Science Diorama

Name: Adrienne Woolbright Date: 09/29/11 Grade Level/Subject: Third/ Ecosystems, Prairie Prerequisite Knowledge: Must have knowledge of what is present in a prairie including plants and animals and how these support life i.e. without the plants/grasses animals in the prairie would not live. Must have read If Youre Not From the Prairie and completed the nature walk. Approximate Time: Five 30 minute classes (one week of science instruction) Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Students should be able to explain what is in a prairie ecosystem and how these plants and animals are dependent on one another to live. WIDA Language Objectives Level 3 (Developing): Speaking: Students should be able to make predictions or

hypotheses from discourse

Content Standards:

12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments (e.g., predator/prey, parasite/host, food chains and food webs). 12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments (e.g., specialized teeth for eating certain foods, thorns for protection, insulation for cold temperature).
Materials/Resources/Technology: Five shoe boxes, grasses and sticks collected on their nature walk, construction paper, items from home that they would like to use in their shoebox diorama, glue, tape and scissors Implementation:

Time
Day 1

Opening of lesson: (Objectives, hook, behavior expectations) In our final lesson, students create a diorama of the prairie using everything they have learned throughout the unit The instructor will explain to the students they are going to begin the final project of their prairie unit, the diorama shoebox. This project was explained to them at the beginning of the unit so students could keep it in mind when reading If youre Not From the Prairie and on the nature walk A grading rubric will be given to the students so they know what will be expected at the end of the project. They then will have the opportunity to brainstorm what they want in their diorama with their group members, groups are previously created by the instructor. There will be five groups of four and each group is responsible for one shoebox. They need to be able to backup anything they put in their prairie diorama with prior knowledge from the two previous lessons (If youre Not From the Prairie and the nature walk). They will come up with a plan with their group members and decide who is going to bring what from home, if they decide to use outside materials other than the ones they collected on the nature walk and supplied by the instructor.

Day 2 and Day 3

Day 4

Procedures: Include critical thinking questions and accommodations for individual needs Students will begin to construct their dioramas. They will be allowed two days to insert everything they want in their dioramas. The instructor will circulate asking students what they are adding and why they find that to be necessary in their dioramas. For example, are students adding fire to their dioramas? Prompt students if they are not to ask why they did not decide to add this? Do they not think it is vital for the prairie to survive? Since students will be in groups, the instructor will need to make sure every group member is contributing to the overall project. Make sure students are each offering ideas of what to add and have a solid explanation as to why they think is vital to the prairie. Although the teacher will allow students to construct their own dioramas, she will be circulating asking why students have or dont have things they have learned about throughout the unit. Summary/Closing: After the students have created their dioramas we will have a group discussion as to what each group thinks the most important part of the prairie is and why. This will lead to many discussions as to why certain groups may have added, for example, fire to their dioramas and other groups did not. Why is it vital for there to be plants on the prairie? How do these plants survive given the strong winds we learned about? Are your plants tall or short in your diorama? What animals were in your diorama? Do these animals benefit the plants or do the plants benefit the animals? If they do how? Student Assessment: A science fair will be set up around the room where students will grade their peers based on the rubric given to them. Each shoebox diorama will have a table where each group will have to stand by their shoebox for five minutes to discuss their shoebox to the class and instructor. The class will then move from shoebox to shoebox hearing what each group put in their diorama and why they found this to be an important aspect of the prairie.

Day 5

Grading Rubric Instructor will use when grading Dioramas Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY Information Gathering

4
Accurate information taken from several sources in a systematic manner.

3
Accurate information taken from a couple of sources in a systematic manner.

2
Accurate information taken from a couple of sources but not systematically.

1
Information taken from only one source and/or information not accurate.

Data Collection

Data taken several times in a careful, reliable manner.

Data taken twice in a Data taken once in a Data not taken careful, reliable careful, reliable carefully OR not taken manner. manner. in a reliable manner.

Plan

Plan is neat with clear measurements and labeling for all components.

Plan is neat with clear measurements and labeling for most components.

Plan provides clear measurements and labeling for most components.

Plan does not show measurements clearly or is otherwise inadequately labeled.

Construction -Materials

Appropriate materials were selected and creatively modified in ways that made them even better.

Appropriate materials Appropriate materials were selected and were selected. there was an attempt at creative modification to make them even better. Constuction was careful and accurate for the most part, but 1-2 details could have been refined for a more attractive product. Construction accurately followed the plans, but 3-4 details could have been refined for a more attractive product.

Inappropriate materials were selected and contributed to a product that performed poorly. Construction appears careless or haphazard. Many details need refinement for a strong or attractive product.

Construction Care Taken

Great care taken in construction process so that the structure is neat, attractive and follows plans accurately.

Explanation about modeling

This lesson is the final part of a three part unit. The first lesson includes reading a story to learn about the prairie, the second is taking a nature walk to identify if a prairie could survive in the schools backyard and the final lesson is my own, creating a shoebox diorama. Students are told about the shoebox diorama at the beginning of the unit so they can begin to invent their diorama in their minds and be thinking about the things they want to include. They then create their models which they may revise throughout the two day process of creating. In the end they talk about their models and why they added the components they added. Students get to listen to each other and compare their own ideas to their peers which may turn into them contesting their own models or others models. As said in Chapter 6 of Ready, Set, Science!, Modeling involves the construction and testing of representations that are analogous to systems in the real world (109). I think this is an exact portrayal of what students are doing in this lesson. They are creating a mini prairie in their classroom. To create this, they need to constantly be thinking if what they are adding to their diorama would actually survive in the prairie or not and why, mentally testing their model.