Links:
ENTICING ECOLOGY!
OBJETIVE:
Create original methods to deliver instruction to elementary students based on ecological roles and concepts.
Contact elementary school staff with proposal to use their method in classroom instruction.
Rehearse and deliver instruction.
PRIOR LEARNING:
Elementary level knowledge of different animal classes and species.
MATERIALS:
As per student
Computer with internet access.
Secondary Biology textbook
Reference books from school library
Available telephone
Student required materials dependant upon their instruction needs
WEBSITES/SUGGESTIONS:
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/9/co18.html
http://www.beth.k12.pa.us/esol/do-km-spro5.html
http://teens.lovetoknow.com/Peer_Tutoring_Programs
ROLES IN LESSON:
STUDENT:
Determines mode of instruction as well as curriculum
Contacts teacher and principal of school they wish to provide instruction at.
TEACHER:
Provide assistance with obtaining materials needed.
Provides check points and feedback for student progress
Reviews final product before it is approved for presentation to elementary students
WRAP UP:
Students hand in work for final evaluation
Students coordinate their school visits
ASSESSMENT:
Enticing Ecology Rubric
NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS:
STANDARD 4
Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Key Idea 6:
Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
Major Understandings
6.1a Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, typically from the Sun, through
photosynthetic organisms including green plants and algae, to herbivores to carnivores
and decomposers.
6.1b The atoms and molecules on the Earth cycle among the living and nonliving components
of the biosphere. For example, carbon dioxide and water molecules used in photosynthesis to form energy-rich organic compounds are returned to the environment when the energy in these compounds is eventually released by cells. Continual input of energy from sunlight keeps the process going. This concept may be illustrated with an energy pyramid.
6.1c The chemical elements, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, that make
up the molecules of living things pass through food webs and are combined and recombined
in different ways. At each link in a food web, some energy is stored in newly made structures but much is dissipated into the environment as heat.
6.1d The number of organisms any habitat can support (carrying capacity) is limited by
the available energy, water, oxygen, and minerals, and by the ability of ecosystems to
recycle the residue of dead organisms through the activities of bacteria and fungi.
6.1e In any particular environment, the growth and survival of organisms depend on
the physical conditions including light intensity, temperature range, mineral availability,
soil/rock type, and relative acidity (pH).
6.1f Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of unlimited size, but
environments and resources are finite. This has profound effects on the interactions
among organisms.
6.1g Relationships between organisms may be negative, neutral, or positive. Some
organisms may interact with one another in several ways. They may be in a producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host relationship; or one organism may cause disease in, scavenge, or decompose another.
PRENTICE HALL REVIEW BOOK TOPIC:
Topic 6- Ecology
EXTENSION/IDEAS:
Students can create coloring books, create skits for elementary students to act out, board games, etc.
The lesson should be one that elementary classroom teacher can use in future y