Classifying Organisms Using the Internet and Smart Board

1. Classifying Organisms Using the Internet and Smart Board Michelle Ledford The College of New Jersey

2. Introduction

3. Introduction The following lessons were implemented within a simultaneous communication sophomore Biology class within a high school for the deaf. The students within this class ranged in age from 15-17. The time frame for this unit was approximately two weeks. Included within this time frame was preparation time, as well as the time needed to create the newly discovered organism. The idea for these lessons was inspired by a unit created by Mary K. Bechold of Freehold Boro High School, Freehold, NJ. Specifically, the phylums and classes to be researched by the students, the traits within these phylums and classes to be researched, and portions of the rubric were adapted from Ms. Bechold’s lessons. A link for Ms. Bechold’s lessons can be obtained in the reference section of this document.

4. Goals

5. Goals Within the following lessons students will attempt to classify a newly discovered organism. This new organism will contain traits that would allow for it to fall into a number of different phylums and classes. It is the responsibility of each student to label the kingdom, phylum, and class that they feel best describes their organism. The students will also create a PowerPoint Presentation that will educate their classmates on this newly discovered organism. A diagram of the organism will also be created by each of the students. A rubric will be presented so that the students are fully aware of the teacher’s expectations.

6. Objectives

7. Objectives • SWBAT select a phylum and class for their organism that will correspond with each of the provided traits, and list these phylums and classes on the provided worksheet. - SWBAT research each of the selected phylums and classes, and indicate their findings under the “characteristics of phylum/class” column of the provided worksheet. - SWBAT construct their “newly discovered organism” based upon the information acquired during their Internet searches. - SWBAT classify the kingdom, phylum, class, genus, and species that they believe the organism belongs to. - SWBAT create a PowerPoint Presentation to display their findings of the newly discovered organism. - SWBAT give a presentation on their newly discovered organism using the Smart Board. - SWBAT objectively evaluate the presentations of their classmates using the provided evaluation sheet.

8. Standards

9. Standards These lessons adhere to the following New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards: Standard 1.3 – All students will utilize arts elements and arts media to produce artistic products and performances. Standard 5.1 (Scientific Processes) – All students will develop problem-solving, decision-making and inquiry skills, reflected by formulating usable questions and hypotheses, planning experiments, conductive systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating results.

10. Standards Standard 5.2 (Science and Society) – All students will develop an understanding of how people of various cultures have contributed to the advancement of science and technology, and how major discoveries and events have advanced science and technology. Standard 5.4 (Nature and Process of Technology) – All students will understand the interrelationships between science and technology and develop a conceptual understanding of the nature and process of technology.

11. Standards Standard 5.5 (Characteristics of Life) – All students will gain an understanding of the structure, characteristics, and basic needs of organisms and will investigate the diversity of life.

12. Unit Overview

13. Unit Overview Days 1-4 – Lesson Preparation Day 5 – Lesson introduction, selecting phylums and classes for each trait of the newly discovered organism, begin research Day 6 - Complete research, begin construction of creature Day 7 – Complete construction of creature, select a kingdom, phylum, class, genus, and species for organism

14. Unit Overview Day 8 – Create a PowerPoint Presentation to educate classmates about the newly discovered organism Days 9 & 10 – Present PowerPoint Presentations using the Smart Board

15. Lesson Preparation Days 1 to 4

16. Background Information Prior to beginning the lessons, in which the students would begin to classify their newly discovered creature, it is necessary to provide them with an introduction to classification. Within this preparation the students would be asked to define the word classify, and also to label things around them that are classified (grades within schools, aisles within a grocery store, etc.) Linneaus’ and Aristotle’s methods of classification would also be discussed.

17. Background Information One activity that I implemented to illustrate how scientists classify living organisms was illustrated by providing the students with different types of beans. The students worked with a partner to classify the beans using any rule they wished. The students began with one group, which they divided into two. They continued to divide the groups until there were eight groups. A sample of this division can be seen on the right side of this slide. The purpose of this activity was to display that scientists begin with very broad traits and move to very specific traits to classify organisms.

18. Background Information This activity was then related to a scientist’s use of classification beginning with the most broad (kingdoms) and moving towards much more specific traits (species). After the students had complete their classifications, each set of partners labels the rules they used for their methods of classifying. The purpose of this activity is to display that any rule can be used within classification as long as the person doing the classifying continuously adheres to that rule.

19. Lesson Introduction Day 5

20. Problem The teacher states to the student that they are to imagine that they are scientists who have just discovered a new organism on another planet, in a galaxy far away. It is now their mission to show and present their organisms to the scientific world. The teacher would then provide the students with a table, and indicate that the only information that they have on the creature is information regarding the traits listed on that table. (See Identifying Your Organism slides). At this time any new vocabulary would be discussed.

21. Problem The teacher would then state that they will be finding information to go along with these traits and then creating their own organisms based upon this information. The students would be informed that they will be creating a genus and species name for their creature as well at a later time. They would also be informed that they will making a PowerPoint presentation to describe their newly discovered organisms. At this time the teacher would present the students with the rubric that is to be used in grading this project. (See Rubric slides).

