Vernal Pool Research Investigation

1. Vernal Pool Research Investigation Cindy Malone

2. Ecology of A Vernal Pool LESSON FOCUS - Integrating Science in Reading Mini Unit integrating reading into science content during a two week span in a 30 to 40 minute science block. This unit is intended for grade 4 but the unit could be edited for grades 3 and 5.

3. Core Standards • Reading Standards for Informational Text: • Key Ideas and Details • Grade 4 – • Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and • when drawing inferences from the text. • Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details: • summarize the text. • Science Standards: • Ecology • Explain ways that individuals and groups of organisms interact with each other and their environment. • Identify and describe the interactions of organisms present in a habitat. • Competition for space, food, and water • Beneficial interactions: nesting, pollination, seed dispersal, oysters filtering as in the • Chesapeake Bay, etc. • Roles within food chains and webs: scavengers, decomposers, producers, consumers.

4. Objectives • LEARNING OBJECTIVE • Students will be able to identify the characteristics of vernal pools. • Students will be able to identify the 3 phases of a vernal pool • Students will be able to identify at least 5 animals and plants that grow • and develop in vernal pools • All students will be able to explain the importance of vernal pools to the • environment. • Students will be able to identify some text features that helped them • understand the main idea of the texts in the lesson. • Students will be able to tell the main ideas of the texts provided for • the activity

5. MATERIALS • Stick it notes • Station scavenger hunt cards • Chart paper • 10 copies of the Vernal Pool Article • At least 2 copies of Big Night for salamanders • At least 2 copies of Frog Heaven • 1 copy of All the Water in the World • Computers (at least 5) • Models of spotted salamanders, or other creatures that live • in vernal pools • Chart with learning objectives for the lesson posted but the objectives • will be covered (they will be connected to the discussion of what the • children learned about Vernal Pools at the end of the lesson) • Vernal pool learning logs for each student • Chart with Vocabulary (to be discussed at the end of the lesson • during the whole group discussion) • Vernal pool partner cards • text feature reference card (for station E) • Pool hotlist up on computer ready to go for station D • Frog Hat

6. BOOKS USED FOR THE LESSON Frog Heaven Ecology of a Vernal Pool, Big Night for Salamanders All the Water in the World

7. PREPARING TO Read

8. Learning Logs to be used throughout the investigation

9. Before Reading Strategies • The Introduction of the lesson is being taught in the form of a • Directed Reading Thinking Activity. DRTA • Predicting • Anticipation Guide • Self Questioning • Sharing Pairs

10. Key Vocabulary Strategy Incorporating Science Vocabulary words into the lesson: Students will also be directed to choose one page in the learning Log to be their “Unusual/Words I liked Page”. On this page they will make a list of words from the stations they encounter that are unusual or a word they liked. At the end of the lesson we will discuss these words in our class discussion. Students will be allowed to record these words on a chart that will stay displayed in the classroom throughout the unit.

11. Key Vocabulary • migration • obligate species • dormant • watershed • ecosystem • food web • temporary wetland • depression

12. Anticipation Guide

13. Setting Our Purposes For Reading During Reading Strategies: Research Procedure: Student pairs will be rotating to 5 areas in the room to learn information about Vernal pools. The teacher will go to each station and display the book or article and read the title with the students. A small exert from each selection will be shared aloud with the students . Students will be told that they will find the answers to their prereading questions and the anticipation guide statements by spending time at each station to read about vernal pools. Explain that there will be a scavenger hunt card at each station that the students will be required to complete together. All information collected at each area will be recorded in their Vernal Pool Learning Logs.

14. Vernal Pool Scavenger Hunt Card - Station A • Frog Heaven Ecology of a Vernal Pool • Record your answers in your learning log. • Are vernal pools protected in your state? • Describe some of the plants and animals that depend on vernal pools. • Identify 3 text features that helped you understand the text and • tell in • a few short sentences, how they helped you. • Discuss the meaning of the diagram on page 22 with your partner. • Write a few sentences telling what you learned from the diagram. • Identify some reasons Vernal Pools are disappearing. • List any questions you still have about Vernal Pools in your • Learning Log. • Don’t forget to list some unusual vocabulary words or words you liked • from the text.

15. Vernal Pool Scavenger Hunt Card - Station B • Vernal Pool Video Clip • Record your answers in your learning log. • After viewing the video, discuss some of the information you learned in from the video. • Describe some of the plants and animals that depend on vernal • pools in California. • Why can’t animals that live in vernal pools live in a pond? • Record 3 facts you learned about Vernal Pool from the movie. • Draw and color your Vernal Pool protection poster incorporating • at least 3 facts you learned from the video. • List any questions you still have about Vernal Pools in your • Learning Log. • Don’t forget to add any unusual vocabulary words, or words you • liked to your Vernal Pool vocabulary list in your learning log. • http://www.sacsplash.org/our-curricula/elementary-curriculum-investigating-vernal-pools/video-mysteries-vernal-pools

16. Vernal Pool Scavenger Hunt Card - Station c • Big Night for Salamanders • Record your answers in your learning log. • Describe the problem in the story? • In your learning log, explain three real scientific facts you learned about the spotted salamander from this story. • How do the spotted salamanders depend on Vernal Pools? • Why do you think this story is called Big Night? • (There is support directly in the text for this one.) • List any questions you still have about Vernal Pools in your Learning Log. • Don’t forget to list any unusual words or words you likes from the story.

