Purpose:Thisprojectisintendedtoincorporate3rdgradeScienceand3rdgrade

writingstandardsintooneproject.Studentswillwriteshortreportswhilealso
researchingandlearningaboutthedifferentecosystems,animals,andtheir
adaptations..Studentswillbegroupedtogetherandcreatepostersto
teach/engage/informtheirclassmatesofthedifferentecosystems.Studentswill
thenbrainstormandcreatetheirownanimal.Theyhavetoputtheirtheiranimalin
ahabitatandcreateadaptationsfortheiranimals.Studentswillwriteashort
reportonwheretheiranimallivesandhowitsurvivesinthatenvironment.

Objectives:
Science3.4~Thestudentwillinvestigateandunderstandthatadaptations
allowanimalstosatisfylifeneedsandrespondtotheenvironment.Key
conceptsinclude
a)behavioraladaptations;and
b)physicaladaptations.

Science3.6~Thestudentwillinvestigateandunderstandthatecosystems
supportadiversityofplantsandanimalsthatsharelimitedresources.Key
conceptsinclude
a)aquaticecosystems;
b)terrestrialecosystems;
c)populationsandcommunities;and
d)thehumanroleinconservinglimitedresources.
Writing3.9-Studentswillwriteforavarietyofpurposes.
a)Identifytheintendedaudience.
b)Useavarietyofprewritingstrategies.
c)Writeacleartopicsentencefocusingonthemainidea.
d)Writeaparagraphonthesametopic.
e)Usestrategiesfororganizationofinformationandelaboration
accordingtothetypeofwriting.
f)Includedetailsthatelaboratethemainidea.
g)Revisewritingforclarityofcontentusingspecificvocabularyand
information.
Writing3.10-Thestudentwilleditwritingforcorrectgrammar,capitalization,
punctuation,andspelling.
a)Usecompletesentences.
b)Usetransitionwordstovarysentencestructure.
c)UsethewordIincompoundsubjects.
d)Usepastandpresentverbtense.
e)Usesingularpossessives.
f)Usecommasinasimpleseries.
 g)Usesimpleabbreviations.
h)Useapostrophesincontractionswithpronounsandinpossessives.
i)Usethearticlesa,an,andthecorrectly.
j)Usecorrectspellingforfrequentlyusedsightwords,including
irregularplurals.

IntroductiontoEcosystems(habitats):
Day1:Todayyouwillintroducestudentstoecosystems,adaptationsandallkey
vocabulary.Itisveryimportantthatyouexplaintothemthewordsecosystem,
biome,andhabitat.Explaintothemthattheywillbedoingresearchactivitiesonthe
differentecosystemsingroups,anadaptationsassignment,andthenlastbutnot
leastbuildingananimalandwritingabouttheanimal'secosystemandadaptations.

Day2:Todayputstudentsingroupsandthenprovidethemwithwhatecosystem
theyaregoingtobedoingtheirresearchon.Providethemwiththeirtab-itsbooklet
andhavethemassemble.Allowthegroupstodiscuss/brainstormwhattheywillbe
researching.Thiswillallowstudentstopreparethemselvesforwhattheywillneed
todo.

Day3-6:Studentswillbeconductingresearchin4stations:website;textbook,library
books,andteacherstation.Eachdaystudentswillgotoanewstationusingthose
materialstofindinformationtofillintheblanksintheirmini-books.Theteacher
stationshouldbeusedtogivemini-lessonsoftheteacherschoosing.Youmay
choosetoteachaboutvocabulary,mapskills,thespecificecosystemandmost
importantlygiveguidance;Makesurestudentsunderstandtheirresearchandneeds
tobecompletedwithinthesefourdays.**Usethecompletedbooksasagrade**

Day7&8:Studentswillcreatetheirposterstheywillusetoteachtheirclassmates
abouttheirecosystem.Tellstudentstomakesuretheyputthemostimportant
informationontheposter.Studentsshouldusetheirbooksandresearchtohelp
them.

Day9&10:StudentPresentations:Splitthestudentsupandallowthemtodotheir
presentations(about5-8minutes)duringthescience/socialstudiesblock.

