Unit Of Practice
The
purpose of this UOP is to introduce my students to the nature/life sciences and
desert habitats. They will need to
research a desert plant and an animal, and then share their information with the
class. I will make available books
and Encarta for their use. This
unit will be an interdisciplinary study of a life science area that will
incorporate language arts, art, reading and writing as well as science.
The completed projects build on the students’ basic knowledge of
writing and sentence structure and assign them a report to complete.
I
teach in a multi-grade setting and will gear assignments accordingly.
Listed below are the standards that will be met in this unit.
FIRST GRADE
GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS
STUDENTS WILL:
THIRD GRADE
GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS
STUDENTS WILL:
1.
Construct a map using map key and symbols, map scale, title, compass rose
including intermediate directions, and boundaries.
THIRD
GRADE READING STANDARDS
THIRD GRADE
WRITING STANDARDS
Introduction
lesson will include some basic vocabulary words and what the meanings of them
are, such as habitat, cactus, and weather.
We will make a list of things that we need in our human habitat and
compare it to a list of things in a desert animal habitat.
This will include the weather of a desert and the basic climate.
Incorporating the Power Point show will be a part of this lesson.
The
next step will involve the students picking a desert animal and creating the
creature out of clay and researching and writing a short report on it to present
to the class. This project will
involve two class periods. This
animal will be saved to become part of the final project to be completed
The
next two lessons will be about picking a plant that is found in the desert and
making it out of either clay or paper and writing and presenting the report to
the class. This project must also
be saved for the shadow box biome project.
The
students will create a simple map of a desert and create a key that includes the
following – basic directions, landforms, a key showing plant life, animal
life, depending on the grade of the student.
The students will need to use markers, paint and pencil and paper to
complete this project.
The
final project will be a shoebox biome of the desert and will need to incorporate
the previously made projects. To
complete their projects students will need to have a shoebox, construction
paper, glue, clay, sand, paint, markers, and scissors.
The project will include the animal and plant that was previously made.
Here
is a list of classroom resources that will be used be either the student or
myself to use.
v
The Living
Desert by Dinah Brown
v
1000Facts
about the Earth by Moria Butterfield -- Pages 36 & 37: 44 & 45
v
Science
is…. By Susan v Bosak – Page
80, and 356
For
this unit there will be some group interaction and the rest will be individual
effort. Each student will be
involved in the role of researcher, summarizer and producer. I will have to directly instruct them in the processes
involved to complete the projects. The
projects will be graded by the rubrics created for each project.
The
activities will take place in the classroom.
The students will need to make use of the computer and Kid Pix program to
complete their reports. There will
need to be a table with the supplies necessary to complete the 3-dimensional
projects. I am planning to
allow for two class periods to work on projects during the Guided Reading time.
There will be due dates for projects and ample time to get them completed.
Below
will be the rubrics for the 3-dimensional projects and reports and the final
project.
Is
the creation recognizable? |
5
points |
|
Are
all the body parts there? |
5
Points |
|
Did
the student clean up the work site? |
5
points |
|
|
|
|
Does the report follow the correct format? |
5 points |
|
Are the sentences complete and correctly written? |
5 points |
|
Is the information accurate and in their own words? |
5 points |
|
|
|
|
Is
there good use of color? |
5 points |
|
Is it realistic looking? |
5 points |
|
Is it neat in appearance? |
5 points |
|
Did they clean up after working on the project? |
5 points |
|
Did the student stay on task and work quietly? |
5 points |
|
|
|
|
TOOLS
The
main resources that the students will use will be books of reference about
deserts, the encyclopedia, and Encarta. The
students will have had to previously had practice with report forms.
They will have studied their own habitat and what is needed for their own
existence.