welcome to The Fourth Grade In the Living Classroom Learning Lab!
Welcome to our Fourth Grade Nature Curriculum! If you have any issues registering or would like to talk directly with someone please reach out to us at 503-770-0860 9-5 Pacific Time or by email to info@livingclassroomlearninglab.org
Fourth Grade
Each unit has a Teacher Resource Menu With Information About the Lessons:
The purpose of each lesson, Materials Needed, Advanced Prep, The Standards Each Address, as well as other information.
we Suggest you Familiarize Yourself with this first, then proceed to the lesson content contained in The lesson tabs.
A link to the PDF of the original lessons are Available in the left column of the lesson windows for Reference.
Fourth Grade
fALL UNITS
Nature Detective
The purpose of the Living Classroom is for children to learn, through hands-on experiences, the intricacies, interdependencies and mysteries that exist in nature. The lessons guide the children to understand the importance of being caretakers of the Earth in order to preserve present and future ecosystems.
Time of Year: Fall, when the prairie plants are at their peak
Being able to sit quietly and observe everything around one’s self is an important skill in learning about nature. As the children progress through the activities in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, they will need to use their senses of sight, sound, smell and touch to understand the plants and animals that make their home there. The purpose of this lesson is for the children to deepen their observation skills by concentrating on their sense of touch while interacting with the variety of plants present in the Living Classroom.
In a third grade lesson, Adaptation in the Prairie, the children were taught about the many adaptations that nearly all prairie plants employed to be able to survive the frigid winters and the sweltering summers with very little rain. Here in the fourth grade Nature Detective lesson, they will use their sense of touch to feel many different textures from plant leaves and stems collected throughout the Living Classroom. They will search for one of the plants whose leaves they felt and, once it is found, they will ask the question: What adaptations does this plant make to ensure its survival? In answering this question, the children should also begin to wonder themselves as to how this all come to be. How did the plants know what to do? They will begin to understand the complexity of nature. Hopefully, they will want to know and understand more!
To display their understanding, the fourth graders will be asked to design their own plant that will become a sustainable member of a Living Classroom ecosystem benefiting other plants, animals and us.
“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder…he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.”
– Rachel Carson 1962 Silent Spring
“We need to be very careful about how we define nature. In order to not to steel it from our children, we have to do two things. First, we cannot define nature as that which is untouched…nature has not been untouched for thousands of years. And it excludes most of the nature that most people can visit and have a relationship with, including only nature that children cannot touch. Which brings me to the second thing we have to do which is that we have to let children touch nature. Because that which is untouched, is unloved… The only way we are going to raise up a generation of people who care about nature is by letting them touch nature.”
– Emma Marris
Each grade in the Living Classroom Learning Lab Curriculum has a Nature Detective lesson. They will observe nature using their senses demonstrating their learning in writing. As they become better acquainted with nature, they will develop an appreciation for our Earth and how it works.
Kindergarten:
In this first lesson in the Nature Detective series of lessons, the children will go out and sit in the grass to feel the grass, to smell the grass, to hear sounds when an ear is put into the grass and to see the many beautiful colors of the tiny strands of grass. They will feel nature, smell nature, hear nature and see nature so they may answer the
Essential Question: What is Nature?
First Grade:
Children will observe nature by being in their own circle plot and listening, watching, smelling and feeling objects there. They will find a special object that will become their own treasure.
They will suse their senses to observe, use sensory words in writing and develop an appreciation of nature.
Essential Question: Can you guess what it is? and What makes an object become a special treasure?
Second Grade:
Children will be using their sense of hearing to compare the day sounds of the Living Classroom to the night sounds of their backyards.
Essential question: Do all animals have a special sound? Do all humans have a special sound? Completing their homework may earn them a special Nature Detective badge for their top listening skills. Intertwining the
Third Grade:
This lesson is intertwined with the third grade Ecosystem lesson that studies decomposers, the third graders will search the Living Classroom to find a decomposer.
Essential question: We think that there are many people who do not know the importance of a decomposer. How can we spread our knowledge of the importance of decomposers?
Fourth Grade:
Children will be concentrating on their sense of touch to know that plants can have different textured leaves and different shaped stems as they adapted to the environmental conditions and the types of animals that are present in their ecosystem.
Essential question: What adaptations does this plant make to ensure its survival?
Fifth Grade:
Children will assimilate all that they have experienced in these five Nature Detective lessons and now answer the same question they answered in Kindergarten.
Essential question: What Is Nature?
Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Asking Questions and Defining Problems and Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Major Themes and Grade Level Understanding about the Nature of Science from the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Primary School (K-2)
Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.
Elementary School (3-5)
Science findings are based on recognizing patterns.
Science uses tools and techniques to make accurate measurements and observations.
Middle School(6-8)
Science limits its explanation to systems that lend themselves to observation and empirical evidence.
Understandings about the Nature of Science Science is a way of knowing.
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Science addresses questions about the natural and material world.
Scientists study the natural and material world.
Scientists search for cause and effect relationships to explain natural events. Scientists use drawings, sketches and models as a way to communicate ideas.
Scientists ask Questions and Define Problems
District 181 Science Standards
K.SC.1.3 Make observations and gather information using the senses.
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details and clear event sequences.
It is stated in the Next Generation Science Standards, Appendix H,“that science is a way of explaining the natural world….students should develop an understanding of the enterprise of science as a whole – the wondering, investigating, questioning, data collecting and analyzing.”
Sitting in the Living Classroom Learning Lab our young children will take the first steps in becoming Nature Detectives – observers of our natural world.
Reflecting on and discovering how things work in the natural world has shown how many of our modern inventions came to be. From observing:
- the flight of birds came all types of flight the beaks of birds came the bullet train
- the strength of spider’s silk came strong medical tape how whales submerged came the submarine
- how burrs stick came velcro
- how bats fly and dolphins swim came sonar
- how ducks swim with their webbed feet came flippers
- how termites build their structure and beavers build dams came basics in architecture how nocturnal animals can see at night came night vision
- how things fall came the Law of Gravitational Force
We need to become Nature Detectives!
Activity #1: Nature Detective Observation of Plants (45 min)
Activity #2: My Designer Plant (60 min)
- clip boards
- pencil and colored pencils
- digital device to take photos o the classroom
- hand lenses
- samples of leaves, stems, flowers
- Prairie Dock, Rattlesnake Master, Cup plant, milkweed, rose, Lamb’s Ear, mint and dill from the vegetable garden, Joe Pye Weed, Big Blue Stem, Duck Weed and Sweet Autumn clematis, from the pond, ferns from the Kindness Garden.
- Printed Materials (attached):
- Nature Detective Observations
- Adaptations for My Plant
- Description of My Designer Plant
- Adaptations of My Designer Plant
- Sample of a Designer Plant
- Materials to build the Designer Plants
- Request volunteers
- Print Materials
- Gather samples of leaves and or stems
- Prairie Dock, Rattlesnake Master, Cup plant, milkweed, rose, Lamb’s Ear, mint and dill from the vegetable garden, Joe Pye Weed, Big Blue Stem, Duck Weed and Sweet Autumn clematis from the pond, ferns from the Kindness Garden.
adaptation: modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence under the conditions of its environment : a heritable physical or behavioral trait that serves a specific function and improves an organism’s fitness or survival
sustainability: meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
texture: the feel of a surface or a fabric
Lesson
The Essential Question is:
What adaptations does this plant make to ensure its survival?
The Objective is for the children to understand that plants have created many different adaptations that help them survive in their ecosystem and to show their understanding through a drawing showing specific descriptions of the leaves, stems and adaptations of the plant being studied and the design for a new plant that would make its home in one of the gardens in the Living Classroom. It would be beneficial in expanding the Living Classroom’s sustainability.
vIDEO COMING SOON
“Remember what our plaque at the beginning of the Living Classroom says on it. It says, ‘Come only to experience the magic and the mystery that the plants and animals who reside here already know.’ In order for us to do that, we need to continually sharpen our observation skills. I do know that you have observed in the Living Classroom many times before now. What I would like you to know is that to understand how things work, we need to watch them work. This is what a lot of science is all about. There is a class that teachers take at the zoo. For the majority of the class, the teachers are sent to different parts of the zoo to observe a species of animal for at least 30 minutes to discover for themselves as much as they can: how the animals act when they are alone, how they act when they join a group, how the observer can find the leader of the group and how is the observer able to know these things. So today, try your best to become the most observant Nature Detective you have been throughout these four grades in the Living Classroom. Many of you will be searching throughout the gardens to find a certain plant, so remember to step softly with your voices silent and your eyes and ears wide open, so we may see the animals that are there. Pick up your clip board, pencil, a digital device, a hand lens and the four Nature Detective sheets. We are going out to the Living Classroom Learning Lab.”
Outside at the picnic tables:
Describe the leaves of your plant: shape size texture Describe the stem of your plant: shape size texture Describe the flowers/buds on your plant What animal could pollinate your plant?
Be a Nature Detective. What adaptations has your plant made to be able to live in this ecosystem and have its basic needs provided? (Remember the basic needs are: air, water, food, shelter, sunlight, and space. They all need to be in this one place.)
“Today, you are going to use your sense of touch in order to find plants whose leaves and/or stems you have felt. Here on the table are many samples of leaves and stems from different plants that are growing here in the Living Classroom. In groups of four, I would like you to come and feel these samples.”
Display samples of Rattle Snake master and Prairie Dock.
“Feel this sample from Rattle Snake Master and from Prairie Dock. Ask yourself what adaptations did these two plants make to survive?”
Display the other samples of plants.
“Now look at the other samples of plants that are here. Decide upon one sample that you are going to find in the gardens. Take its picture with your digital device and quietly go off to find the plant.
Remember your composure in the garden There will be no need for running. We will have plenty of time out here.”
“When you find the plant, put on that Nature Detective hat and find out as much as you can about that plant by: observing all the plant’s parts (stem, leaves, flowers), feeling the different textures of its parts and discovering in which environment it is growing. The Nature Detective Observations recording sheet will be a guide for you in investigating your plant.”
Allow for the 30 to 40 minutes search and answering the questions.
“Now that you have completed the questions on your observation sheet please get out Nature Detective Adaptations for My Plant form. Here you will draw your plant and add the characteristics you found about your plant. As we discuss the different adaptations we found, let’s look at why the adaptations are necessary. Adaptation is the evolutionary process where an organism becomes better suited to its habitat. This process takes place over many generations. It is one of the basic phenomena of biology. When people speak about adaptation, they often mean a ‘feature’ (a trait) which helps an animal or plant survive.”
https://brainly.in/question/15821043
“Why is adaptation necessary?”
“That is right. It helps animals or plants survive in their ecosystem.” “What are some examples of adaptations plants make?”
“Right again! Some have big fleshy leaves to hold water when rain is scarce, others have sand paper leaves stems with thorns to keep away predators.”
