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Congratulations!You have chosen a learning program that will actively motivate your students and provide you with easily accessible and easily manageableinstructional guidelines and tools designed to make your teaching role efficient and rewarding.
The AIMS Teaching Module (ATM) provides you with a video program correlated to your classroom curriculum, instructions and guidelines foruse, plus a comprehensive teaching program containing a wide range of activities and ideas for interaction between all content areas. Ourauthors, educators, and consultants have written and reviewed the AIMS Teaching Modules to align with the Educate America Act: Goals 2000.
This ATM, with its clear definition of manageability, both in the classroom and beyond, allows you to tailor specific activities to meet all of yourclassroom needs.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted without written permission of AIMS Multimedia with these exceptions: Persons or schools purchasing thisAIMS Teaching Module may reproduce consumable ATM pages, identified in Section 4, for student or classroom use.
AIMS Multimedia is a leading producer and distributor of educational programs serving schools and libraries since 1957. AIMS draws upon the most up-to-date knowledge, existingand emerging technologies, and all of the instructional and pedagogical resources available to develop and distribute educational programs in videocassette and CD-ROM.
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In today’s classrooms, educational pedagogy is often founded onBenjamin S. Bloom’s “Six Levels of Cognitive Complexity.” Thepractical application of Bloom’s Taxonomy is to evaluate students’thinking skills on these levels, from the simple to the complex:
1. Knowledge (rote memory skills), 2. Comprehension (the ability to relate or retell), 3. Application (the ability to apply knowledge outside its origin), 4. Analysis (relating and differentiating parts of a whole), 5. Synthesis (relating parts to a whole)6. Evaluation (making a judgment or formulating an opinion).
The AIMS Teaching Module is designed to facilitate these intellectualcapabilities, and to integrate classroom experiences and assimilationof learning with the students’ life experiences, realities, andexpectations. AIMS’ learner verification studies prove that our AIMSTeaching Modules help students to absorb, retain, and to demonstrateability to use new knowledge in their world. Our educationalmaterials are written and designed for today’s classroom, whichincorporates a wide range of intellectual, cultural, physical, andemotional diversities.
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
To facilitate ease in classroom manageability, the AIMS TeachingModule is organized in three sections:
I. Introducing this ATM will give you the specific information you need to integrate theprogram into your classroom curriculum.
II. Preparation for Viewing provides suggestions and strategies for motivation, languagepreparedness, readiness, and focus prior to viewing the programwith your students.
III. After Viewing the Program provides suggestions for additional activities plus an assortment ofconsumable assessment and extended activities, designed to broadencomprehension of the topic and to make connections to othercurriculum content areas.
Your AIMS Teaching Module is designed toaccompany a video program written andproduced by some of the world’s mostcredible and creative writers and producersof educational programming. To facilitatediversity and flexibility in your classroomand to provide assessment tools, your AIMSTeaching Module features these components:
ThemesThis section tells how the AIMS TeachingModule is correlated to the curriculum.Themes offers suggestions for interactionwith other curriculum content areas,enabling teachers to use the teachingmodule to incorporate the topic into avariety of learning areas.
OverviewThe Overview provides a synopsis of contentcovered in the video program. Its purpose isto give you a summary of the subject matterand to enhance your introductorypreparation.
ObjectivesThe ATM learning objectives provideguidelines for teachers to assess whatlearners can be expected to gain from eachprogram. After completion of the AIMSTeaching Module, your students will be ableto demonstrate dynamic and appliedcomprehension of”” the topic.
Preparation for ViewingIn preparation for viewing the videoprogram, the AIMS Teaching Module offersactivity and/or discussion ideas that youmay use in any order or combination.
Introduction To The ProgramIntroduction to the Program is designed toenable students to recall or relate priorknowledge about the topic and to preparethem for what they are about to learn.
Introduction To VocabularyIntroduction to Vocabulary is a review oflanguage used in the program: words,phrases, and usage. This vocabularyintroduction is designed to ensure that alllearners, including limited Englishproficiency learners, will have fullunderstanding of the language usage in thecontent of the program.
Discussion IdeasDiscussion Ideas are designed to help youassess students’ prior knowledge about thetopic and to give students a preview of whatthey will learn. Active discussion stimulatesinterest in a subject and can motivate eventhe most reluctant learner. Listening, as wellas speaking, is active participation.Encourage your students to participate at therate they feel comfortable. Model sharingpersonal experiences when applicable, andmodel listening to students’ ideas andopinions.
FocusHelp learners set a purpose for watching theprogram with Focus, designed to givestudents a focal point for comprehensioncontinuity.