17. Vernal Pool Scavenger Hunt Card - Station D • Vernal Pool Computer Research • Record your answers in your learning log. • Visit the links on the hot list to learn information about Vernal Pools. • Describe some of the plants and animals that depend on vernal pools • to live and reproduce. • Why can’t animals that live in vernal pools live in a pond? • Record 3 facts you learned about Vernal Pool from the various sites. • List any questions you still have about Vernal Pools in your Learning Log. • Don’t forget to record any rare or words you liked from the sites in your • Learning log vocabulary list.

18. Station D - Vernal Pool Hot List http://www.sacsplash.org/vernal-pools-mather-field/what-vernal-pool http://www.vernalpool.org/ed-pr-01.htm http://www.dougwechsler.com/pages/reviews.html http://www.vernalpool.org/vpinfo_1.htm http://www.vernalpool.org/ http://www.epa.gov/bioiweb1/html/vernal_pool_construction.html http://www.u-s-c.org/html/vpreferencelist.htm http://www.epa.gov/reg3esd1/wetlands/vernal_pool.htm

19. Vernal Pool Scavenger Hunt Card - Station E • Vernal Pool Articles • Record your answers in your learning log. • Why are Vernal Pool important to Delaware? • Describe some of the plants and animals that depend on vernal pools in Delaware. • What text features could the author have added to the articles to make them more • interesting? • Choose a visual text feature the author could have added and draw and color it in • your learning log. • Use the Text feature reference card to help you with this question. • Why can’t animals that live in vernal pools live in a pond? • List any questions you still have about Vernal Pools in your Learning Log. • Don’t forget to record in your Learning Log, any rare or unusual words you • discovered from the article.

20. Explain to the class that our goal is to learn as much as possible about Vernal Pools from our research station rotations and that when we come back together as a class at the end of the lesson, we should all be experts on vernal pools and will look back at the statements on the anticipation guide and our prereading questions to evaluate our learning from the research investigation.

21. After Reading Strategies • Meet back together as a group. • Review prereading questions posted on our chart to • see how many of the them we can answer from our • investigation. • Students will be asked to share some of the • information they learned that surprised them about • Vernal pools? • Look back at some of the questions from the • scavenger hunt cards and discuss their answers. • Ask volunteers to summarize the main ideas of each of • the texts from the investigations at each station.

22. Discussion Questions after the Investigation • What distinctions can be made about vernal pools or wetlands in our • community? • How are Vernal Pools different from other wetland environments? • Describe some of the special features of a Vernal Pool ? • Why are some Vernal Pools and wetlands in danger? • Describe the effects the destruction of vernal pools have on • the larger ecosystem? • Explain the value of Vernal Pools to our environment and cycle of life.

23. Each student will choose one of the key vocabulary words from our investigation to work through the Frayer model to share for our next class.

24. Project Based Learning Activity Real World Application Lesson: Since Maryland doesn’t have any laws for protecting Vernal pools students will be asked to write an action plan, in their learning log, for preserving Vernal Pools in Maryland. They will be informed that in order for our action plans to make a difference they need to be shared with public officials so we will be sending our plans to our local newspaper and government officials to publicize this ecological need. http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3867

25. Writing to Learn Activities A discussion about the factual information that they would want to include in their plan will follow. Students will be allowed to return to the reference stations to collect additional data in a graphic organizer to include in their action plans. Rough drafts of the plan will be written in their learning logs. Final copies of the action plans will be typed on the computer and posted on our Vernal Pool Wiki.

26. Summative Assessment Vernal Pool Maryland Brochure How can Maryland Protect It’s Vernal Pools? Two follow-up lessons will be conducted where students will create brochures using Microsoft Publisher. The objective for the brochure will be for students to explain the value of Vernal Pools to Maryland’s ecosystem. I will explain that the brochures could be distributed to the community to make them aware of the need for Vernal Pools to our community. http://personal.us.es/egarji/escritura_rubrics_G6WAER.pdf

27. Vernal Pool Brochure Checklist • Provided a brief description of a vernal pool habitat • Described the types of animals that live in vernal pools and their function • and role in the food chain. • Included a short paragraph about the connection vernal pools have to the • larger water shed and the environment. • Included at least 3 details describing the impact of the loss of vernal pools • to Eastern Shore communities. • Provided at least three methods for the protection of vernal pools. • Included persuasive language in the brochure. • Included a variety of visuals and graphics • All information in the brochure can be supported by resource links from • our reading and the group research investigations.

28. Holistic Brochure Rubric Assessment http://www1.kent.k12.wa.us/curriculum/tech/k6/3/puget_sound/evaluation.htm

29. Differentiation VERNAL POOL MODELS Those that finish early or who can not work at one of the research stations will build models to show the changes that occur in vernal pools throughout the year as the seasons change. They will include written captions to explain the shape and geologic composition of the earth and the effects weather, rain and sun have on the pools, and the resulting changes in flora and fauna of the vernal pool ecosystems.

30. VISIT A VERNAL POOL – Use links from Wiki I will plan a walking trip to explore a vernal pool in our community. Students would be asked to carefully observe and record the types and numbers of different plants and animals that they observe in the vernal pool. When we return to school, we would create a mural to display in the hall of what we saw and learned about in the vernal pool creatures.