Tony Combs FRIT 8530 Understanding by Design Fall 2012

Title of Unit

Habitats And Organisms Of Georgia

Grade Level

3rd

Standard: S3L1 Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of organism on their habitat.

Understandings: Students will understand that: There are five different habitats in Georgia and each contains different kinds of organisms. Plants have features that allow them to live and thrive in different regions in Georgia. Animals have features that allow them to live and thrive in different regions in Georgia. It can be dangerous to plants and animals if their habitat is changed. Related Misconceptions: Georgia does not have many different plants and animals. The weather rarely gets cold anywhere in Georgia.

If something happens to an animals habitat, it can just move.

Essential Questions

Overarching Questions: What is a habitat? How are regions in Georgia different? How do habitat conditions help plants and animals survive? How do plants and animals survive in certain habitats? What happens to plants and animals if their habitat is changed or destroyed?

Topical Questions: How many different regions are in Georgia? Do different organisms live in the different regions? What are the differences in Georgias regions?

Plan Learning Experiences

WHERETO

I will be designing my lesson plans using the WHERETO strategy. The letters in the WHERETO strategy helps to make sure that key considerations are followed.

W---Where plan is headed and Why. H---Hook students and Hold their attention. E---Equip students with what they need. R---Provide students with opportunities to Rethink, Reflect, and Revise.

E---Give opportunities to Evaluate progress and self-assess. T---Be Tailored to reflect individualism. O---Be Organized to ensure deep understanding.

The letters showing the WHERETO strategy will be listed throughout my plan. Note: Evaluate will be listed as E-2.
Unit 1

Georgia Habitats And Organisms How many different habitats does Georgia have and what animals live in them? (H) Many of the students like to visit the media center so a visit to the media center will be incorporated into the assignment. (T) I will let students take the online habitat quiz at http://www.wacona.com/words/gahabitats/quiz.htm on Monday to find out what they know about Georgias habitats and organisms. (E-2) I will teach the students about Georgias habitats and organisms and tell them why it is important that habitats are preserved. (W) I will take the students to the computer lab on Tuesday and show them how to use an interactive book about Georgias habitats that I designed using the Sophie2 Author program and loaded onto the computers. (E) I will teach the students how to use the Destiny system in the media center to look for materials that contain additional information on Georgias habitats. (E) For the students with access to the Internet at home I will provide them a link to a Screencast video that I created that shows them how to use the Destiny system at home. (T) On Wednesday I will allow the students to retake the online quiz that they did on Monday so that they can see what they have learned. (E) After the questionnaire the students will be allowed to ask any questions that they may have. (R) On Thursday I will give the students a graded quiz on Georgias habitats and organisms. (E) On Friday the students will be given the results of their quiz. (E) Students who want extra credit

will be allowed to go to the media center and write a one page report on their favorite Georgia habitat and their favorite Georgia organism. (T)

Tools and Resources

Resource links: http://coastgis.marsci.uga.edu/summit/summit_home.htm http://georgiawildlife.com/node/1273/ http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2126 http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-649 http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2123 http://coastalgadnr.org/ http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~lmterry/topic.html http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/333920 http://www.lilburnes.org/Students/Habitats/index.htm http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=152755 Screencast video link: http://youtu.be/mLhS7uuR7JQ Sophie2 Reader download link: http://www.sophie2.org/users/downloads.html

Online habitat quiz link: http://www.wacona.com/words/gahabitats/quiz.htm

Georgia Habitats And Organisms Test

Circle the correct answer. 1. How many habitats does Georgia have? A. 3 B. 4 C. 2 D. 5 2. The _________ habitat has sandy beaches. A. Coast B. Piedmont C. Mountain D. Swamp 3. Alligators live in the _________ habitat. A. Piedmont B. Swamp C. Ocean D. Mountain 4. _______ are plants that can be found in the Atlantic Ocean habitat. A. Oak trees B. Cherokee rose C. Azaleas D. Seaweed 5. The _________ habitat has areas that are very high. A. Piedmont B. Swamp C. Mountain D. Coast/Coastal Plain 6. You might see a squirrel in the ________ habitat. A. Piedmont B. Coast C. Mountain D. Swamp 7. Water lilies can be seen floating on water in the _______ habitat. A. Ocean B. Piedmont C. Swamp

D. Coast/Coastal Plain 8. You cant have change for this sanddollar found in the _______ habitat. A. Ocean B. Piedmont C. Swamp D. Coast/Coastal Plain 9. _______ can be found in the Coastal Plain habitat. A. Rattlesnakes B. Dolphins C. Alligators D. Bobcats 10. The ______ is Georgias largest habitat. A. Ocean B. Piedmont C. Swamp D. Coast/Coastal Plain