ormance Tas1s: %nformal o 0orking colla oratively o 4roup activities o (onference notes o 2ulling small groups to work with during independent work time. 5ormative Assessments6 o 7ournals o 3eflections o (ompleting %nformational (harts o Adaptation 0orksheet o (reating and "rganism 0orksheet o 8a s o $ui**es92op $ui**es once a week o Tests6 pre)test, mid)point test, end of unit test +each test will assess the information from where the last test left off, o .omework Assignments Summative Assessments6 o 3esearch :ased 2ro!ect o 3esearch 2aper o "ral 2resentation o ;isual poster presentation o 3eflection 2aper

6t"er E%idence: 'uring every lesson, the teacher, using conferencing notes, will informally o serve and assess the students. The teacher will e o serving and recording the students progress throughout the unit and also will assess the students on <accounta le talk= and group work. Summative Assessment6 The students will e participating in a research ased final assessment. They will e completing a research paper and will also e completing an oral presentation with a visual representation of their topic.

Stage 7' 8earning 5lan $: Students will have previously learned and een assessed in the following units in >th grade6 The nature of science, earth science, and food and nutrition. The unit on ecosystems is the final unit to e completed in the >th grade. %n ?th grade students were assessed on the roles plants and animals play in their environment. This ?th grade unit was a rief overview for what@s to come in this >th grade unit. 9: To kick of the unit the teacher will ring in a mystery ox. The teacher will select students to come up and select one item from the ox at a time. The students will have to rainstorm after each item what they think this next unit might e a out. The students will then e roken up into pairs and will e asked to formulate # questions that they want to learn throughout this unit. The students will share their questions and the teacher will write all of the questions down on chart paper. The teacher will then state that the students will have the answers to all of these questions y the end of the unit. E: ' 8esson &: Students will egin this unit with a pre)unit assessment a out ecosystems that allows the

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teacher to get an idea a out their knowledge and ackground in this topic. They will take the assessment and will also provide an illustration a out their knowledge of animal relationships in an ecosystem. 8esson /: Students will e introduced to the terms population and community. They will create a 5reyer model for each word. The 5reyer model is a ox roken into ? parts that allows the students to explore a new word. This includes the word at the top of the ox, a picture of a word, an antonym or synonym of the word, a sentence with the word in it, and their own definition of the word. 8esson 7: The students will engage in a sunlight experiment to learn how plants produce their own food to survive. The teacher will take two plants. She will place one in the sunlight and one in a dark place. The students will e asked to create a hypothesis in their !ournals a out what will happen to each plant. "ver the course of the unit the students will record each day what they o serve a out the plants. At the end of the study they will write a reflective !ournal entry a out what plants need to survive. 8esson :: Students will complete a we quest to learn a out the process of photosynthesis. They will have the opportunity to explore #)& we sites, provided y the teacher, to see how plants make their own food. 8esson 5: Students will e asked to reak up into pairs and will have the opportunity search on the %nternet for producers, consumers, and decomposers. They will then create a document with pictures of these animals and will create a sample food chain. They will then la el each part of the food chain and include arrows to show the direction of energy flow within that food chain. 8esson 0: Students will reak up into groups of & and will e given graph paper. The 1st student will e a producer and will cut a 1A y 1A lock of squares from the graph paper +this represents the total amount of food energy stores y the producer,. The producer will then cut a row of 1A squares and will hand it to the #nd student who is the primary consumer +this represents the amount of energy transferred up the food chain,. The primary consumer will then cut one square from the row and pass it to the &rd student, the secondary consumer. The students will see that only a small portion of the original energy stored in the producer reaches the secondary consumer. 8esson ;: Students will engage in a matching game to see how animals compete to survive in their environment. They will explore certain animals@ special traits and ehaviors that help them survive. They will also create their own organism and develop & adaptations that will help their animal survive in its environment. 8esson <: Students will get the opportunity to watch # different BouTu e videos a out how animals compete to survive in the wild. They will take these two videos and will e asked to compare and contrast the features that the different animals use in order to survive. 0e will then have a discussion a out what would happen if you eliminated these features. 8esson =: Students will discuss the term adaptation and the teacher will complete a rainstorming we with the class. Students will e roken up into their science groups where they will participate in a concept cu e game. They will have the opportunity to roll the cu e, previously made y the teacher with different levels of questioning on it, and will e asked to answer the question rolled and record it in their science note ooks. The questions will all e a out animal adaptations. 8esson &>: Students will get the opportunity to research in trade ooks and on the internet what adaptations giraffes, lions, elephants, *e ras, and crocodiles have acquired over time in order to survive. The students will select their animal in the form of a choice oard. They will have to make predictions a out these animals@ special features and will then have to explore different resources in order to come to a conclusion. After reaching a conclusion, the students will engage in a !igsaw in order to teach the other groups a out their animal@s adaptations over time. 8esson &&: Students will participate in the question formulation technique. They will e asked to reak up into their science groups where they will write down every question that pops into their minds a out how humans affect ecosystems. They will then talk as a group and categori*e and prioriti*e their questions. They will pick their top # questions that they elieve will help them learn the most information a out this topic. 1ach group will present their questions and the teacher will help answer these questions y the end of the two lessons on how people affect ecosystems. 8esson &/: Students will e asked to think a out and o serve human activity in their community and how it impacts wildlife populations. They will discuss these activities and make a T)chart a out the

