Animal Studies 3 rd Grade

1. Animal Studies3rd Grade Meaghan Britton Dr. Cowan ED 307

2. 21st Century Objectives • Communication and Collaboration • Critical Thinking • Problem-based

3. Course of Study • Science: 10.) Investigate how variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing (e.g., plants having larger thorns being less likely to be eaten by predators, animals having better camouflage coloration being more likely to survive and bear offspring). • Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?grade=3&subject=SC2015&summary=2

4. Materials • Presentation resources • Science Notebook • Video • Chart paper • Markers • Rubric • Prezi • Computers (Internet) • Projector Grouping • Heterogeneous grouping of 2 to 3 students per group

5. Flipped Approach • Prior to the lesson, students will watch the prezi (link below) and select 2 animals that they are interested in researching. • This will be how groups are determined. • http://prezi.com/rmths6sbxlqe/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

6. Introduction • To start off the lesson, I will ask my students questions such as, “what is the difference between endangered and extinct?” Based on the prezi they were suppose to watch the night before, the students should have no problem participating in the discussion. • We will then watch a short clip about animal studies, focusing on the difference between endangered and extinct. • http://ed.ted.com/on/dYUd8pjt#discussion

7. Scenario • After viewing the short video clip, I will have my students get into groups and discuss the importance of protecting endangered species, how foreign species affect other organisms, and how plant and animal species can lose their habitat. Students will record their thoughts on chart paper. Each group will present their group’s thoughts to the class.

8. Student Activities • Each group will select one endangered animal from the prezi. Within each group, students will discuss one problem that they can research and develop a solution for it. • For example, groups may come up with a question like, “How can we save the habitat of the ______ animal?” • Students will research the animal their group chose and list possible solution(s) for their question that their group came up with. • As a group, students will decide which solution they came up with is the most reasonable. For example, one group may decide to write letters to House Representatives about protecting their animal’s habitat. Another group might write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. • Each group will have the decision to present their learning by choosing: creating a prezi, ThingLink, IMovie (a commercial), Plotagon, or any other appropriate resources.

9. Presentation • Each group will present their learning outcomes by whichever resource their group decided on. Each group will share their problem and their solution that they developed for their animal. • Each group will answers questions from the class and me.

10. Debriefing/Discussion • After each group has presented their solution to their problem, we will have a classroom discussion on have effective the solutions to each problem would be. Students could provide alternate solutions to each other’s problem.

11. Assessment • Students will be graded accordingly from the rubric below. • file:///Users/MeaghanBritton/Desktop/Rubric-%20Animal%20Studies.htm • Students will also be assessed by their individual blog. In their blog they will include: what they learned about endangered animals and extinct animals, what they learned about their animal, how they can find solutions, what they enjoyed the most about the project, how well their group worked together, and if they would want to do something similar like this again.

12. Resources • Cooperative, W., 7, E. S. A., 7, C., & Services, I. (2010). Courses of study. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from http://alex.state.al.us/standardAll.php?grade=3&subject=SC2015&summary=2 • Cooperative, W., 7, E. S. A., 7, C., & Services, I. (2010b). ALEX lesson plan: Animal studies. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from http://alex.state.al.us/lesson_view.php?id=11690 • Staff, T. (2015, November 8). 8 steps to design problem-based learning in your classroom. Retrieved December 1, 2016, from Project-Based Learning, http://www.teachthought.com/learning/project-based-learning/8-steps-to-design-problem-based-learning-in-your-classroom/ • Educational video of the week: Endangered species. (2013, November 26). Retrieved December 1, 2016, from http://ed.ted.com/on/dYUd8pjt#discussion • In-text citations: ngRepeat: (key, value) in bib.citations track by $index (“Educational video of the week: Endangered species,” 2013)