Rationale
This is the first year that the state of North Carolina has elevated the fifth grade Science test as a "gate-way" test. The Science End of Grade (EOG) test has been placed on the same level as Reading and Math EOG's. Schools are often judged by the public on how the students score on the EOG's. These facts have had a great impact on the teaching of Science at the elementary level. Testing our students in science is stretching our teaching of science!
During the second quarter of fifth grade I am assigned to teach Ecosystems. The competency goal is: "The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals." For the last few years I have taught Ecosystems by dividing North Carolina into 13 regions and having cooperative learning groups research the ecosystem, prepare a poster and give a report to the entire class about their region. This has been marginally successful. As a reflective teacher I was searching for a way to study this goal in a highly motivational way. Dr. John P. Wargo, professor of Environmental Risk Analysis and Policy at Yale University, and I discussed looking at the topic through the lens of endangered animals. I want my students to first become aware of the problems of species that are endangered and then to play an active role in becoming part of the solution.
My objectives for this unit include describing and comparing several common ecosystems as well as identifying and analyzing the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystems. My students will also be able to explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms and determine the interaction of those organisms within the ecosystems. The students will be able to discuss and determine the role of light, temperature, and soil composition within an ecosystem's capacity to support life. Students will also determine how materials are recycled in nature. As students study ecosystems they will become acquainted with what happens when changes occur such as the environment becomes overpopulated and the use of resources increases. Students will explore ecosystems in our local environments, focusing on the interactions between living and nonliving things. They will look at food webs within ecosystems and describe the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers while examining the energy flow from one organism to another in a food web.
This unit will focus on the effect human population growth and human activities play in threatening the earth's habitat and capacity to sustain life. Students will learn the goal and objectives in addition to ways to become good caretakers of our environment through the lens of human impact on these endangered animals.
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