Classroom Activities
Prior to this unit, students have been taught the sequential practice of using the scientific method and all its parts: observation (question, predict), hypothesis (educated guess), experiment (test it), results (collect data), and conclusion (summarize). At the beginning of each unit, students have concepts introduced using interactive notebooks. We gauge prior knowledge, introduce the concept, and make symbolic representations from premade notes to give context to what is being taught. We will consider each lesson taking 45 minutes.
Lesson 1: Students begin with the phenomenon of using a prism to separate white light into the colors of the rainbow (best done outside using natural sunlight). As students inquire about what is going on, they journal their findings by taking notes and drawing pictures. After 10 minutes, we come back to the classroom and share out our findings. The concept of refraction is discussed, leading to the colors of the rainbow and ROYGBIV. Conclusions are drawn, leading into tomorrow’s lesson.
Lesson 2: We start off by reviewing what took place with the prism and how light was refracted. We lead this into another demonstration with a clear glass, water, a sticky note with a smiley face drawn on it, and a pencil. Start off with the face on the sticky note centered under the clear, empty glass where it is visible. Review the idea of angles and what 45 degrees is. Have students place their eyes 45ᵒ’s above the glass so they can see the face through the side of the glass. Another student pours water into the glass (about 2/3’s full) and they observe the face disappear. Phenomenon is discussed and journaling takes place. After adequate time is given, provide paper towels and have them stick their thumb into the water of the glass and see what takes place (their thumb will get bigger). Finally, insert a pencil in the glass with the water in it and observe what happens (pencil looks bent). Students journal and share out their ideas of refraction and what is taking place (light travels slower through glass and water than it does through air). Students share out ideas and conclusions are drawn.
Lessons 3 & 4: We review what took place the past two lessons and infer that there is more to light than just being able to see. Students are introduced to the Electromagnetic Spectrum and all seven of its parts with attention paid to the visible light spectrum. After discussion, I point out the idea that light is energy and energy can be measured by what we call a transverse wave. We then discuss a cartesian coordinate system and how it relates to graphs and measurement (keeping it basic, but applicable). I then narrow it to the components of the transverse wave and its main parts and definitions (x-axis, y-axis, peak/crest, trough, wavelength/type of light, amplitude/intensity, and frequency). After the idea of light energy traveling in a wave is covered, I touch on how light can also be classified as a particle, or photon. These are abstract concepts, and along with the math involved, I give several examples for the students to relate to. I have split this lesson in two parts because so much is going on and several students will need more time with these concepts. Students share out, journal, and have discussions on their findings.
Lesson 5: While teaching photosynthesis we can start off with three demonstrations to show some of these processes in action. 1) In the morning, bring the children outside and have them place a zip lock bag around a green leaf of a tree (zip it shut as close as you can to the stem of the leaf). Come back out at the end of the day and the children observe the bag full of moisture. This is the plant releasing water from photosynthesis in a part of the water cycle known as transpiration. 2) Show the children you are covering healthy grass with a board. Come back in a couple days and lift it up showing yellow grass. This is the green chlorophyll production slowing from a lack of sunlight and one of the other pigments in the chlorophyll like xanthophylls is showing (making the grass turn yellow). 3) Take a piece of romaine lettuce and put it in a clear glass jar almost full of water. Invert it in a pan with water in it and stick it in direct sunlight. Come back in a couple hours and you will see bubbles forming on the lettuce. This is oxygen being released from the leaf performing photosynthesis. This one is most interesting because you would think the lettuce is dead, but it can still perform this extraordinary process!
Lesson 6: For this lesson, have students bring in pictures of different kinds of plants, bugs, and animals (both aquatic and terrestrial). Mount pictures on cardstock, laminate, and write a number on the back of each one. Students are assigned numbers through random sampling of the organism that corresponds to the number chosen. Students then research their organism, finding out its habitat, niche in that community, predator, prey, producer, a consumer (primary, secondary, tertiary), decomposer, parasite, or host. After researching, students write a summary of their findings. All animal pictures are then put in a box for students in assigned groups to get 5 organisms (pictures) through random sampling. For the lesson to flow better, separate organisms into groups of land, water and habitat (depending on pictures of organisms). Groups take their organisms and create simple food chains with the other groups critiquing them. After everyone agrees, groups combine their food chains and make complex food webs. Students then share out their findings focusing on interdependence, systems, and relationships questioning if they are competitive or mutually beneficial to one another. This lesson should take three class periods.
Lesson 7: In this lesson, students will examine how much a tertiary consumer / apex predator needs to eat in order to sustain the energy required to survive. Before this activity, students will need to be taught how 10% of the actual energy stored in an organism is passed on when it is consumed by another. Students use the same pictures (from previous lesson) with the teacher selecting tertiary consumer / apex predator assigned to groups (all other organism pictures are placed in a box). Each group draws one organism out of the box. Groups must determine where their consumer / predator (and what they are getting ready to eat) is located at in the energy pyramid. After everyone in the group agrees, they must then deduce how much of this organism needs to be consumed in order to meet their required needs to survive. In an example, you are a grizzly bear and you drew a picture of a salmon. Where is each organism in an energy pyramid and how many salmon must this predator consume to survive? This may require students performing additional research to find out eating habits and sustainability of certain creatures.
Lesson 8: After completion of a unit, I hold a Social Discourse Circle. Students make a large group circle and use “sentence starters” which are posted in the room to help them respond to a question generated. I start the discourse with a general opinion or statement like, “What is better, Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes”? Someone starts off by answering the question and then someone either agrees or disagrees with them. The key is that they must use a preselected sentence starter (listed below) leading them into a conversation. My goal is for them to appreciate what other’s viewpoints are and what they have to say. I also want to teach them how they don’t necessarily have to agree with someone, if they can back up a response with an intelligent reply. The hardest part is having them not talk over one another and to wait their turn. A strategy I use involves two talking sticks. When someone wants to speak, they stick their hand out, silently asking for the stick and permission to speak next. After the conversation has taken its course, a new question is generated. My main questions for this unit discussion would be: How is life sustained on this planet of ours? & How is energy transferred from one organism to another on this planet? This leads into the culminating project of how energy is transferred in a food chain.
Discourse Sentence Starters:
“I see...”
“I noticed...”
“I think that...”
“My idea is...”
“The reason I think that is...”
“My evidence is...”
“I think it’s true because...”
“How come...”
“Can you say more about...”
“I agree with ____ because...”
“I disagree with ____ because...”
“I want to add to what ____ said...”
“I want to piggyback on ____’s idea...”
Lesson 9: Our final lesson is a culminating project of this unit where a student creates a diorama or power point of an animal (of their choice) and its niche in a food chain. Students select an animal, research it, and create a flow of energy from producer to decomposer and where “their choice” fits into its niche in a habitat. The diorama or power point project represents all these features in this complex chain from the source of its energy (the sun), to its death and energy / nutrient redistribution. Students must be able to explain interdependencies, relationships, and systems that their organism is a part of. The overarching goal is for the student to realize the energy flow, originating from the sun, how it transforms from one organism to another (producer to consumer), and how it is returned to Earth (decomposer) to start the process again.
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