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Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities

Lesson Idea Name: Life Cycle of a Tree


Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 2nd Grade
Content Standard Addressed:
S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.
b. Relate seasonal changes to observations of how a tree changes throughout a school year.

Technology Standard Addressed: 7 - Global Collaborator

Selected Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity:

URL(s) to support the lesson:


https://journeynorth.org/leaf/index.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz5YbqxXLn4

Describe how you would incorporate an Online Project/Collaboration Site/Publishing Opportunity in your
classroom:
To continue our lesson on a life cycle of a tree, I would first show the YouTube video, “Life Cycle of a Tree” to
activate prior knowledge and to engage the students in the lesson. Students will then create a 3-D model or a
timeline model of a life cycle of a tree. Materials will be provided such as: large paper plates or large circles
cut out of poster board, buttons, yarn, pipe cleaners, construction paper, glue, tape, and markers to create
their models. This activity should take about 50 minutes. If students do not finish their models within the time
allowed, the next day they can be completed. I will then post pictures of each student’s 3-D model on to the
classroom blog for parents to be able to view.

This lesson will take place right before springtime. The following day after creating their 3-D models, the class
will then explore the school grounds and “adopt” a tree for the remainder of the school year. Each week,
students will visit our adopted tree and they will be required to sketch the buds on the same small branch
each time they visit. The students will observe buds on the tree open, the tree bloom, and leaves emerge.
Students will report to the website Journey North when our tree's leaves are the size of a U.S. quarter—their
definition of "leaf-out."

What technologies would be required to implement this proposed learning activity in a classroom?

A projection screen or SMART/Promethean board will be needed to show the YouTube video, “Life Cycle of a
Tree”. Computers or iPads will be needed for students to be able to explore “leaf-out” data and maps on the
Journey North website and to also post their own data of when our adopted tree has “leaf-out”.

Describe how the following features are addressed in this learning experience (note: all of them may not be
addressed in the project, but most should be if you are reaching a high LoTi Level).
a. Collaboration with peers, near-peers, mentors outside their classroom and often beyond their
school: Collaboration with others outside the classroom will be addressed when students explore the
Journey North website. They will explore others posted data about trees in different areas around the
U.S. that have already bloomed in the springtime. Students will also be posting their own data about
our adopted tree when its leaves have emerged.

Spring 2018_SJB
Online Projects, Collaboration Sites and Publishing Opportunities
b. Student-centered learning and knowledge creation (creating original data and or producing original
products as a result of engaging in a project): Students will be creating their own original data when
they are documenting the growing size of the leaves on our adopted tree. Students will also be
producing their own 3-D model of the life cycle of a tree.

c. Higher-order thinking: This lesson presents higher-order thinking because the students are collecting
their own data about our adopted tree’s transition into springtime and by also creating their own 3-D
models of the life cycle of a tree.

d. Students publishing their original work to others who will use/care about their product: Students
completed 3-D models will be published to the classroom blog for other students and parents to view.
The students will also be uploading their original data of our adopted tree to the website Journey
North.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):


☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):


☐ Level 1: Awareness ☐ Level 2: Exploration ☐ Level 3: Infusion ☐ Level 4: Integration
☒ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):


This lesson supports Universal Design for Learning because students are collecting their own data about our
adopted tree’s transition into springtime and by also creating their own 3-D models of the life cycle of a tree.
This lesson is great for more hands-on learning and also keeping students engaged.

Lesson idea implementation and Internet Safety Policies:


When students are publishing to the Journey North website, only their first names will be used to comply with
the district’s Internet Safety and Student Privacy policies. The 3-D models published to the classroom blog will
be password protected to also ensure student privacy.

Reflective Practice:
After designing this lesson, I feel these activities I have created could impact student learning by engaging
them in the material and it allows students to create and explore. To further extend this lesson, the class
could plant its own plant and observe the life cycle. It could then be compared the differences and similarities
to the life cycle of the plant to a tree.

Spring 2018_SJB

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