Children will design their own plant with its own adaptations which would be beneficial to the garden and add to the garden’s sustainability.
“Your next project is to design a plant for the Living Classroom Learning Lab that would be beneficial and help to make your outdoor area sustainable. Sustainable means meeting the basic needs for all living things now and in the future.”
“The first thing you need to think about is making sure you are meeting the basic needs of the plant. You know what the basic needs of a plant are; food water shelter and space and they all need to be in one place.”
“You have seen the different ways plants have adapted so they can be pollinated and meet their basic needs for survival. You have also used your senses to know these plants better. Use all that knowledge to design a designer plant that would be able to live in your Living Classroom Learning Lab, one that would be able to help the sustainability of your outdoor area.”
“How would a plant help the outdoor area become sustainable?”
“It could have a flower that provides nectar for pollinators. The plant could provide shelter for animals in the food chain and food web of the ecosystem.
The plant could help filter pollution in the ecosystem. The plant could have flowers or leaves shaped so that it collects and holds water for the plant and other animals to drink from.””
“Get creative with this assignment. Think about what may be needed in your ecosystem to ensure all life can continue to survive and design a plant to fit this need.”
“You will need “Adaptations of My Plant Sheet”, “Description of My Designer Plant”, pencil and colored pencils.”
“First you will imagine and draw a plant you design. Then you will write a detailed description about it with facts about the plant and define how it helps the living things of the ecosystem.”
“While you are creating Your “Designer” Plant keep in mind your plant:
- must be able to take care of its basic needs
- contribute to a function of the garden
- be able to sustain itself and reproduce”
“You will first use the Adaptations of My Plant sheet to describe & draw the parts of your plant. Then you will take that information to answer the questions on this page. Let’s go over it together.”
Once children are done with their writing, have them create a model out of construction paper and attach their writing as in the example.
“Here is an example to help you better understand the assignment.”
Name of Plant:
Epiphyterhopalocera is my name.
Where does it live:
I am an airborne plant from South America. How does it help the ecosystem:
I can ensure the safety of the butterfly by following them during their spring and fall migrations, gathering up all the pesticides that have been sprayed on the plants that the butterflies would rest upon during their journey.
What parts of the plant help it do this: My entire plant helps in this journey.
Roots & Stem: My roots and stem allow the plant to rest on tree branches and float through the air. My stem has long hairs on it which makes it hard for animals to eat. My roots absorb pollutants from the air, which filters and cleans the air for other living things.
Flowers or Fruit: My flower petals carry water droplets and nectar for the butterflies to drink as they are resting on their long flight. If there are pesticides present, my blue serum in the middle of the flower will dissolve them.
Leaves: When birds or other predators of the butterfly come along, my leaves will close to protect my passenger.
How does the plant sustain itself and make sure it can reproduce:
The seeds from my flowers are spread by birds and the wind carrying them to other spaces.
How does it sustain other living things:
With more of my species protecting the butterfly, its population should soar.
“Now it is your turn.“
“Use the Adaptations of My Plant as a thinking guide to get you to the next step of describing everything your plant does to be sustainable and a benefit to its ecosystem.”
“Present your designer plant to your classmates, adults and friends!”
Children share their creations with the class.
“Are you still wondering about anything you saw or did today in the Living Classroom Learning Lab?”
These wonderings could lead to further investigations.
“Thank you for being such fantastic observers and listeners who are so willing to share your discoveries.“
“You are becoming Nature Detectives! Keep informing other children not to harm any producers, consumers and decomposers because they are so valuable for us.”
“Whenever you are in the Living Classroom Learning Lab, remember to watch and listen silently and you will surely come to know some of the secrets that are hiding there.”
Biodiversity
The purpose of the Living Classroom is for children to learn, through hands-on experiences, the intricacies, interdependencies, and mysteries that exist in nature. The lessons guide the children to understand the importance of being caretakers of the Earth in order to preserve present and future ecosystems.
Time of Year: Late Summer or early Fall – This lesson is the sixth lesson in the ecosystem strand of the curriculum. It will culminate in the formation of food chains and food webs in fourth grade and the sustainability of ecosystems in fifth grade. Here in fourth grade it will be shown why the biodiversity of animals and plants in an ecosystem is so important.
Leadership:
The classroom teacher will teach this lesson with the assistance of the Gifted Specialist for the culminating assignment.
The purpose of this lesson is to instill in the children an understanding that there is an incredible variety of life on Earth, and that all of life (plants and animals) is a single, weblike, interconnected organism. Everything is interconnected in some way. Plants rely on animals for pollination, animals rely on plants for oxygen and food, and everything relies on fungi, bacteria, invertebrates, and insects to break down their waste.
The essential question that has guided this Living Classroom curriculum is “ Why is our relationship to the natural world necessary?”. Understanding biodiversity helps answer this question. All environmental issues affect biodiversity. We will learn through studying the biodiversity of the prairie ecosystem that every living thing within an ecosystem is interdependent. We need children and adults to become environmentally literate: to have the knowledge, skills, commitment, passion and motivation to take responsible action on behalf of the environment.
Part 1:
In this lesson, the class will play The Balanced Tangle Game. The end result of the game is to show the children all the food chains that can originate in a specific ecosystem. From these food chains, each child will complete a food web of that ecosystem and they will answer the question: Why is biodiversity important?
Part 2:
After the class has finished playing The Balanced Tangle Game, they may begin to take their first photo of their Plot for that season. Once the children know where their plot is, they will take a separate picture of this plot in all four seasons of the year. By observing and recording all elements of their plot ecosystem, they will be able to experience life cycles of: the plants, the animals, the ecosystem and the seasons.
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards: www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
The energy released [from] food was once energy from the sun that was captured by plants in the chemical process that forms plant matter (from air and water).
(5-PS3-1)
LS1.C: organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
Food provides animals with the materials they need for body repair and growth and the energy they need to maintain body warmth and for motion. (secondary to 5-PS3-1)
Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water. (5-LS1-1)
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
The food of almost any kind of animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants. Some organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms (both plants or plants parts and animals) and therefore operate as “decomposers.” Decomposition eventually restores (recycles) some materials back to the soil. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their particular needs are met. A healthy ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their needs in a relatively stable web of life. Newly introduced species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
Organisms, and populations of organisms, are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors.In any ecosystem, organisms and populations with similar requirements for food, water, oxygen, or other resources may compete with each other for limited resources, access to which consequently constrains their growth and reproduction.
Growth of organisms and population increases are limited by access to resources.
Similarly, predatory interactions may reduce the number of organisms or eliminate whole populations of organisms. Mutually beneficial interactions, in contrast, may become so interdependent that each organism requires the other for survival.
Although the species involved in these competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems, the patterns of interactions of organisms with their environments, both living and nonliving, are shared.
LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases and water from the environment, and release waste matter (gas, liquid, and solid) back into the environment. (5-LS2-1)
LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
There are many different kinds of living things in any area and they exist in different places on land and in the water.
Populations live in a variety of habitats, and change in those habitats affects the organisms living there.
Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on-(for example, water purification and recycling).
Systems and System Models
A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions. (5- LS2-1)
Energy and Matter
Energy can be transferred in various ways and between objects. (5-PS3-1)
Matter is transported into, out of, and within systems. (5-LS1-1)
Connections to the Nature of Science: Science Is a Way of Knowing
Science knowledge helps us know about the world.
Scientists study the natural and material world. Science investigations begin with a question. Scientists use different ways to study the world.
Scientists use drawings, sketches, and models as a way to communicate ideas. Science Models, Laws, Mechanisms, and Theories Explain Natural Phenomena Science explanations describe the mechanisms for natural events. (5-LS2-1)
District 181 Science Standards
3-LS4-1: Science assumes consistent patterns in natural systems
3-LS4-4: A system can be described in terms of its components and their interactions.
5.SC.2: Students will analyze the relationship between matter and energy within a system.
5.SC.2.4: Students will be able to develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers and the environment
(e.g. creating a food web)
Common CoreEnglish Language Arts Standards » Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1.A Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which related ideas are grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.
Biodiversity encompasses all the incredible life on Earth. It has been called nature’s insurance policy. Here on Earth, there are a phenomenal number of species. Officially recorded, there are 1.8 million species on the Earth. An article in the New York Times has reported 100 million species and scientists are still finding more. There are even different kinds of species within a species. It would be good if there were many different species in each ecosystem because ecosystems are interconnected!
The less biodiversity an ecosystem has, the more vulnerable it would be to change. Take this example: if each species in the food web of an ecosystem was connected to just one other species, the entire ecosystem could collapse if one species in the food web was threatened. Conversely, if each species was connected to more than one species, even multiple species, then it would probably survive if only one of the species declines. Here is an example: coyotes eat rabbits, prairie dogs, and mice. If the rabbits were no longer in that ecosystem, the coyote would still survive. This example illustrates Why Biodiversity Matters.
The plants and animals that call the desert home are completely different from the species of plants and animals that reside in the Arctic, or the ocean, or the mountains, or the grassland, or the forest. Tropical regions will have the highest biodiversity whereas cold regions like mountain tops and deserts will have a lower biodiversity. These environments are severe. The plants and animals have to have and do many more and different things in order to survive there. That is why there are less plants and animals there. The plants and animals that reside in a specific ecosystem will have their basic needs of food, water, shelter and their own space; and all of these elements must be present at the same time to ensure a healthy ecosystem.
Biodiversity is also about how everything in our world is interdependent. In a sustainable healthy ecosystem there is a basic flow of energy: plants rely on animals to pollinate them so they can reproduce their species; animals rely on plants for food and oxygen; and plants and animals rely on microbes, fungi, insects, and some animals to break down their waste and replenish the soil with nutrients. What happens when one species in an ecosystem begins to disappear? Or an entire ecosystem’s flow of energy is cracked or broken? If one ecosystem or one species begins to decline, it has an effect on the complete chain of life. If there is a total loss of a species or a habitat, damage can be devastating and irreversible.
One of the species that could collapse may have held the cure for some disease, like cancer. The potential for new foods and medicines coming from the natural world is huge. Presently, we use a small part of the plant species for food and an even smaller part of that for medicine . Many plant species are being destroyed before we know what medicinal value they may have. Besides the medicinal value, trees absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen. Recently, a new analysis by ecologist Thomas Crowther states that there is enough room on Earth to plant 1.2 trillion trees which would have the CO2 capacity to cancel out a decade of carbon dioxide emissions.
It is important to tell children that every plant, animal, fungus, and microbe is important. They need to see themselves, as children and then as adults, as guardians of biodiversity and the chain of life.
An excellent book to review the concept of food chains and food webs is Pass the Energy, Please, by Barbara Shaw McKinney
Here in the Living Classroom Learning Lab there are four distinct ecosystems: the Butterfly Garden, the Prairie, the Pond, and the George Washington Vegetable Garden. An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals, and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce and interact in the same area or environment. Within each garden, there is a special co-existence among the garden’s biotic (living) components and its abiotic (non-living) components. The children need to find out and then know that everything in an ecosystem is interconnected and interdependent. Each part of the system has a definite role to play to keep the ecosystem healthy. If one part of the ecosystem is missing, the entire ecosystem falters.
