Daily PBL Plans: Create an Ecosystem

Monday
Pre-Assessment:
Assess ability to pull
from different sources
and synthesize in a
meaningful way.
*Using two articles on a
related topic, students
will synthesize and ask
questions about the topic,
and indicate which article
is best for finding certain
information.

Tuesday
Pre-Assess:
Knowledge about
ecosystems and
adaptations

Week # 1

Wednesday
Front Load:
Direct lesson on
ecosystems, including
food chain and
interdependence (focus
Entry Event:
on relationship between
Video:
plants herbivore
https://www.youtube.com/ omnivore carnivore).
watch?v=UyazPTy712k
Lesson will reflect needs
*Stop after each food web evident from prechain; discuss herbivore
assessment.
behavior, carnivore
behavior.
Introduce:
Introduce the project to
Writing Assessment:
students. Tell what they
In Ecosystem journal:
will be expected to do
*Questions: What link in
with their group. They
the chain would you want will be expected to each
to be? Why? How would
play a role of either a
your behavior be different plant, herbivore,
if you were an herbivore
omnivore, or carnivore
than if you were a
and will create a fictional
carnivore? What if you
ecosystem with their
were a plant? What
group.
adaptations (physical or
behavioral) would be
Group Work:
helpful for your survival
Have students in groups
of 4, each student will
EL Strategies:
have a role (plant,
*Group Discussion
herbivore, omnivore,
*Visuals
carnivore) with each role
*Strategic partnering
filled by a different

Dates___________________________
Thursday
Front Load:
Direct lesson on
environments/biomes
(arctic tundra, ocean, rain
forest, desert, prairie,
forest/mountain,
freshwater pond/lake)

Friday
Front Load:
Direct instruction on
animal classifications
(mammal, fish, reptile,
amphibian, bird). Include
video from the library on
animal classifications.

Pre-Assessment:
Assessment goal is to see
what students know about
adaptations and
differences in plants and
animals in different
environments.
Assign each group a
specific environment that
will house their
ecosystem. Students will
write what they think
plants and animals will
need to survive there.

Application:
Students decide as a team
how many and which
animal roles will be
different animal
classifications. Each
ecosystem should include
2-3 different animal
classifications. Even the
ocean habitat can at least
have fish and mammal,
and group can include a
bird if it is near a
coastline. They will need
to decide how the plant
will play into the food
web for the herbivore and
if any changes will need
to be made for the
classification of
herbivore.
-The broader ecosystem
can include insects and
spiders, but these will not

Team Discussion:
Compare thoughts about
writing topic. Look for
common threads,
agreements/
disagreements.
EL Strategies:
*Group Discussion

student.
**If students have
*difficulty deciding who
will fill a role, assign
randomly**
Student will create a page
in their journal with the
heading of their role, and
why they chose that role.
They will keep this page
and the facing page clear
for entries with facts
about their plant/animal.
EL Strategies:
*Group discussion
*Strategic partnering
Intervention Lesson:
If necessary, pull a group
of students who
underperformed on the
pre-assessment
(compared to their
classmates) for an
additional mini-lesson to
cover the basics of what
is an ecosystem. Lesson
will be based on student
need evident in preassessment.

be a focus.
Journal:
Add animal classification
to information in journal.

Daily PBL Plans: Create an Ecosystem

Monday
Front Load:
Direct lesson on plant
and animal adaptations,
including vocabulary
through a flocabulary
lesson and video:
https://www.flocabulary.
com/adaptation/
*Plant adaptations should
include pollination and
spread of seeds.
Application/
Assessment:
List adaptations for the
plant/animal that the
student is focusing on in
their journal.

Tuesday
Notebook Application:
Students will review notes
Ive left in their notebook
on adaptation and make
necessary changes or
additions. They can also
make changes based on
small group instruction.
*Students need to decide
what real life animal or
plant is closely related to
their animal.

Group Discussion:
Students will share their
adaptation ideas with
their teams. Team
members can give
feedback/ideas, and
students can make
changes based on team
feedback.

Small Group
Instruction:
Show groups video clips
and other examples for
plant and animal
adaptations while others
do notebook application.
Students should apply
small-group activity to
their application.
Video for plant
adaptations (show clip,
not entire video)
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=-iHIKhKCg6E

EL Strategies:
*Group Discussion
*Visuals

EL Strategies:
*Small group instruction
*Strategic grouping

Week # 2
Wednesday
Create/Present:
As a group, students
create a presentation of
their ecosystem,
including each individual
animal and plant, and
briefly discuss if there
are other kinds of plants
or animals in the habitat
that they are not focusing
on. They will present to
the class and the class
will provide feedback
and ideas that can be
incorporated later. Others
can ask questions, as
well.
Support/Scaffolding:
Provide presentation
jobs.

Dates___________________________
Thursday
Research:
Students chose a real
animal or plant that could
be closely related to their
created animal, and do
research on its habitat
needs.
They need to use at least
two different resources to
gather information.
*How much does the
animal eat?
*How does the plant get
its nutrients? Is it a vine,
tree, etc.? How do seeds
spread?
*How much space does
the plant/animal need to
be healthy and happy?