positive and negative impacts. They will then rainstorm ways humans can improve their community and protect wildlife. 8esson &7: Students will explore and dissect an owl pellet to reinforce how everything in an ecosystem is interconnected. Students will then have the opportunity to create their own food chain using animals they found in a maga*ine.

(: Students will maintain a science !ournal where they will reflect on their own learning. The daily !ournal entries will help the students reflect on what they learned that day. At the end the students will e asked to complete a reflection paper where they will have to reflect on their experiences throughout the unit. They will also take a pre)assessment, a mid)point assessment, and a final assessment where they will assess their growth throughout the unit. They will also have the opportunity to constantly engage in discussions with their science groups and science partners. E: Throughout the unit the students will e assessed in a variety of ways using formal and informal assessments. .owever, at the end of the unit the students will exhi it their understanding y completing a food chain research pro!ect and an oral presentation. They will select a ha itat and will research that ha itat and eventually will form their own food chain. They will complete a paper descri ing their food chain and how all of the organisms are interrelated. They will then e asked to create a poster visual a out their food chain. 5inally, they will orally present the information they found, the poster and their food chain. These three components, the research paper, the visual, and the oral presentation will truly evaluate whether or not the students grasped the concepts and understandings.

(esources: ) http699www.uen.org98essonplan9preview.cgi/82idCD>#A ) http699cnx.org9content9m1EEF?9latest9 ) http699schools.nyc.gov9'ocuments9ST1-9Science9GDScienceSS.pdf ) http699freedownload .com9doc9delaware) science) )coalition)&1AE1E1>.html

#onday 8esson 16 1xploring 1cosystems 8esson F6 .ow is energy passed through the ecosystem/

Tuesday 8esson #6 The (ra*y 1cosystems That Surround HsI 8esson J6 2redator vs. 2reyI 0ho will come out winning/

$ednesday 8esson &6 .ow do plants produce food/ 8esson D6 .ow do organisms compete and survive in an ecosystem/ 8esson 1&6 The (hain of 8ife

T"ursday 8esson ?6 .ow do plants produce food/ 8esson E6 .ave you ever wondered why giraffes have long necks or why cheetahs have long legs/ Assessment

?riday 8esson >6 .ow is energy passed through the ecosystem/ 8esson 1A6 .ow do ecosystems change over time/

8esson 116 .ow do people affect ecosystems/

8esson 1#6 .ow do people affect ecosystems/

Assessment

Unit Calendar o* Daily Topics

Unit !ssessment: The final assessment will e in the form of a research pro!ect and an oral presentation. The students will e assessed using the attached ru rics, one for the paper and one for the oral presentation. 1. The 3esearch 2ro!ect a. 1ach student will e asked to choose a popsicle stick out of the <ha itat !ar=. There will e one ha itat on the popsicle stick +forest, ur an, wetlands, desert, or coral reef,. The student will e responsi le for learning everything a out a food chain in that particular ha itat. The students will e given a sheet +attached, that gives them questions to help guide them in the research process. . "nce completing the sheet they will use it as a way to organi*e their research paper. %n their papers, they will have to descri e their ha itat and the plants and animals in it. They will also have to descri e their entire food chain and how it works, including the types of producers, consumers, and decomposers there are in that ha itat and also how they are connected to each other. The paper will have to e #)? pages, dou le)spaced, with 1#pt font. #. The "ral 2resentation a. The students will then have to take the information that they learned and will create a poster oard. They will have to draw some type of diagram that represents their food chain. They can do this part of the pro!ect in a variety of ways. They may simply draw a diagram of the components in their food chain, or they can draw the ha itat with the plants and animals

in it and arrows to how they connect to each other. They can present the information on the poster as creatively has they want as long as the audience can see the food chain we clearly. The poster must also e la eled with producer, consumer, and decomposer and must show one full food chain of life. . The students will have to present to the class the information that they learned while completing their research pro!ect. They must include the plants and animals that make up their food chain and how they are all connected to one another. They must also give and example on what would happen if they removed one of the animals in their food chain.