All living thing needs energy to live and to grow. We get energy from the food we eat. Plants receive their energy from the sun with the help of water that contains vital nutrients that the plants need.
A food chain shows how energy is passed from one living thing to another. Food chains begin with the sun sending energy to the plants, the producers. When the plants are eaten, the energy is passed on to the consumers, the animals that eat the plants. In the food chain, some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. To complete the chain, the third link in the process are the decomposers, fungi, bacteria, and invertebrates. They take the nutrients out of dead matter and bring it back to the plants, so the process can begin again.
In Kindergarten, the children discover the differences that separate objects that are living (biotic) from those objects that are non-living (abiotic). For an object to be living, it will need food, and it will need to be able to breathe, move, and grow. The question they answered is What are the differences between a living object when it is compared to a non-living object?
Asking the questions: What are the basic needs of people, animals, and plants? and Are the basic needs of people, animals, and plants all the same? The children in first grade have found out that people, animals, and plants all have the same basic needs. They and we all need food, water, shelter, air, and their own space.
They/we need to be in an appropriate place in an ecosystem to receive these basic needs.
In First Grade, the children were also asked: Where do plants get their food? (energy) and How do plants eat? To answer these questions the children are introduced to the first link in the food chain, the producers, (The sun should be, in this author’s opinion, the first linking the food chain since is sends its energy to the plants beginning the cycle.) The producers are all the plants in our world that get their energy from the sun. With the help of this energy from the sun, plants make their own food. Water and nutrients come into the plant through its roots. Carbon dioxide from the air is brought into the plant through its leaves. The mixing of water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from the sun forms a sugar called glucose, food for the plant. Glucose gives the plant energy to grow. This is the process known as photosynthesis. (Ninety percent of all our food comes from plants.) Understanding producers is the beginning of knowing how the circle of life works.
If energy from the sun is stored in the producers (all the plants of the world), how is this energy transmitted to us and to the entire animal kingdom?
In Second Grade, the children found the answer to that question in the second link in the food chain, the consumers. These consumers are animals who eat the plants and receive the plants energy. There can be many consumers. The first consumer to eat the plant is the primary consumer, or herbivore (plant eater). When an animal comes along and eats the primary consumer, that animal is the secondary consumer, or carnivore (meat eater). The larger consumer feeds on the smaller animal.
The largest consumers are the tertiary consumers (the lion, the bison, etc.) Observing this succession visually, we find a web that expands as consumers feed upon other consumers. This is called a food web.
A food web consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem. Each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Each food chain is one possible path that energy and nutrients may take as they move through the ecosystem. All of the interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem make up a food web. (National Geographic)
The food chain will now be complete as the Third grade children learn about the last link in the chain, the decomposers, who are the ones who take the nutrients from rotting and decaying matter and pass them back to the plants. The circle of life is complete. The energy in the producers that originated from the sun has come back to those producers to begin the cycle again. An easy way to remember who or what the decomposers are is to remember the acronym, FBI, standing for Fungus, Bacteria, and Invertebrates. Of all of these, the most prolific decomposer is the worm. The question the children will think about during the beginning of the lesson is: We have seen that energy is passed from the sun to the plants, to the animals and to us. If the energy cycle is to complete, what will bring this bit of energy (nutrients) back to the plants so the cycle can keep going?
Here now in Fourth Grade, the concept of a food web emerges as the children learn about the need for biodiversity in all ecosystems. (refer back to Background Information on page 3 and 4 of this document and to the vocabulary definitions for food web and topic levels on pages 11 an 12 of this document.) Through the Balanced Tangle Game, the children will see the interconnectedness between the plants and the animals and the interconnectedness between consumers and the trophic levels of the food chain and food web.
inside: approximately 30 to 45 minute lesson
outside: approximately 1 hour with the game, questions and “Special Plot” picture
back inside: approximately 30 to 45 minutes to duplicate food chains and food webs made in The Balanced Tangle Game
approximately 30 t0 45 minutes with Gifted Specialist – culmination
- 2 posters displaying the plants and animals of two different ecosystems
- 1 laminated poster from Encyclopedia Britannica:
- Energy Flow and Trophic Levels
- video, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, Biodiversity (If it is not here, check the MRC)
- The Tree of Life: Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth by Rochelle Strauss
- a digital device for each child
- 7 to 10 balls of different colored yarn (one ball for each food chain)
- one 4” x 6” laminated note card for each student, displaying their role in a food chain (about 2 feet of yarn or string has been placed through the notecard so that the notecard can be placed over the child’s head — green yarn = producers, gray yarn = consumers, black yarn = decomposers)
- chart of Primary and Secondary Consumers
- examples of food chains made in a Balanced Tangle Game
- complete food chain
- blank food chain template
- photos for the food chain
- complete food web
- blank food web template
- photos for the food web
- photocopies for each child in fourth grade of the blank food chain template, photos for the food chain, blank food web template and photos for the food web (these sheets are attached to the end of this lesson)
- cinquain sheet answering Why Is Biodiversity Important?
- paragraph sheet answering Why Is Biodiversity Important?
- photocopies for each child of the Cinquain and paragraph recording sheets (these sheets are attached to the end of this lesson)
- clip board, paper, and colored pencils to write down the food chains that will be made in The BalancedTangle game
- template developed for their “My Plot through the Seasons” by Maura Fagan, Sarah Pierpoint, Chris Guide, and Jenny Pertruzzi
- popsicle sticks and string
- Supplementary readers in kit: Scott Foresman:
- Earth’s Ecosystems Interactions in Ecosystems
- Harcourt:
- Understanding the Food Chain
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
The classroom teacher may wish to obtain a volunteer to write down all the food chains made during The Balanced Tangle Game.
The definitions of ecosystem, food chain, and food web have come from the
Encyclopedia Britannica. Click on the web site in the citations and there will be a short, informative, worthwhile video on the topic.
biodiversity: the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular ecosystem, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable.
bio-: life
–ity: state or quality
diverse: having variety in form
adaptation: the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment
genus: a group of related animals or plants that includes several or many different species
species: biology : a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young
animals or plants : a group of related animals or plants that is smaller than a genus
ecosystem: life in a given area, as a group of species that work according to their own
individual instincts for survival, yet also fulfill an observable role interacting with other species. It is this interaction that insures the continuation of each individual species.
ecosystem: the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space.
“An ecosystem can be categorized into its abiotic constituents, including minerals, climate, soil, water, sunlight, and all other nonliving elements, and its biotic constituents, consisting of all its living members. Linking these constituents together are two major forces: the flow of energy through the ecosystem, and the cycling of nutrients within the ecosystem.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Chain. 09 Nov. 2015<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
food chain: a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food
“in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. Plants, which convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a flesh- eating animal.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Chain. 09 Nov. 2015
<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
trophic level: step in a nutritive series, or food chain, of an ecosystem. The organisms of a chain are classified into these levels on the basis of their feeding
behaviour. The first and lowest level contains the producers, green plants. The plants or their products are consumed by the second-level organisms—the herbivores, or plant eaters. At the third level, primary carnivores, or meat eaters, eat the herbivores; and at the fourth level, secondary carnivores eat the primary carnivores. These categories are not strictly defined, as many organisms feed on several trophic levels; for example, some carnivores also consume plant materials or carrion and are called omnivores, and some herbivores occasionally consume animal matter.
A separate trophic level, the decomposers or transformers, consists of organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and waste materials into nutrients usable by the producers.
food web: the whole group of interacting food chains in a community
“Because all species are specialized in their diets, each trophic pyramid is made up of a series of interconnected feeding relationships called food chains.
Most food chains consist of three or four trophic levels. A typical sequence may be plant, herbivore, carnivore, top carnivore; another sequence is plant, herbivore, parasite of the herbivore, and parasite of the parasite. Many herbivores, detritivores, carnivores, and parasites, however, eat more than one species, and a large number of animal species eat different foods at different stages of their life histories. In addition, many species eat both plants and animals and therefore feed at more than one trophic level. Consequently, food chains combine into highly complex food webs. Even a simplified food web can show a complicated network of trophic relationships.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Chain. 09 Nov. 2015
<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
herbivore: an animal that feeds on plants
carnivore: an animal that feeds on meat, although there are certain plants that feed on meat such as the Venus flytrap
omnivore: an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin
tertiary consumer: a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.
invertebrate: an animal without a backbone
decomposer: organisms which recycle and digest dead plant/animal material putting the raw nutrients or organic compounds back into the soil for other organisms in the ecosystem to use. Decomposition is carried out by decomposers. Decomposers are very important for any ecosystem. If they weren’t in the ecosystem, the plants would not get essential nutrients, and dead matter and waste would pile up.
fungus: any of a group of spore-producing organisms feeding on organic matter, including molds, yeast, mushrooms, and toadstools.
bacteria: tiny little organisms that are everywhere around us. We can’t see them without a microscope because they are so small, but they are in the air, on our skin, in our bodies, in the ground, and all throughout nature. Bacteria work hard in the soil for us. One type of bacteria, called decomposers, break down material from dead plants and animals. This might sound kind of gross, but it’s an important function that helps to create soil and get rid of dead tissue. Another type of bacteria
in the soil is Rhizobium bacteria. Rhizobium bacteria helps to fertilize the soil with nitrogen for plants to use when growing.
detritivore: an organism (as an earthworm or a fungus) that feeds on dead and decomposing organic matter
dependent: the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else
interdependence: the dependence of two or more people or things on each other
Lesson
Essential Question is: Why is biodiversity important?
The Objective is for the children to know that the more diverse the animals and plants are in an ecosystem, the healthier that ecosystem will be and they will be able to display their knowledge by composing a food chain and a food web of the prairie ecosystem, a Cinquain or paragraph answering Why Is Biodiversity Important? plus 4 views of an ecosystem in “My Ecosystem Plot of Nature through the Seasons”.
VIDEO COMING SOON
Inside:
Take a few minutes to display the posters of the plants and animals of the different ecosystems. Ask the children to study each and ask them to tell you what is the same in each ecosystem and what is different.
Possible Food Chains
“Boys and girls, as you look at these posters, which incidentally came from stamps that the post office minted to tell us about ‘Nature in America,’ is there anything that is alike in them?”
Examples of answers might be: they all have plants, animals, and sunlight; they are all ecosystems; all would have water; there is a food chain in each one.
“Let’s now look to see any differences.”
The answer we need to get to is that in each picture or ecosystem the animals and plants are different from the other ecosystems.
“Why are they different?”
The answer needed is that there are different climates in each poster. The Arctic Tundra has very different animals and plants than the Hawaiian Rain Forest because the climate in these two ecosystems is extreme. Animals and plants have different requirements for living in these different ecosystems.