EL Strategies:
*Group supported
discussion

Collaboration:
People with similar plants
or animals that were
researched will share data.
They can see if they found
similar information and
see if what they found is
reasonable.

Intervention Lesson:
Meet with groups to
discuss proper

Journal:
Record data in their
notebooks.

Pre-Assessment:
Area and perimeter

Friday
Front Load:
Direct instruction
finding different
perimeters for a given
area. Students have prior
knowledge of area and
area models.
Application:
With a partner: Students
create and record
different perimeters for a
given area using base 10
blocks.
Students will record their
work in their ecosystems
journal.
EL Strategies:
*Strategic partnering
*Partner discussion
*Concrete modeling/use
of physical objects
Intervention Lesson:
Mini-lesson on area and
perimeter as needed based
on needs discovered
during math instruction.

*Strategic partnering
Intervention Lesson:
Meet with any groups
who seem to be
struggling (based on
lesson discussion and
prior assessments).

*Group discussion

presentation strategies.
Focus on groups with
students who have
struggled in the past.

Intervention Lesson:
Meet with small groups to
assist in research. Provide
articles as needed for
students who need
differentiation.

Daily PBL Plans: Create an Ecosystem

Monday
Application:
Relate area to plant and
animal habitat size.
Assign an area for the
habitat. Students must
decide how many of their
plant or animal can live
within that area based on
the data discovered in
research. Record findings
in journal.
Presentations:
Groups will create
presentations for the class
in which they announce
the area their plant or
animal needs
Assessment:
Area and perimeter;
Different perimeter, same
area.
Intervention Lesson:
Additional mini-lesson
provided for students
struggling with area
based on assessments
here and during math
instruction in the math
block.

Tuesday
Application:
Students will work with
group to create a shape
(including perimeter in
information) for the area
of the habitat. Shape of
the area should reflect
needs of the animals, give
enough area to roam,
hunt, and spread out.
Groups can use base ten
blocks to map out their
area, not necessarily
needing to be rectangular.
Presentation:
Groups will share out the
shape of their habitat.
EL Strategies:
*Concrete modeling with
blocks
Intervention Lesson:
Mini lesson on different
perimeter for the same
area.

Week # 3
Wednesday
Application:
Students will create an
illustration of their
plant/animal in their
journal. They will make
sure all information is
listed (individual or group
animal, individual/group
habitat size, classification,
characteristics/adaptations,
etc.) and the illustration is
detailed and labeled.
Group Work:
Present information to
group.
EL Strategies:
*Strategic grouping
Intervention Lesson:
Mini-lesson based on
needs evident in journal
entries.

Dates___________________________
Thursday
Group
Work/Application:
Groups of different
classifications will meet
to compare their animals
and plants. They will
focus on similarities and
differences between
different animals in the
different environments.
They will create a
presentation with
similarities and
differences and present to
the class. We will look
for and evaluate common
threads through the
similarities and
differences.

Friday
Assessment Quiz
Short answer and fill in
the blank related to
vocabulary as well as
animal classifications,
adaptations, ecosystems.
Include 2 questions on
area and perimeter.
Front Load:
Lesson on adaptations
that happen over time
based on changes in
climate and weather
patterns.
Quick Write:
In journal, write what
might happen to their
plant or animal if there
were drastic changes in
the climate and weather
patterns.

Daily PBL Plans: Create an Ecosystem

Monday
Front Load:
Provide a mini lesson on
creating a poster
representation of the area
of their habitat, which
reflects the area and
perimeter they created
previously. Discuss scale
and shape.

Tuesday
Front Load:
Discuss possible ways to
create a 3-D model of
plant or animal using
classroom supplies
(popsicle sticks,
construction paper, glue,
crayons). Discuss scale
relative to the other
animals/plants in the
habitat, as well as
proportion.

Plan/Create:
Groups create the area on
a poster, which will be the
base of their habitat
Plan/Create:
model.
Make a plan for how to
construct the
plant/animal. Use rulers
EL/Intervention:
and sketches to plan out
Strategic/probing
relative size. Make sure
questioning and grouping. proportions are close.
Have students recreate
model with blocks if
EL/Intervention:
necessary.
*Group discussion and
planning
*Teacher provides
guiding questions as
necessary.

Week # 4
Wednesday
Create:
Finish working on plant
and animal models.
Plan:
Plan for presentation.
Practice with group for
what will be presented
tomorrow.
EL/Intervention:
*Group discussion and
planning
*Teacher provides
guiding questions as
necessary.

Dates___________________________
Thursday
Presentation /
Assessment:
Groups present their
habitat together.
Individuals present
information on their
individual plant or animal
and how it relates to their
habitat and the other
animals/plants.
*Students give selfassessments as well as
peer-evaluations.
EL/Intervention:
*Group roles during
presentation

Friday
Extension:
Review what was
previously touched on
with adaptations that
happen over time. Provide
information related
specifically for real
animals that are related to
their created animals.
Write/Create/Assess:
Choose a change in the
physical environment
(climate, rain fall) and
write about how your
animal or plant would
adapt to the changes.
Would or could they
move? Would they
develop different
features?
Also create an updated
image of what the
plant/animal would look
like after any adaptations
based on climate changes.
EL/Intervention:
*Guiding questions
*Multiple visuals during
lesson