Jump Right InJump Right In provides abbreviatedinstructions for quick management of theprogram.
After Viewing the ProgramAfter your students have viewed theprogram, you may introduce any or all ofthese activities to interact with othercurriculum content areas, providereinforcement, assess comprehension skills,or provide hands-on and in-depth extendedstudy of the topic.
The Suggested Activities offer ideas foractivities you can direct in the classroom orhave your students complete independently,in pairs, or in small work groups after theyhave viewed the program. To accommodateyour range of classroom needs, the activitiesare organized into skills categories. Theirlabels will tell you how to identify eachactivity and help you correlate it into yourclassroom curriculum. To help you scheduleyour classroom lesson time, the AIMShourglass gives you an estimate of the timeeach activity should require. Some of theactivities fall into these categories:
Meeting Individual NeedsThese activities are designedto aid in classroom continuity.Reluctant learners andlearners acquiring Englishwill benefit from these
activities geared to enhance comprehensionof language in order to fully grasp contentmeaning.
Curriculum ConnectionsMany of the suggestedactivities are intended tointegrate the content of theATM program into othercontent areas of the
classroom curriculum. These cross-connections turn the classroom teachingexperience into a whole learningexperience.
Critical Thinking Critical Thinking activities aredesigned to stimulatelearners’ own opinions and
ideas. These activities require students to usethe thinking process to discern fact fromopinion, consider their own problems andformulate possible solutions, drawconclusions, discuss cause and effect, orcombine what they already know with whatthey have learned to make inferences.
Cultural Diversity Each AIMS Teaching Modulehas an activity called CulturalAwareness, Cultural Diversity,
or Cultural Exchange that encouragesstudents to share their backgrounds,cultures, heritage, or knowledge of othercountries, customs, and language.
Hands OnThese are experimental ortactile activities that relatedirectly to the material taughtin the program. Your students
will have opportunities to make discoveriesand formulate ideas on their own, based onwhat they learn in this unit.
WritingEvery AIMS Teaching Modulewill contain an activitydesigned for students to usethe writing process to express
their ideas about what they have learned.The writing activity may also help them tomake the connection between what they arelearning in this unit and how it applies toother content areas.
In The NewsroomEach AIMS Teaching Modulecontains a newsroom activity
designed to help students make therelationship between what they learn in theclassroom and how it applies in their world.The purpose of In The Newsroom is toactively involve each class member in awhole learning experience. Each student willhave an opportunity to perform all of thetasks involved in production: writing,researching, producing, directing, andinterviewing as they create their ownclassroom news program.
Extended ActivitiesThese activities provideopportunities for students towork separately or together toconduct further research,
explore answers to their own questions, orapply what they have learned to othermedia or content areas.
Link to the World These activities offer ideasfor connecting learners’classroom activities to their
community and the rest of the world.
Culminating ActivityTo wrap up the unit, AIMSTeaching Modules offersuggestions for ways toreinforce what students have
learned and how they can use their newknowledge to enhance their worldview.
VocabularyEvery ATM contains an activity thatreinforces the meaning and usage of thevocabulary words introduced in theprogram content. Students will read or findthe definition of each vocabulary word, thenuse the word in a written sentence.
Checking ComprehensionChecking Comprehension is designed tohelp you evaluate how well your studentsunderstand, retain, and recall theinformation presented in the AIMS TeachingModule. Depending on your students’ needs,you may direct this activity to the wholegroup yourself, or you may want to havestudents work on the activity pageindependently, in pairs, or in small groups.Students can verify their written answersthrough discussion or by viewing the video asecond time. If you choose, you canreproduce the answers from your AnswerKey or write the answer choices in a WordBank for students to use. Students can usethis completed activity as a study guide toprepare for the test.
Reproducible ActivitiesThe AIMS Teaching Module provides aselection of reproducible activities, designedto specifically reinforce the content of thislearning unit. Whenever applicable, theyare arranged in order from low to highdifficulty level, to allow a seamlessfacilitation of the learning process. You maychoose to have students take these activitieshome or to work on them in the classroomindependently, in pairs or in small groups.
Checking VocabularyThe checking Vocabulary activity providesthe opportunity for students to assess theirknowledge of new vocabulary with this wordgame or puzzle. The format of thisvocabulary activity allows students to use therelated words and phrases in a differentcontext.
TestThe AIMS Teaching Module Test permits youto assess students’ understanding of whatthey have learned. The test is formatted inone of several standard test formats to giveyour students a range of experiences in test-taking techniques. Be sure to read, orremind students to read, the directionscarefully and to read each answer choicebefore making a selection. Use the AnswerKey to check their answers.