“What you are observing is called biodiversity. Biodiversity is nature’s insurance policy. A great amount of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular ecosystem, is extremely important and desirable so that the food chain will not be broken.”
“Let’s look at the word biodiversity to see how its components give us the definition of the word. Bio is a prefix meaning life; diverse is an adjective meaning having variety in form; and ity is a suffix meaning the state or quality. So, you have biodiversity, the state of a variety of forms in life. Another way that scientists say it is,’Biodiversity is the incredible variety of life on Earth.’ And our job is to understand it and protect it. As we study biodiversity in ecosystems, we learn that we need the different species so that the continuous flow of energy through the food chain is not broken. Having the ability to follow the complete flow of energy through an ecosystem guarantees a healthy ecosystem.”
Put the following diagram on the board as you are speaking.
The Food Chain
“Remember the producers, the plants, are the only species that makes its own food with help from the sun and water. We need many species of plants that we have variety in the food we eat. Plants, the producers, rely on animals for pollination; animals, the consumers and secondary consumers, rely on plants for oxygen and food; and both plants and animals rely on the decomposers – The FBI: fungi, bacteria and invertebrates to break down their waste. For it all to work ,we need many species of plants, consumers, and decomposers. When we find all the components of a food chain or when we find that flow of energy, we know we have a healthy ecosystem. Remember when you go in the gardens there is a sign that says that there is magic and mystery here. As we continue to study biodiversity and the plants and animals that make up the food chain, hopefully you will begin to realize that in the way a food chain is all put together there is magic and mystery. It is a wonder how this all comes together so beautifully. Everything is interconnected in some way.”
“But what happens when a species in an ecosystem does not reproduce properly or becomes extinct for a number of reasons? Let’s look at one of your favorite videos to find some answers.”
Play Bill Nye, the Science Guy, Biodiversity video from the beginning to 4:38. This could be extended to 8:32 depending upon your time. The entire video is well written. It covers ecosystems, extinction, more biodiversity, and our need to be observant to what is happening to the natural world. If a teacher has time later, it would be worth watching the entire video.
“Since we know more about biodiversity, there is an activity I would like for all of us to try that will show us how this flow of energy is dependent on biodiversity to work. It is called The Balanced Tangle.”
This activity can be done inside or outside. It would be more fun outside and there would be more room. For this activity a parent volunteer would be helpful to write down all the food chains that are made in the game.
The materials needed for this activity are:
7 to 10 balls of different colored yarn (It takes one ball of yarn to make one food chain.)
laminated chart of Primary and Secondary Consumers – for the teacher role cards for each student
Pencil and paper to record the different colored food chains
Have the children stand in a circle with the parent standing by to record. Choose one child to stand in the center of the circle wearing the card for the sun. Pass out the role cards to all the children and have them put them over their head so that their printed role will appear on the card in front of them. The child who is the sun will hold a ball of yarn, and as the first part of a food chain is identified, a plant, the ball of yarn will be passed to the child holding that role card while the child who is the sun continues holding the beginning of the yarn. For example, if the grass is identified as needing the sun for survival, then the ball of yarn is passed to the child labeled grass while the sun continues to hold on to the end of the yarn. The class will determine which is the primary consumer that needs grass for survival. The ball of yarn is passed to that primary consumer. The class can now identify a secondary consumer and pass the yarn to it. This will continue with decomposers and end with one child who holds the role card nutrients. Children must continue to hold the yarn from chain one. Each chain and its yarn color should be recorded.
Now, the second chain can begin with a different colored yarn. Once one chain is complete, the sun picks up another ball of yarn. The sun never lets go of the beginning of each ball of yarn, and the children who are part of each chain must continue to hold the yarn. Some children may be part of more than one chain. As the children continue through the chain, they describe their roles to the class. This will strengthen their understanding of the interdependence of the plants and animals in the ecosystem. Continue recording each chain.
The following chart will identify many possible food chains. There are 28 plants and animals in the following food chains. If you have only 24 children in your class, eliminate 4 of the animals or plants. Every new chain begins with the sun and ends with nutrients. Different and correct chains will be made by the class. It may be interesting to see if some parts of the chains are part of more than one chain. If this would occur, it would illustrate how important these things were to the health of this prairie ecosystem.
The Sun helps the plants grow. Producers are plants. Primary consumers eat the plants. Secondary consumers eat the primary consumers. Decomposers come along and by getting rid of all the leftovers, they put nutrients in the soil for the process to begin again.
Chain 1
Big Blue Stem
Meadow Lark
Snake
Ferret
Hawk
Earthworm
Nutrients
Chain 4
Purple Cone Flower
Grasshoppers
Meadow Lark
Owl
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 7
Prairie Dock
Meadow Lark
Hawk
Earthworm
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 2
Buffalo Grass
Bison
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 5
Purple Prairie Clover
Deer
Coyote
Beetle
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 8
Big Blue Stem
Grasshoppers
Spider
Meadow Lark
Snake
Owl
Beetle
Bacteria Nutrients
Chain 3
Purple Prairie Clover
Rabbit
Coyote
Bobcat
Ant
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 6
Buffalo Grass
Prairie Dog
Bobcat
Earthworm
Bacteria
Nutrients
Chain 9
Buffalo Grass
Rabbit
Badger
Bobcat
Earthworm
Bacteria
Nutrients
Outside
“Boys and girls, I would like you to make a circle and sit down. We are going to participate in an activity called The Balanced Tangle”. We have been learning about biodiversity. Using balls of yarn and making food chains will show us how biodiversity works as we make many food chains. I will be giving you a sign on a piece of yarn. Place it over your head so the sign is visible by everyone in the circle. The “Sun” will stand in the middle of the circle holding the beginning of each ball of yarn. The Sun is passing its energy to the first component of the food chain, the producer. The ball of yarn will be rolled to you, the producer. One of you who is a plant will raise your hand and describe who you are and why the sun should pass its energy to you.,The producer needs to pass the energy. One of you, a primary consumer, will now ask for the ball of yarn to be passed to you because you will eat this plant. The ball of yarn now goes to the primary consumer who will tell how the energy is passed to it. The ball of yarn is rolled to a primary consumer. This process is repeated to the secondary consumers to the tertiary consumer to the apex consumer and on to the decomposers. The decomposers put nutrients back in the water or soil for the plants to grow and the process starts all over again. So, our ball of yarn will finish at the nutrients. The first food chain has been made, and the sun can now send a different ball of yarn out to a producer to begin another food chain. This process is carried out until we cannot make another chain. Our goal is to have every one of you be part of a chain. Let’s begin with one food chain.”
Back Inside:
On the following page, there is an example of all the food chains that were made during a previous Balance Tangle Game.
Note for the teacher: Attached to this lesson for the teacher’s information are some pages which demonstrate how to construct a food chain and a food web.
“Here on the presentation system, I have examples of the food chains that were made during a previous Balanced Tangle Game. We are going to make a separate food chain from this diagram and the you will make your own. In order to make the food chains correctly I would like to show you a completed food chain.”
Display The Complete Food Chain Diagram discussing the links in the chain. (The food chains should always be displayed in a circle.
“On this diagram, we will start with the sun giving energy to the producer, Purple Prairie Clover, that would be eaten by the primary consumer, the rabbit, who would then be eaten by the secondary consumer, the snake. eaten by the tertiary consumer, the bird, eaten by the apex consumer the fox, and finally decomposed by bacteria putting the nutrients in the soil for the plants to grow and the cycle to continue and begin again.”
Pass out the Blank Food Chain Template and Photos for the Food Chain Sheet.
“Now, it is time for you to make your own. You have a Blank Food Chain Template and Photos for the Food Chain Sheet to create your chain that will show the flow of energy through the chain.
(Displaying the previous Balanced Tangle game or the one they just created would help any hesitant recorders.) As the children make food chains, display them on the presentation system.
“Now that we have made many food chains of our own and have made other ones from playing The Balanced Tangle, we are going to learn how to make food webs.”
(As a review, go to http://www.britannica.com/science/ ecosystem and go over the food web.) Food chains intertwine into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. Plants, which convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a flesh-eating animal.
Note for the teacher: Attached to this lesson for the teacher’s information are some pages which demonstrate how to construct a food chain and a food web.
Display The Complete Food Web Sheet.
“Here is a sample of a prairie food web. You can see that a plant can be eaten by more than one animal. The Buffalo Grass is eaten by the rabbit, the mouse and the bison. An animal can be eaten by more than just one other animal. The mouse is eaten by the snake, the bird, the coyote and the eagle. The end of all food webs go to the FBI which return the nutrients they produce back to the producers. Using straight lines with arrows will show what animal or organism is eaten by what.”
Pass out the Blank Food Web Template and Photos for the Food Web Sheet.
“Now, try one of your own food webs using this food web template. Take 2 other plants that we have not used to make your food web. When everyone is finished, we will show our webs to each other.”
Fibonacci
The purpose of the Living Classroom is for children to learn, through hands-on experiences, the intricacies, interdependencies, and mysteries that exist in nature. The lessons guide the children to understand the importance of being caretakers of the Earth in order to preserve present and future ecosystems.
Time of Year: Any time the plants are growing and flowers can be seen.
There are two purposes for this unit.
Children will be in the gardens going on a treasure hunt to find examples of the Fibonacci sequence that can be found in the plants that reside there. This Fibonacci pattern appears repeatedly in nature. As the children search, it is hoped that they will begin looking at our world thoroughly, stretching their curiosity, and wondering “why.” Many inventions and discoveries in human history have been made through the simple act of observing nature.
Scientists have been studying the straight hovering flight of the dragonfly. This flight has been observed to help the hovering of helicopters and to help airplanes with wind gust tolerance and visual flight control through obstacles. Dragonflies have the slenderest wings of all flying insects and are the most efficient fliers.
Since the main purpose of the Living Classroom is “to help children connect with nature” and for the children to understand why their relationship to nature is necessary, could it be that some of our children will discover something invaluable for mankind as they become more aware of their outside world? By observing nature, we could be better equipped to wonder why.
A secondary purpose is to show how mathematics lives in the nature all around us. The Fibonacci sequence has been called a mathematical curiosity. It is a series of numbers that are known to be common in how things grow. 3, 5, 8 in the petals of a flower, the Golden Rectangle in architecture, and the Golden Spiral, exemplified in the shape of our galaxy, the arrangement of seeds cluttered in the center of a sunflower, the growth of a nautilus shell.
We do not know where these numbers will lead or what new discoveries will come from them. Recently, it was found that prime numbers are of great value in cryptography, the art of writing or solving codes. The Fibonacci sequence may open the door to a new discovery.
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards Understandings about
the Nature of Science
Scientific Knowledge Is Based on Empirical Evidence:
K-2 Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.
3-5 Science findings are based on recognizing patterns.
Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.OA.C.5:
Generate and analyze patterns CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.B.3:
Analyze patterns and relationships
Common Core Fourth Grade Writing Standards
W.4.3 Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.
Fibonacci, a wealthy Italian merchant, lived 800 years ago. In his travels, he was introduced to the Hindu numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and the Arabic 0. Which were much more efficient than Roman Numerals and introduced this number system to Europe.
He was also one of the great mathematicians living in the Middle Ages. As he began observing how rabbits reproduce, he noticed a pattern.
As he observed more things in nature, he realized that this amazing pattern was occurring in nature: in the petals and spirals of plants, in the successive generations of ancestors of bees, in the number of notes in a musical scale, in the arrangement of branches on many trees, in the shapes of animals, and in the golden rectangle and in the golden spiral.
He introduced his famous number sequence, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 …. which is called the Fibonacci Sequence. Notice that every successive number in the pattern is the sum of the previous two numbers.
0 + 1 = 1
1 + 1 = 2
1 + 2 = 3
2 + 3 = 5
3 + 5 = 8
5 + 8 = 13…
Lesson #1: Number Patterns and Introduction – 20 min
Lesson #2: Treasure Hunt for the Fibonacci Sequence & Sharing Time – 30 min
Lesson #3: Draw a Fibonacci Spiral – 15 min
Lesson #4: Writing a Fibonacci Poem – 30 min
- Digital devices
- Pencils
- Base 10 Blocks
- Samples of the Fibonacci sequence – physical specimens or pictures of a starfish, pinecone, flower, sunflower, stem of a branch, fern, and zinnia
- Swirl by Swirl, by Joyce Sidman
- Growing Patterns, by Sarah Campbell
- Videos:
- Vi Hart: Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant, Part 1
- The Fibonacci Sequence: Nature’s Code, SciShow
- Nature by Numbers by Cristobal Vila
Obtain and bring to the lesson perishable examples of the Fibonacci sequence: a pineapple, some flowers with number of petals of 3, 5, 8,13, a Nautilus shell, Brussels sprouts with stalk, etc.
spiral: a pattern that winds in a continuous and gradually widening or tightening curve around a central point
pattern: a set of numbers or objects in which all the members are related to each other by a specific rule.
Lesson
The Essential Questions are: What are the basic needs of people, animals and plants? and Are the basic needs of people, animals and plants all the same?
The Objective is for the children to know the basic needs of people, animals and plants and to display their knowledge in an oral presentation of “The Basic Needs Chant,” completing an Our Basic Needs assessment and having a teacher led discussion about our basic needs and ecosystems.
“I know you are all fantastic pattern finders. So today, we will have fun finding patterns in unusual places. The first thing we will do is solve a few number patterns. The first one is simple, and then they begin to require more thought. When you find the numbers that complete the pattern, tell your neighbor what they are and how you found them.”
Pass out the Fibonacci Sequence Number Patterns handout and show the following pattern. Distribute base ten blocks to help make thinking visual:
0, 1, 3, 6, 10, 15, _, _ ,
“What are the next two numbers in this pattern? When you find the numbers, give me a quiet thumb to your chest.”
Allow wait time.
“The pattern is found by asking oneself, “How do I get from one number to the next?” In this pattern, to go from 0 to 1, you could only add 1 to 0. To go from 1 to 3, you add 2 to 1.”
The children should then be able to tell you that you add 1 to the next number to obtain the following numbers in the series. Demonstrate with base ten blocks.
0+1=1, 1+2=3, 3+3=6, 6+4=10, 10 + 5 = 15,
15 + 6 = 21, 21 + 7= 28
Show the next pattern. This pattern might require more thinking time, and there may be more than one correct solution.
8, 4, 9, 5, _, _, 11, _,
Again ask:
“What are the next two numbers in this pattern? When you find the solution, place a quiet thumb to your chest.”
Allow wait time.
“One solution is: 8, 4, 9, 5, 10, 6, 11, 7,
-4 +5 -4 +5 -4 +5 -4
Another solution may be noticing the numbers increase by 1 with two sequences intertwined:
8, 4, 9, 5, 10, 6, 11, 7
The last pattern is the Fibonacci Sequence:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, _, 34, 55, 89, _, 233
“Can anyone complete the pattern by filling in the missing numbers?” Allow wait time, and show the pattern if there are no correct responses. 0+1=2, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21,
13+21=34, 21+34=55 34+55=89, 89+55=144, 144+89=233, ….
“The sequence begins with 0+1, and each following number is the sum of the two previous numbers.”
Point to the numbers and talk through the pattern while using base ten blocks to make the thinking visible.
“This pattern has become known as the Fibonacci Sequence, although the man who found it was a brilliant Italian mathematician called Leonardo of Pisa. He was named Leonardo and came from the village of Pisa. When he began writing books, he nicknamed himself Fibonacci.”
“One of the most interesting places where Fibonacci numbers can be found is in nature.”
Use picture attachments to this unit and samples brought into the classroom to illustrate the following:
“Plants tend to grow in spirals as they reach for the sun. Buds on a stem rotate their placement in order to see the sun. Spirals are present in sunflowers, pinecones, pineapples, artichokes, and other fruits and vegetables. Many flowers open their petals in a Fibonacci number. If you cut open an apple, lemon, or cucumber, you will find a Fibonacci number of seeds. The starfish has 5 appendages, and the sand dollar has 5 chambers. I want to show you a video that explains the Fibonacci Sequence.
Show these videos:
Vi Hart: Doodling in Math: Spirals, Fibonacci, and Being a Plant, Part 1
The Fibonacci Sequence:
Nature’s Code, SciShow Nature by Numbers by Cristobal Vila
“In a few minutes, we are going on a Fibonacci hunt here in the Living Classroom. Here are photo examples of some of the patterns you will be trying to find.“
Show attached examples and describe:
“Questions? Remember, nature isn’t perfect!”
“Using your digital device, take a picture of the part of the plant, the flower, stem, or spiral that you find, which is an example of the Fibonacci sequence. Be sure to look at something else besides flowers.
When you are taking pictures of what you find, take three shots from different
angles. This will enable you to pick out your best one to save later. Remember how we work in the Living Classroom
Learning Lab, which is all around you outside: Please be careful not to step on any of the plants. Step softly with silent voices, your eyes and ears wide open. Classes that have gone out in the gardens quietly have seen praying mantises, bunnies, and hummingbird moths, and they have even heard grasshoppers and crickets. Let’s see how quiet we can be,”
Allow 30 minutes for their discovery. Call them back and allow 15 minutes for sharing. If digital devices are being used, print an image for each child or have children draw what they observed.
Pass out Fibonacci Graph Paper and pencils.
Read:
- Swirl by Swirl, by Joyce Sidman
- Growing Patterns, by Sarah Campbell
Using one of your pictures, develop a poem in five lines describing your object using your best sense words for its color, shape, smell, and feel.
Make a graphic organizer together based on the senses will help your students develop their ideas.
A concrete way to count syllables is putting your hand below your chin and say the word. Every time your chin hits your hand, that is a syllable.
line 1 = 2 syllables
line 2 = 3 syllables
line 3 = 5 syllables
line 4 = 8 syllables
line 5 = 13 syllables
Culminating Discussion:
- “Do you think it is important that we learn
- about the Fibonacci Sequence? Please state your reasons.” (Answer: finding patterns, looking at nature and seeing what else we can find, and being more aware of nature. Many new ideas have come from someone looking at nature and getting an idea or wondering how something was done).
- “Could you explain the Fibonacci sequence to another person?”
- “You have investigated the shapes and patterns that are in nature. Are you are still curious about some things you have seen or studied in our Living Classroom?”
“Thank you, boys and girls, for being such fantastic observers and listeners who are so willing to share their discoveries. Whenever you are here in our Living Classroom Learning Lab, remember to watch and listen silently and you will surely learn some of the secrets hiding here.”
Extension:
To understand “The Golden Rectangle” use the YouTube of Donald Duck In Mathemagic Land to show the children how the Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Rectangle are connected. It will be in the first 5 minutes of the film.
wINTER uNITS
Private Eye Observation
Time of Year: Fall and it could be repeated in the following Spring.
With the use of the Private Eye piece, children will sharpen their observation skills. It will help children to express their thoughts, look closely, begin to think metaphorically, and start to theorize.
Major Themes and Grade Level Understanding about the Nature of Science from the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Primary School (K-2)
Science investigations begins with a question.
Scientists search for cause and effect relationships to explain natural events.
Elementary School (3-5)
Science methods are determined by questions.
Science explanations describe the mechanisms for natural events.
Middle School(6-8)
Science limits its explanation to systems that lend themselves to observation and empirical evidence.
Theories are explanations for observable phenomena.
Science and Engineering Practices in the Next Generation Science Standards: www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
Asking Questions and Defining Problems and Analyzing and Interpreting Data
The Private Eye piece which is similar to a “jeweler’s loupe” magnifies an object 5 times. Putting two of the eye pieces together will give a magnification of 10 times.
As the children look through their “loupe”, they will be asked to respond to three questions: “What else could it be?”, “What does it look like?” and “What does it remind you of?” After the children have answered these questions, they will begin to think metaphorically by developing analogies which is one of the most often used techniques in descriptive writing.
The lesson will further extend the children’s observation skills by having the children use the Private Eye loupe to answer a new question: “Why is it like that, I wonder?”
The form of something usually gives us clues as to its function. “Form follows function.” If there are similarities in form (the texture, structure, shape, color), then it could possibly follow that there are similarities in function. Example: While looking at the delicacy and intricacy of a dragonfly’s wing under the loupe and asking “Why is it like that?”, it may lead a child to theorize that it had something to do with the way a dragonfly can fly in all directions. A wondering that could lead to further investigating — a beginning to scientific inquiry.
10 minutes for modeling the lesson
20 minutes for the children’s observations to be recorded
5 to 10 minutes for sharing observations
20 minutes for researching their answers to the question “Why is it like that?”
In this lesson, the children’s observations and ideas could be one 30 minute lesson with their research about their theories becoming the second 30 minute lesson.
objects for example: a pitcher (a measuring cup), an empty gallon milk container that has a handle, a plastic fork, a plastic knife
30 Private Eye loupes
Presentation system to model the lesson – Apple t.v.
Private Eye recording sheet
photocopies for each child in fourth grade of the Private Eye recording sheet
3 laminated pictures: a hummingbird flying to a flower for food, a Rattlesnake Master leaf , and a Rattlesnake Master plant
Private Eye “Best Guess” recording sheet
photocopies for each child in fourth grade of the Private Eye “Best Guess” recording sheet
On the day of the lesson, obtain a Rattlesnake Master leaf from the Rattlesnake Master plant in our prairie. Cut the leaf in horizontal pieces that have a width of 1/2 inch to 1 inch. There should be enough for every two children to observe. iPads and computers for researching their guesses
A soft cotton cloth or lens paper to clean the loupes when the lesson is complete.