22. Listing of Materials

23. 10 party cups Labels for the cups Note cards with phylums and classes written on them Laptops Rubrics Worksheet – Identifying Your Organism Paper to create organism Scissors Glue Markers Crayons Textbooks Worksheet – Classifying Your Newly Discovered Creature Smart Board Evaluation Sheets Materials

24. Identifying Your Organism Worksheets

25. Identifying Your Organism Student’s Name __________________________________ Name of Organism ________________________________

26. Identifying Your Organism – Page 2

27. Identifying Your Organism – Page 3

28. Rubric

29. Rubric for Grading of the Newly Discovered Organism Project Name _________________________________________ Important! A rubric is a tool to help you earn a good grade on your project. This project is worth a lot of points, and it is very important that you read this paper so that you know what you are being graded on. It may help you to check off the items as you go along so that you know you have not forgotten anything. If you have any questions please ask! • When CompletedItem Being Graded Possible Points Points Received Work Ethic On task while _________ researching 10 ________ _________ Completed worksheet 10 ________ On task while making _________ creature 10 ________

30. Rubric for Grading of the Newly Discovered Organism Project • When CompletedItem Being Graded Possible Points Points Received On task while designing PowerPoint __________ Presentation 10 _______ Graded during presentation Provided a name for __________ creature 10 _______ Provided a kingdom, phylum, and class for __________ the creature 10 _______ Labeled reproduction __________ method of organism 5 _______

31. Rubric for Grading of the Newly Discovered Organism Project • When Completed Item Being Graded Possible Points Points Received Labeled how the animal ____________ eats 5 ________ Labeled the type of ____________ vision 5 ________ Labeled type of body ____________ covering 5 ________ Labeled how the organism is protected ____________ from predators 5 ________ Labeled if creature was warm blooded or ____________ cold blooded 5 ________

32. Rubric for Grading of the Newly Discovered Organism Project • When Completed Item Being Graded Possible Points Points Received Labeled if organism gives birth to live ___________ animals or lays eggs 5 ________ Labeled type of ___________ skeleton 5 ________ Labeled method of ___________ breathing 5 ________ Appropriate completion of evaluation sheets of ___________ classmates 5 ________

33. Rubric for Grading of the Newly Discovered Organism Project • When Complete Item Being Graded Possible Points Points Received Other Items Total creativity of __________ creature 15 ________ Total Points: _______/125 = _______ % Remember…If you have any questions – ask!!

34. Selecting Phylums and Classes Day 5

35. Selecting Phylums and Classes The teacher would explain to the students that they will be selecting a phylum and class for each of the traits listed within the first objective. Eleven party cups would be presented to the students, each labeled with a different trait, which are listed on the “Identifying Your Organism” worksheet. Inside each of the cups would be a card with each of the phylum/class combinations. (See following slide for listing of combinations).

36. Phylum/Class Combinations Phylum – Porifera Phylum – Cnidarian Phylum – Echinodermata Phylum – Molluska, Class – Bi-Valve Phylum – Molluska, Class – Cephalopod Phylum – Arthropod, Class – Crustacean Phylum – Chordata, Class – Chondrichthyes Phylum – Chordata, Class – Osteichthyes Phylum – Chordata, Class – Reptilia Phylum – Chordata, Class - Mammalia

37. Selecting Phylums and Classes The students would select a phylum/class card out of each of the cups that would correspond to each of the traits of their organisms. As the students select a phylum and class for each trait they would write the phylum and class onto the provided worksheet in the “assigned phylum/class” column.

38. Research Days 5 & 6

39. Research The students would use their laptops to acquire information for each phylum and class that they selected so that they may complete the provided worksheet.   The teacher would email the students the following links to help them begin their search: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/ http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nhi708/classify/animalia/ http://www.virtualology.com/virtualmuseumofnaturalhistory/halloftaxonomy/ In addition to using those websites given, the students would need to independently find other information on the Internet to complete their research.

40. Construction of Organism Days 6 & 7

41. Construction of Organism After the students have completed their research, they would begin construction of their newly discovered organism. The students would utilize the information acquired during their research to create this organism. The students would be given the choice of how they will construct their organism. They may either use their computers, or use the other materials provided to them including white paper, construction paper, glue, scissors, markers and crayons.

42. Selecting a Kingdom, Phylum, & Class Day 7

43. Selecting a kingdom, phylum, & class After creating the organism, the students will attempt to find the one kingdom, phylum, and class that they feel their organism best fits into. When selecting the phylum and class they must classify the creature using the traits that appear to be most important. The students are likely to become frustrated with this task, since the creature would be likely to fit into a number of phylums. When this occurs, the teacher would take the opportunity to explain how difficult it is for scientists to classify newly discovered creatures.

44. Selecting a kingdom, phylum & class The students would be reminded that there is no “right” or “wrong” means of classification as long as you can justify the rules that were used. The students would then complete the following worksheet while classifying their organism. (See following slides). The purpose of this worksheet is to assist the students in the process of classification. The students would select a genus and species name for their organism on this day. The students would be reminded that the genus describes the body structure, while the species is often named after the person who discovered the creature.

45. Classifying Your Newly Discovered Organism Worksheets

46. Name ____________________________________ Date ____________________Classifying Your Newly Discovered Organism1. What kingdom did you place your organism into?2. Why did you select this kingdom?3. What phylum did you place your organism into?4. Why did you choose this phylum? List the traits that you felt were most important when classifying your organism into a phylum.

47. Classifying Your Newly Discovered Organism – Page 25. How did you decide which traits were more important than others in your classification?6. What class did you classify your creature into?7. Why did you choose this class? List the traits that you felt were most important when classifying your creature into a class.8. If you can justify your reasons for classifying your creature in this way, can anyone tell you that you are incorrect?

48. Creating a PowerPoint Presentation Day 8

49. Creating a PowerPoint Presentation The students will then prepare a PowerPoint Presentation, which would contain information regarding each of the different traits of the newly discovered creature. The PowerPoint Presentation would also include the final kingdom, phylum, class, genus, and species selected by each of the students. If students are having difficulties with this task the teacher may suggest that the make a slide for each of the different traits of their creature.

50. Presenting the PowerPointPresentations Days 9 & 10