Day11-17
IntroductiontoAdaptations:

HowAnimalsAdaptvideo

Beginwitharevieworintroductionoftermsthatstudentswilluseinthislesson
(continent,climate,habitat,predator,prey).Askstudentstoexplainwhatismeantby
eachoftheseterms.Ifthesetermsarenewtoyourstudents,youcouldwriteeach
wordontheboardandtaketimetodefineandexplaineachofthem,withexamples.
Followingarebasicdefinitionsfortheseterms:
Continent-alargelandmassonEarth
Climate-thenormalweatherconditionsinaparticulararea
Habitat-thenormalenvironmentinwhichanorganismlives
Predator-anorganismthatlivesbyeatingotherorganisms
Prey-anorganismthatiseaten,orpreyedupon
Beginthelessonbydrawingathree-columnchartontheboard;eachverticalcolumn
willrepresentananimal,andeachrowwillcontainaquestion(listedbelow).Startby
announcingthediscoveryofafascinatingnewanimalthenchooseastudent(who
shouldremainsilentduringthefollowingclassdiscussion)torepresentthisnew
animal.Asktheclasstohelpyoulearnmoreaboutthenewanimalbyansweringa
fewbasicquestionsaboutitshabitat.
Askstudents:
 Whatshallwenamethisnewanimal?(Forexample,aboynamedDylanwho
likestoskateboardcouldbecalledDylanSkateboardicus.)
Whatistheweatherlikeinthisanimalshabitat?
Howdoesthisanimalfindshelter?
Howdoesthisanimalfindfood?
Doesthisanimalhaveanypredators?
Whatbehaviorsshowthisanimalhas"adapted"toitsenvironment?
Nowaskstudentstonameadifferentanimal(arealanimal).Askthemthesame
questionsandfillinthechart.Repeatagainwithafinalanimal.

HavestudentsusetheirAnimalAdaptationsstudentesheettogotoCreaturepedia
ontheWildKrattswebsite.

StudentsshouldclickonRegiontogotoanactivitythatallowsthemtolearnabout
creaturesthatliveindifferentpartsoftheworld.OncetheyclickonRegion,ask
studentswhattheysee(aworldmap)andpointoutthatthemapisasimplified
outlineofthewholeworld,showingitsmajorlandmasses(continents)andoceans.
Tellthemthattheselandmassescontainmanyanimalhabitats.

Note:Youmightwanttotakethisopportunitytotieinageographicallocationthey
arecurrentlylearningabout.Thiswillprovideahabitatfamiliartothestudentsand
allowyoutoexpandonbothsubjects.

DistributetheAnimalAdaptationsstudentsheet.Studentsshouldchoosearegionor
continentfromthewebsite(sayNorthAmericatostart)andrecordthenameofthe
regionorcontinentonthestudentsheet.Theyshouldchooseananimal(forexample,
abeaver)andwritedownnotesaboutitsclimate,aswellaslistspecificfeatures
andbehaviorsthatareadaptationstoitsspecificenvironment.Studentsshouldclick
onthevariousbuttonsassociatedwiththeanimal,including:FoodandHealth,Home
Base,DangerAlert,andLivin'CreatureStyle.Thesesectionsprovidetextandvideoto
helpstudentslearnabouttheanimal.Studentsshouldcompletethestudentsheet
foreachregionorcontinent.
Afterthelesson,askstudentstooffertheirfavoriteanimalanditsmostinteresting
featuresforsurvival.Writethenamesoftheanimalsontheboard,includingtheir
featuresandhabitats.

Choosetwoanimals,andthenaskstudentstospeculate.

Askstudents:
Whatwouldhappeniftheanimalsswitchedhabitats?
Whatadaptationfeatureswouldbeusefuloruselessinthenewhabitat?
Doyouthinktheanimalcouldsurviveintheunfamiliarhabitat?
Whatdoesthattellyouabouthowanimalsadapttotheirenvironments?

Day18:Studentswillbrainstormtheiranimalanddecidewhatecosystemtheyare
goingtoliveinandhowtheywillsurvive,

Day19-20:Studentswillbuildtheiranimal.

Day21:Studentswillwritetheirreportontheiranimals.

Resources:

JourneyNorth
BiomesoftheWorld
FlocabularyEcosystems
FlocabularyAdaptation