Reserve a time for the lesson on the Google Calendar.
analogy: a comparison of two things based on their being alike in some way
beneficial: producing good or helpful results or effects : producing benefits
detrimental: tending to cause harm or injury
form: the visible shape or configuration of something
function: the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used
serrated: having or denoting a jagged edge; sawlike
theorize: to think of or suggest ideas about what is possibly true or real: to form or suggest a theory about something
theory: a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something
Important:
Reintroduce the concept of “in focus” and “out of focus”, or “blurry” versus “clear”. You can show them the picture of where the loupe should be. The loupe should be held against the eye, and the object should be held about two inches away from the lens. They should be able to see the object in focus — very sharp and clear.
Teacher note: If a child in the class is sick or has any eye infection, they cannot partake of this activity.
Lesson
To begin the lesson, you will need to model what they will be doing.
Place an object on the presentation system and ask:
“What does it look like?” or “What do you see?”
The classroom teacher will need to model two examples in order for the children to understand this lesson.
Today, we are going to observe an object, and we are going to go on to find new and interesting things about these objects. Let me show you what I mean.
Show the children a pitcher, a gallon milk container with a handle.
“Why is the pitcher shaped with this lip on it? You’re right. So you can pour the liquid that is in the pitcher easily. I could say that the shape of this pitcher helps me to know what it does. The form (the measuring cup’s visible shape) of the pitcher leads me to think that I could pour from this object. To be able to pour is its function (the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used).”
Show the gallon milk container.
“Now, tell me, why is this milk container shaped the way that it is? That’s right. This container has a handle so it is easier to pour out what ever is contained in this container. How many hands do you need to hold this milk container to pour?
Imagine if this was a gallon container with no handle. Would you be able to pour it with one hand? Here again, the form, which is the container’s visible shape, tells us how it could be used (its function).”
Show the fork.
“Here is another example, a fork. Why does this utensil have these tines, these sharp pointed projections? Yes, again you have it. This utensil has the ability to pierce an object in 4 places which enables the fork to hold on to the object. The form of the fork tells you what the fork is able to do.”
For an additional example, show the knife.
“For this next example, tell us from observing this knife’s form what its purpose or function is.” Some of the observations could be: the lower part of the object does have a handle so it can be held, the top half of the object has an edge that looks like a saw. Saws usually cut large pieces of wood, so this object could be used to cut smaller, softer things, like food. “ Here again we can see that the form of the object can tell us what its function could be.”
“Who has designed all these objects? (man has) We have been observing objects which man has made. I would now like to bring this idea of the form of an object telling us what the function of that objet is into our natural world. Let’s look at this picture of a hummingbird flying towards a flower. The hummingbird needs a diet of nectar and insects. What does the form of the flower tell you about its purpose? Try taking some guesses.”
Allow time for the children to take some guesses and if the following guess does not come, give some hints.
(The flower’s nectar is at its base, so the animal that would be able to take it would have to have a long appendage in order to obtain it. A butterfly does have a proboscis that could probably uncurl to get the nectar, but the butterfly needs to stand on all its legs in order to uncurl its proboscis. There is no place on this flower where a butterfly could stand, so the hummingbird is one of the only animals that has the ability to keep flying while gathering the nectar and helping to pollinate this plant. Isn’t it a wonder how this came to be?)
There is a mesmerizing video on the website The Kid Should See This thekidshouldseethis@gmail.com of how a hummingbird gets nectar from a flower. Once there go to Hummingbirds fly, shake, and drink in slow motion. Video runs for 2.21 minutes.
“Since we have our brain’s working, we are now going to look at this leaf from the Rattlesnake Master prairie plant.”
Show the laminated picture of the Rattlesnake Master leaf.
(Obtain a leaf or 2 from one of our Rattlesnake Master plants in the prairie. Cut it horizontally into enough pieces so that there is a piece for each partnership of two children. They will be able to look at this sample with the Private Eyes.)
Start passing out the Private Eyes and the Private Eye recording sheet.
“Before we start to understand the form and its function of this leaf, we are going to ask our selves these very familiar 3 questions:
“What does it look like?”
“Using your imagination, what else could it be?”
“Again, using your imagination, what does it remind you of?”
The children have observed with the Private Eye in all previous grades. When repeating this experience, we need to tell the children that as they grow, their powers of observation need tools grow. Now that they have a fourth grade brain, they can observe twice as many things as a second grader. A second grader sees four things where a fourth grader can see eight! The more they engage in these types of activities, the more acute their senses will become and the better prepared they will be for any occupation they may pursue.
“As fourth graders, you should be able to have at least 8‘thinking out of the box’ answers for each question. You may work with the person next you. Remember to use your imagination, think out of the box, and use whispering voices. When you have your answers, be sure to finish by making your analogy. Just like the complexity of your answers for the questions have become, our analogies should be fantastic. As with everything, the more we practice making analogies, the easier it will become for us to use them to enhance our speaking and writing.”
Take time for the children to share their answers and analogies.
Pass out the second Private Eye “Form Follows Function” recording sheet.
“Now we are going to ask ourselves a new question,
’Why is it like that, I wonder?’.
As you are thinking about that question, write down as many guesses as come into your mind. Write your guesses down in the‘Why is it like that, I wonder?’circle.”
“Your answers to the questions: ‘What does it remind me of?’ and ‘What does it look like?’ could be clues to help us answer the
question,’Why is it like that, I wonder?’.”
“With your partner, make as many guesses as you can, and then you both can decide which is your best guess. Put a star next to the guess that you both think are the most interesting and that might answer the question ‘I wonder if it could actually be like that?’ Place this guess in the second circle. ‘My Best Guess!’ Decide what avenues you could take to see if you have come close to the correct reason. Record these on the bottom of your recording sheet.”
“Since we are always interested in finding the answer to a puzzle, it is time now to try to find out if our guess is correct by asking, ‘How can I test my guess, my hypothesis?’ By doing a bit of research, you could try to find out if your theory could be correct. Here are some things we could do: we could ask an expert
gardener, look in a gardening book, or ask the internet. When we do all this, we will be theorizing or hypothesizing just as all scientists do.”
(If a partnership gets stuck, here are some guesses you could steer them towards: the plant is trying to attract only a specific species to it; or it wants to be different from other plants; or it wants to protect itself.)
Allow the children time to investigate, or if time is insufficient have them map out the strategy they would use to find their answers. Allow time later for this research to occur.
Websites that could be used:
www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/rattlesnakex.htm… plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_eryu.pdf grownative.org/native-plant-info/seedling-identification/rat… accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/2006/research_web_pages/p. www.wildflower.org
www.illinoiswildflowers.info https://askabiologist.asu.edu/contact/askaquestion
Finish the lesson by allowing the children to tell about some of their observations, the analogies that they made, and any of their theories they would still like to investigate.
What other “wonderings” do you have about the garden?
The children could also be curious and have more questions about something they investigated today. It would be interesting to give them some direction and see what else they may find.
“You may take your Private Eye sheets home with you, and I have a special request
— that you explain to your parents what you did here today in our Living Classroom Learning Lab.”
Thank you,children, for sharing your thinking with all of us.”
At the completion of the lesson, use a soft cotton cloth or lens paper to clean the loupes before they are returned to the Living Classroom Learning Lab shelves.
Fall at the pond
The purpose of the Living Classroom is for children to learn, through hands- on experiences, the intricacies, interdependencies, and mysteries that exist in nature. The lessons guide the children to understand the importance of being caretakers of the Earth in order to preserve present and future ecosystems.
Time of Year: Spring – once the pond has had time to warm – the end of April into May
Grade Level: Grade 4 – Spring observation. Grade 5 observation will occur when the children return in the Fall.
This is the same lesson done several months apart in order to compare the plants and animals that inhabit the pond in two different times of the year. The comparison of the animals and plants in these two observations will come at the end of the Fall lesson during Evaluation.
In these two lessons, the purpose is to compare the living organisms in the pond in the Spring to the animals and plants found in the pond the following Fall. It is also to open children’s eyes to the unexplored fresh water ecosystem of tiny animals that have unique adaptations for their life in this ecosystem. This exploration can help to foster environmental sensitivity in the children. In both lessons, the children are to identify the living organisms in the pond using the provided Key Reference Booklet to observe the species’ structure.
Once the animal has been identified, the children will find out all that they can about this animal: what it eats, where it lives in the pond, how it moves and breathes, and what distinctive features it has. Then children are able to place their animal into its proper place in the pond food chain which the entire class will develop using the felt pond story board or with the printable cut and paste food chain or with the food web game, The Pond Balanced Tangle. From the food chain, each child will go on to complete one food web that would incorporate his/her animals with other pond plants and animals. The essential question for this lesson becomes a Quest: Identify the adaptations of the animals and plants that reside in the pond.
Culminating this lesson, the children will write a poem about the pond life cycle and use the poem “In the Depths of the Summer Pond” from Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman to put on a play.
Disciplinary Core Ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards:
www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards LS2.A.Interdependent relationships in ecosystems
3-5
The food of almost any animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other animals eat the animals that eat plants while decomposers restore some materials back to the soil.
6-8
Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.
LS2.C. Ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience 3-5
When the environment changes, some organisms survive and reproduce, some move to new locations, some move into the transformed environment and die.
6-8
Ecosystem characteristics vary over time. Disruptions to any part of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all of its populations. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health.
LS2.D. Social interactions and group behavior 3-5
Being part of a group helps animals obtain food, defend themselves, and cope with changes.
Understandings about the Nature of Science
3-5
Science methods are determined by questions. Science investigations use a variety of methods, tools, and techniques.
Common Core State Standards:
www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/5 The CCSStandards that apply concerning research:
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.7
Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.8
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.
The CCSStandards that apply concerning poetry: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
The pond is a place of unbelievable mysteries and wonderings. The animals and plants that the children will encounter here are unique. Each of them have their own special distinctive characteristics which they have adapted to live in this freshwater environment. In order for the children to learn about these special
adaptations, it is important that they research an animal or a plant by reading teacher identified texts and web sites, and demonstrate their newly gained knowledge in a presentation.
Spring is the time when the pond is beginning to come to life again. The ice has melted and the freshwater invertebrates are beginning their life cycle. The pond plants are beginning to spread across the water. The nymphs of the dragonfly damselfly, mayfly, and mosquito are emerging. The pond is beginning to teem with life. It is a birthing station in the Spring. If it is a healthy pond it is full of biodiversity!
Fall is a beautiful time in the pond. The water hyacinths and water lilies are in bloom, and the pond skaters can be discovered
jumping and skating across the water of the pond. The dragonfly, damselfly, mayfly, and mosquito have all matured and flown away, but the pond skaters, the whirligigs, and the water boatmen are still here.
