The Human Connection to Animal Ecosystems

1. The Human Connection to Animal Ecosystems Unit Portfolio Presentation Trigette Spann

2. Unit Summary Students will develop an awareness of the interconnectedness of all animals and plants and human life through research, a written project, and by creating a model of their assigned ecosystem. Students will incorporate technology by creating their written component in a word processing program and by presenting a brief PowerPoint presentation accompanying their projects.

3. CFQs Essential Question: What does it mean to be safe? Unit Question: • Do you think it is important to preserve habitats and why? • What do you think would happen if your ecosystem were destroyed? Content Questions: • What are the roles of the biotic and the abiotic elements of your ecosystem? • What does the animal contribute to the ecosystem? • What does the animal take from its environment? • What is the condition of the animal’s population and habitat?

4. Vision for Unit By creating this unit, I want to • Integrate technology, a hands on project, and address students’ informational written expression. • Make students aware of their ability to contribute positively to improving the environment. During this unit, I want my students to • Develop an understanding of ecosystem functions. • Use technology to communicate with different audiences. • Present ways they can personally make a difference.

5. Project Approaches As my students work on this project, they • Connect the science objectives to their own lives • Create a product that shows what they’ve learned • Share their learning with a real audience

6. 21st Century Learning Students will develop higher-order and 21st century skills in this unit as they • Use the Essential and Unit Questions to guide their research to select relevant resources • Evaluate resources for credibility, accuracy, and timeliness • Communicate their ideas to a classroom audience • Reflect on their reading, writing, research, and thinking strategies, and modify and adapt them as necessary • Use project assessments to self-assess their work and give feedback to their peers

7. Gauging Student Needs Assessments • Use Circle Thinking Map to learn • Students’ ideas about how ecosystems work • Background knowledge of various ecosystems • Assess 21st Century skills to determine • Ability to see connections between various ecosystems and human life

8. Gauging Student Needs Assessments I can use the information from these assessments to: • Focus on the concepts that students have prior misconceptions about • Plan activities in which they will answer their questions Students can use the information from these assessments to: • Compare their prior and current knowledge • Set goals for how they will address what they need to learn about the unit

9. Requests for Feedback • Need ways to help students understand the play without paraphrasing and summarizing it for them • Need help assessing students’ higher-order thinking skills

10. Works Cited "Belize." Top Things to Do. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. <http://www.top- things-to-do.com/central-america/coral-reefs.jpg>. Hall, Charles. "Ecology." World Book Student Online. World Book. Web. 15 June 2010. <http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id= ar173240&st=ecology>. National Geographic Kids. National Geographic, 2009. Web. 15 Apr. 2010. <http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/>. Varlos, Laura. "Nine Essential Instructional Strategies." Welcome to MiddleWeb's Middle School Resources! Middle Web Listserv, Jan. 2002. Web. 15 June 2010. <http://www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/marzchat1.html>.