Activity #1: Observation of Animals & Plants in the Pond (60 min)
Activity #2: Research Adaptations (60 min)
Activity #3: Create Food Chains & Food Webs (60 min)
Activity #4: In the Depths of the Summer Pond Play (60 min)
Activity #5: Writing Poetry (60 min)
Activity #6: Class Discussion (45 min)
- 30 clip boards
- 30 pencils
- Pitcher to collect pond water
- 5 white tubs to hold water samples from the pond – 1 tub per group
- 30 hand held magnifying lenses to find pond animals and plants
- 30 paint brushes to gently move pond animals and plants
- 30 one-and-a-half-inch round plastic containers with screw on lids – one for each child to place a pond animal or plant in so it can be studied under a microscope
- 2” x 2” square pieces of paper – two for each child to draw their animal
- Digital devices to take pictures of the water creatures
- Microscopes
- 10 Zeiss Pre-Moistened Lens Cleaning Wipes to clean microscope lenses
- Paper towels to wipe the microscope tubes
- Printable Materials attached
- Recording Sheets
- Group Observation Sheet
- Individual Observation Sheet Information about the Fourth and Fifth Grade Pond Animals and Plants
- Foldable that the children will use to hold their research
- Example of a Pond Food Chain
- Template for a Food Chain
- Food Chain Photos: Cut & Paste
- Example of a Pond Food Web
- Template for a Food Web
- Food Web Photos: Cut & Paste
- 5 Keys to Freshwater Invertebrates
- I Am Poetry Worksheets
- Recording Sheets
- Felt pond story board with cutout pond inhabitants
- Books:
- One Small Square Pond – Donald M. Silver – short articles about most pond animals and plants
- Ponds and Streams – from Nature Club – John Stidworthy – short articles about all pond animals and plants
- Pond Watch – A Key to Fresh Water Invertebrates – contains all the Key Reference Charts for the pond study
- Look Closer, Pond Life – Barbara Taylor – A close-up look at the natural world of a pond
- Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems – Joyce Sidman – articles and poems about the Diving Beetle, the Water Boatman, the Backswimmer, and the Water Bear
- The Web at Dragonfly Pond – Brian “Fox” Ellis
- Food Chains in a Pond Habitat – Isaac Nadeau
- And So They Build – Bert Kitchen – article about the Caddis-Fly Larva
- Ubiquitous – Joyce Sidman – articles and poems about bacteria, lichens, and diatoms
- Pond and Brook – Michael J. Caduto – adult reading level
- Winter Search Party – A Guide to Insects and Other Invertebrates, Where Do They Go in the Winter? – Helen Ross Russell
- The Pond – Peter Garland
- Pond Life: a Golden Guide From St.Martin’s Press
At the pond:
- Fill the 5 tubs with pond water using the pitcher. Include a string of
- elodea in each tub as pond animals like to hide in it.
- Spread out the tubs on the grass.
- Layout the Keys to Freshwater Invertebrates near each tub.
- At each tub place 5 hand lenses, 5 paint brushes, 5 small plastic cups with lids.
- Attach the 3 recording sheets to each clipboard to hand out to the children.
- Help the children find the microscopic animals.
- When the observation at the pond is complete, gather and clean all materials.
The definitions of ecosystem, food chain, and food web have come from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Click on the web site in the citations and there will be a short informative, worthwhile video on each topic.
invertebrate: an animal without a backbone
nymphs: the beginning form of the animal. A nymph resembles the adult animal, similar to how a baby resembles an adult human.
wing buds: flattened structures on the bodies of nymphs that will form the wings in adult insects. The wing buds can often be seen on the sides or top of the nymph’s thorax.
ecosystem: the complex of living organisms, their physical environment, and all their interrelationships in a particular unit of space “An ecosystem can be categorized into its abiotic constituents, including minerals, climate, soil, water, sunlight, and all other nonliving elements, and its biotic constituents, consisting of all its living members. Linking these constituents together are two major forces: the flow of energy through the ecosystem, and the cycling of nutrients within the ecosystem.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
food chain: a hierarchical series of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food “in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. Plants, which convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a flesh-eating animal.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015
<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
food web: the whole group of interacting food chains in a community “Because all species are specialized in their diets, each trophic pyramid is made up of a series of interconnected feeding relationships called food chains. Most food chains consist of three or four trophic levels. A typical sequence may be plant, herbivore, carnivore, top carnivore; another sequence is plant, herbivore, parasite of the herbivore, and parasite of the parasite. Many herbivores, detritivores, carnivores, and parasites, however, eat more than one species, and a large number of animal species eat different foods at different stages of their life histories. In addition, many species eat both plants and animals and therefore feed at more than one trophic level. Consequently, food chains combine into highly complex food webs. Even a simplified food web can show a complicated network of trophic relationships.”
“ecosystem”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015
<http://www.britannica.com/science/ecosystem>.
herbivore: an animal that feeds on plants
carnivore: an animal that feeds on meat, although there are certain plants that feed on meat as the Venus flytrap
omnivore: an animal or person that eats food of both plant and animal origin
invertebrate: an animal without a backbone
tertiary consumers: a carnivore at the topmost level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores; an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers.
Lesson
To begin the lesson, you will need to model what they will be doing.
Place an object on the presentation system and ask:
“What does it look like?” or “What do you see?”
This is a Discovery Lesson. Give no clues about what is about to happen. Let the children discover it.
“Bring your clip boards and pencils. We are on our way out to our Living Classroom Learning Lab. Today, you will be investigating the magic and mystery of the pond.”
Bring the class out to the Living Classroom Learning Lab. Divide the children into groups. Give each group a tub filled with water from the pond. Each child will receive a paint brush, a small plastic dish, and a magnifying lens. Have the children observe the creatures in their sample using the small hand magnifying lens first.
After 10 minutes:
“Now, stir the water gently with the paint brush. Using the paint brush to move the animals and the plants will ensure that they will not be harmed. If you have any plants present, be sure to look through them carefully to see if there are any living creatures hiding in there. Take a picture with your digital device of the rest of the animals that you might now see. Watch what the animals do. Sort them into groups using your own ideas: big or small, with or without legs, etc.”
Let the children talk quietly among themselves about what they see.
“Now we are going to try to identify and name each of the freshwater invertebrates that you are observing. What is an invertebrate? An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. Touch your spine. That is your backbone. If you were an invertebrate, that is what you would not have. Here are the reference sheets, the Keys to Freshwater Invertebrates, you may use to identify the animals that you have found.”
“A few of the structures you are observing are nymphs of animals. Nymphs are the beginning stage of the animal. A nymph resembles the adult animal. It is similar to how a baby resembles an adult human.”
Allow time for the children to identify some of their animals.
“Use your group observation sheet to look at the animals a little closer. How do the animals move? Do they wiggle, glide, jump or crawl? Sort your animals into groups according to how they move. Can you find one that doesn’t move?”
Allow time for the children’s discovery. Direct children to pick one animal and observe with the Individual recording sheet.
“Almost all living things need oxygen. Each one of you can choose an invertebrate to watch. Is there one that keeps coming to the surface? Start timing your invertebrate by counting seconds. How long does it stay beneath the surface before coming to the top again? Can you detect a pattern? Do all the invertebrates come to the surface to breathe?”
“Choose an invertebrate from your tub. Using your paint brush and spoon carefully place it in your cup with some pond water. Identify your little specimen. Use the Keys to Freshwater Invertebrates to help you. Take a picture of your animal with your digital device. Use your data sheet to record what you observe. Does your invertebrate have a case or a shell? Does it have legs and, if so, how many? Does it have wing buds? Wing buds are flattened structures on the bodies of nymphs that will form the wings in adult insects. How does it move? How do you think it obtains the oxygen it needs? What are you still ‘wondering’ about your animal? Write your ‘wonderings’ on the top of your page. Now, also make sure that you write your name and date at the top of each page.”
“When your observation is complete, please return your pond water and its specimens to the pond. Release your water slowly. Leave the tools you have used in your group’s tub.”
Remind the children that their observation sheets need to be turned in after their research is complete. They will need to use them when they return to the pond in the fall.
Return to the classroom.
The children will choose an invertebrate to study from the pond. Using a foldable, the children will research specific characteristics of the individual invertebrate they choose.
They will write their information on the flaps of the foldable. A drawing of their invertebrate will be placed in the middle. The teacher shares a copy of the books and web sites to find the information needed.
Books & websites to be used for research are attached.
Have the class present the adaptations they have found that these microscopic pond animals have made in order to survive by reading off their foldable.
With the research complete, the class will use their knowledge of their animal and the felt story board cloth or printable food chain and food web of the pond to make a class food chain and food web of the pond.
Before starting the food chain, introduce the children to two more types of consumers: Tertiary consumers and Quaternary consumers. As energy from the sun is passed through the food chain, the Primary consumers or herbivores eat only the plants. The Secondary consumers or omnivores can eat the plants and the Primary consumers. The Tertiary consumers eat the Secondary consumers, so they are carnivores. At the top of the food chain are the Quaternary consumers: the eagles, lions, and whales. They are carnivores and will eat all consumers. As you go up the food chain, the number of consumers at each level becomes smaller.
Use the felt story board cloth or printable food chain and food web of the pond plants and animals to make food chains. Make as many as you would like. Have each child draw two images of their animal on 2×2 papers. Their animal may not be one of the individual participants of the pond story board or printable. But due to their knowledge of their animal from their research, they will be able to incorporate their animal in a food chain where it is appropriate. As you complete one pond food chain, have a few children bring up their drawn animal to place it in its appropriate place in the chain. With a couple of food chains completed using the pond felt story board, the children can now use the printable to make their own food chain and food web that will incorporate their drawn animal.
“Now that your research is complete, we are going to use this pond felt story board to make a few food chains. When we start a chain, think about where your animal will appear in the chain. With each chain that we make, I will ask a few of you to come up and place your animal in its appropriate place in the chain. Remember the energy for each food chain and food web begins with the sun. Each food chain and food web ends with nutrients.”
“When we studied biodiversity this Fall, we made pictures of all the food chains we made playing The Balance Tangle Game. From there, we made food webs. Now that we have made some pond food chains, take your food chain and food web papers, cut out the images and place them in the appropriate spots with glue. Please include the animal you drew. When everyone is finished, we will show our webs to each other.”
Allow time for the children to share their webs with a partner.
Possible Food chains
The children create their poem about the pond ecosystem.
“Follow either pattern below to write a poem taken from your pond animal’s view point, and you will discover that you will have written an interesting poem about your pond animal. Your poem needs to highlight the adaptations your animal has made and that you have discovered through your research of that animal.”
Have the children share their poetry with a partner.
The fourth and fifth grade classes will paint a mural of the pond on paper or on the wall. When complete, manipulate the large pictures of all the pond plants and animals on the mural to make food chains and food webs. The poems are incorporated in the mural. When the mural is complete, invite younger classes to see the pond mural with its animals and plants and hear the choral reading and play of “In the Depths of the Summer Pond.”
As a culminating activity, the children perform a choral reading and performance of the poem In the Depths of the Summer Pond from Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems by Joyce Sidman. The poem describes a pond food chain. As you read the poem, it will remind you of another poem that you and the children know, There Was an Old Woman That Swallowed a Fly.
Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems – is a beautiful, delightful book about many of the pond inhabitants. Have fun with the poems! The articles about the pond plants and animals may be used for the children’s research, but the poetry encompassed in these covers deserves to be read.
There are seven participants in this chain which describes the succession of what eats what and how energy flows through the chain. These participants are:
- algae
- the flea
- the nymph
- the bug
- the frog
- the fish
- the heron
Have 7 children dress as one of these principles to act out their part as the poem is recited behind them. The entire class speaks in unison the first two words of each stanza and the last line, “in the depths of the summer pond,” of each stanza. Have fun!
Read the article in the New York Times, “Scientists Sample the Ocean and Find Tiny Additions to the Tree of Life.” The article talks about climate change and how these tiny microbes that absorb carbon dioxide, make oxygen, break down waste, and feed other creatures are greatly affected by temperature change. There are some excellent pictures of these microbes that accompany the article. See attached article.
- Can you imagine how this all came to be?
- Can the invertebrate that you studied migrate? Is that good or bad?
- Why are the lives of these invertebrates important to the pond ecosystem?
- What is the most serious problem that endangers fresh water ecosystems?
- Why is it necessary that we learn about these microscopic animals in the pond?
- Is there biodiversity in this pond? Give examples.
- What “wonderings” do you still have about this pond ecosystem?
SPRING UNITS
Sustainability in Recycling
Lesson
The Essential Questions are: “Where do we get seeds?” and “What does a seed need to grow?”
The objective is for the children to know that from the seed they plant in the soil in their classroom a plant will grow and continue to grow once they plant it outside, if they give it water and light. In order to show their knowledge, children record the growth of their plant in their “Kindergarten Is Growing” journal. The first journal entry occurs when the first leaf grows.
“Does anyone know what recycling is? Tell to your shoulder partner even if it is just a good guess or hypothesis.”
Share out ideas.
“Why is recycling important? Tell a different person what you think.”
Share out ideas.
Pass out the Recycling Survey for as a pretest of the children’s knowledge of recycling practices in their community. For younger children, instead of passing out papers, read each question and collect a tally for each answer. Collect the papers to compare with the end of the unit survey.
In order to understand why conservation and recycling are important, read the article to the class: “Conserving Earth” from National Geographic.
“Now why do you think recycling is important? How can individuals have a less negative and more positive impact on their environment?”
Share out ideas.
“Did you know that this is how long these items take to break down in a landfill?
- paper: 2 – 4 weeks
- orange peel: 6 minutes
- milk carton: 5 years
- plastic bag: 15 years
- tin can: 100 years
- plastic bottle: 450 years
- glass bottle: 500 years
- styrofoam: never
Now let’s watch this video to get an idea of what happens when someone puts an item in the trash which could have been recycled compared to when that item is carelessly thrown on the ground compared to when that item is recycled.”
Watch: TedTalk: What really happens to the plastic you throw away? | Emma Bryce “What part of that video helped you understand why recycling is important?” Share out ideas.
Read the book: Recycle! A Handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons
“Why is recycling important? What are the sorts of things you can think to do after listening to the author’s message?”
Share out ideas.
“If we keep throwing away that which can be recycled, do you
think we could run out of that type of material to use in the future? Yes! You are right! Does anyone know what it means to live sustainably? Sustainability refers to the need to develop models and implement systems which preserve, prolong and replenish supplies necessary for both the human race and planet Earth to survive. How is recycling a practice that ensures the sustainability of the materials for people to use in the future?”
Share out ideas.
Begin a classroom recycle bin. Save the recycling in order to sort them later in the lesson. For the following lessons:
- Request that students collect several pieces of what they think might be recyclable from home, the school cafeteria, or their classroom.
- Deliver a copy of the Recycling Research Guide to the custodian prior to their presentation in order for them to easily answer the children’s questions.
“Does anyone know how our recycling gets from our hand to the material recycling facility?”
Share ideas.
“We need to know a couple vocabulary terms:
- A Materials Recovery Facility or MRF is where the recyclables are sorted to be sold to another company which uses it to make new things.
- A Market is finding a buyer for the items you are selling, like a grocery store does with food. Recyclable material is like candy on the shelf and is waiting to find someone to buy it. If no one likes that kind of candy, does it sell? Does it have any value to the person who is selling it if no one will buy it?”
“Let’s watch this video about the importance of our part in recycling properly in order the items to be ultimately recycled.”
Watch selected segments: TedTalk: Recycling alone isn’t enough – here’s why | Michael Cyr
Pass out the Recycling Research Guide.
Children complete their own Recycling
Research Guide as the custodian answers the questions.
“We have our custodian who is responsible to make sure the building runs smoothly to talk about how the school makes sure trash and recycling are not piling up in our school. We are going to find out if recycling is available in our community or is already in use and we need to improve it. Please introduce yourself and the children will ask you a few questions.”
Custodian presents if recycling is available in your community or is already established.
- Do we already have a recycling program in use?
- Is recycling available in our community?
- How recycling is collected in classrooms and who and what entity collects it?
- Is trash and recycling handled at the county level or through a private company?
- How much does the school pay for trash removal?
- How much does the school pay for recycling removal?
- Describe that process from bin in the classroom to Materials Recovery Facility.
Have the custodian show the children where the recycling is collected at the school for later removal off the school grounds.
Take a field trip to collection facility for a tour and to Materials Recycling Facility for a tour or arrange for a Representative from the Material Recycle Facility to speak about how they run their operation.
Children write the answers on the Recycling Research Guide:
- What are the benefits the facility provides to the community?
- What are common problems this facility encounters?
- Do people have to pay for trash and recycling? How much?
- How is recycling handled at the recycling plant?
- What recyclable materials are accepted?
- What do people think is recycling but is not and has to be put into a landfill?
- What mistakes can we avoid making so that all of our recycling can in fact be recycled?
- What happens to the materials when it leaves the collection site?
- Does the facility sell the materials or have to pay for it to go onto the next step for recycling?
- Are there any other private pick up or drop off choices in our community and are they free or paid services?
“Do you know the 3 R’s? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. There is also a forth and fifth R. Rethink. Rethink how you can avoid items you that are only single use. And Refuse. Refuse to buy the things at the store which have non-recyclable packing, or from companies who aren’t mindful of the environment in their business practices.”
“We can also be mindful to reduce trash in landfills by:
- Reducing your consumption of single use goods
- Reusing items instead of throwing them away
- Recycling items after they have been reused
- Rethinking the ways which modern convenience has lent itself to single use goods and choose to alter your habits in an environmentally literate way
- Refusing to buy products which are not able to be recycled or reused”
Based on the information the children researched, decide if the items brought in are recyclable or not and if there are any special requirements to know before placing in a recycle bin. For example, look for the caps off and the item rinsed clean from the food it once contained.
“We know from all the sources we collected information from that their are certain items we can recycle in our community and many things we cannot. Let’s take our items and sort them into the same type of materials.”
Sort the items by material, put children in groups with each material and make a circle.
“Now we will pick two items each. One will be an item you think can be recycled in our community and the other item you pick will be one you think cannot be recycled in our community. Please explain your thinking.”
Have the children explain their thinking about what they think can and cannot be recycled.
The teacher will have to research local websites which state what recycling is accepted in your community. In order for the children to do their own research, information from websites can be printed or placed into Google Classroom or similar.
“How can we make recycling easier for people?”
Share ideas.
“We are going to create a Recycling Guideline Chart to hang above each recycling container that we distribute in order to help everyone in our community know what to recycle!”
Create a Recycling Guideline Chart to go above the recycling containers for each room.
Use this Recycling Guidelines with Pictures Google doc to create your own personalized guidelines. Make a copy and edit to your local requirements.
The chart must have:
- Pictures
- Note that recyclables need to be free of food waste
- Note any other local requirements
- Types of materials collected, like plastic numbers
- If the caps should be on or off
Develop an informational brochure based on recycling in your community, the choices you have to recycle and the impact of not recycling.
Children use the Recycling Brochure Template attached to this lesson, with this TriFold Brochure Template Google doc by making a copy or create their own. Teacher models the parts of the brochure where information can be transferred from their Recycling Research Guide.
Children begin to build the information on their brochures to inform their community about what recyclables are accepted from the research completed on their Recycling Research Guide and from local website sources.
Brochure will include:
- Definition of recycling
- Reasons why recycling is important
- Existing problems
- How to Recycle
- Options to Recycle
- Student illustrations and photos
Extend the lesson for advanced students by having them include the 5 R’s and why they are also important options to consider before recycling.
When completed distribute the brochure to audiences in the community: parents, teachers, administrators, school board, your local educational foundation, and local environmental societies.
Request that children bring in cardboard boxes with the approximate size of 2 by 1 feet.
Cut the Recycling Symbol Stencil out of tag board and have the children paint the recycling symbol onto two sides of each box with green or blue paint.
Hand out recycling bins for each classroom and working space in your school.
Organize a school wide assembly and present to your community about recycling and sustainability.
Present all the ideas you have learned from the multiple sources you gathered in an engaging presentation for your community. Assign roles to each child. Practice your presentation.
Model how to recycle different materials.
- Do the caps have to be on or off?
- Do the containers need to be rinsed or not?
- Include items that cannot be recycled.
- Invite volunteers from the audience to come up and try sorting the items.
Distribute your brochure, recycling bins, and recycling guideline chart to your community. After a few days, sort recycling from different classrooms. Re-educate your community if items in the recycle bin are not what is accepted.
“Are there other ways we can make choices to be sustainable in our every day life?”
Write a reflection paragraph about recycling, why it is important and how it leads to a future of living sustainably with your Earth.
Use a thinking map to brainstorm ideas. Partner children or have them jot ideas down on their own thinking map as you have the class help you complete yours.
Then model how ideas are formed into complete sentences on lined paper. Remove your writing from sight before children begin their own.
Pass out the Recycling Survey for as a pretest of the children’s knowledge of recycling practices in their community. For younger children, instead of passing out papers, read each question and collect a tally for each answer. Pass out the pre unit survey to compare with the end of the unit survey. Have children notice the answers which were the same and different.
Finally – The Words of Chief Seattle:
Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst and feed our children. The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath – the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. And what is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit.
This we know. The Earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.
Spoken as admonition to all at the tribal assembly of 1854, prior to signing the Indian Treaties.
Concepts Legend:
~ Ecosystems ~
&
~ Life Cycles ~
~ Adaptation ~
&
~ Pollination ~
~ Biodiversity ~
&
~ Food Chains ~
~ Patterns ~
&
~ Shapes ~
~ Balance of Nature ~
&
~ Sustainability ~
Shortcuts to our Courses