Additional AIMS MultimediaProgramsAfter you have completed this AIMSTeaching Module you may be interested inmore of the programs that AIMS offers. Thislist includes several related AIMS programs.
Answer KeyReproduces tests and work pages withanswers marked.
JUMP RIGHT IN
Preparation• Read Biologically Speaking: Biomes of
the World Themes, Overview, andObjectives to become familiar withprogram content and expectations.
• Use Preparation for Viewingsuggestions to introduce the topic tostudents.
Viewing• Set up viewing monitor so that all
students have a clear view.
• Depending on your classroom size andlearning range, you may choose tohave students view BiologicallySpeaking: Biomes of the World togetheror in small groups.
• Some students may benefit fromviewing the video more than one time.
After Viewing • Select Suggested Activities that
integrate into your classroomcurriculum. If applicable, gathermaterials or resources.
• Choose the best way for students towork on each activity. Some activitieswork best for the whole group. Otheractivities are designed for students towork independently, in pairs, or insmall groups. Whenever possible,encourage students to share their workwith the rest of the group.
• Duplicate the appropriate number ofVocabulary, Checking Comprehension,and consumable activity pages for yourstudents.
• You may choose to have students takeconsumable activities home, orcomplete them in the classroom,independently, or in groups.
• Administer the Test to assess students’comprehension of what they havelearned, and to provide them withpractice in test-taking procedures.
• Use the Culminating Activity as a forumfor students to display, summarize,extend, or share what they havelearned with each other, the rest of theschool, or a local communityorganization.
Biologically Speaking: Biomes Of TheWorld explores the seven major biomesof the Earth. Students will learn how abiome’s climate is influenced by theregion’s latitude, elevation, and near-ness to oceans and mountains. The rela-tionship of climate to organisms in thesurrounding region, the plant life andanimal life of each biome, and eachbiome’s typical geographic features arealso explored.
Overview
Most of the Earth’s surface is populatedwith plant and animal life. However,there are many variations in the types oforganisms that occupy different regions.Large areas that are populated by char-acteristic plant and animal life arecalled biomes. Biologically Speaking:Biomes Of The World explores the envi-ronmental factors that govern theseregions.
Objectives
• To study each of the seven majorbiomes of the Earth
• To explain the factors that deter-mine climate, including latitude,elevation, and nearness to oceansand mountains
• To discuss the relationship betweenclimate and organisms in the bio-mes
• To study the characteristic animaland plant life of each biome
• To discuss the geographical featuresof each biome, and their effects onthe region
Introduction to the Program
Each area of the Earth is populated withits own unique variety of plants and ani-mals. Regions such as the tropical rain-forest with its high temperatures,abundant rainfall and plentiful foodsupply, are home to millions of speciesof organisms. Other areas, such asharsh deserts, are populated by only thehardiest of organisms, those able towithstand extreme temperatures and ascarcity of water. Links between aregion’s geographic location, its cli-mate, and the organisms that surviveand thrive there are what give the Earththe broad versatility of its biomes.
Introduction to Vocabulary
Write the following words on the boardand explain that they will be referencedin the video. Some students may beunfamiliar with the terms. If the meaningof any word is unclear to the group, askvolunteers to use an appropriate refer-ence source to check the term andreport their findings to the class.
Encourage students to note the contextin which the words are used in the pro-gram, and to be prepared to discusstheir meaning.
Ask the class to name as many climateregions as they can. Accept answerssuch as desert, forest, mountain, andcoastal. What factors contribute to theclimates of these regions? Can climatesbe influenced only by natural factors, orcan they also be influenced by factorscaused by humans? (Natural factorssuch as latitude, elevation, temperature,humidity, wind patterns, and nearnessto mountains or bodies of water can allaffect climate. Humans can also changea region’s climate. For example, largeforests once covered much of the east-ern U.S. Most of those forests were cutdown, and the land turned into grass-land for grazing, or into large townsand cities. Elsewhere in the world - suchas in Egypt - dry lands have been irri-gated and turned into fertile farmland.)
Focus
Ask students to think for a few momentsabout their surroundings - the biome inwhich they live. What other types ofbiomes would they like to visit? Tell themthey are about to learn more about theEarth’s biomes, and what makes each ofthem diverse, interesting, and unique.
Connection to GeographyThe factors of latitude, elevation, temperature, wind speed, and nearness to mountains and oceanscombine to create a region’s climate. Have students work in small groups, using appropriate referenceresources, to learn more about the climate of their community or state. What is the elevation? The aver-age temperature at this time of year? What is the latitude? How close are mountains, the ocean or otherlarge bodies of water? How do these factors contribute to the area’s climate? When they have con-cluded their research, have each groups compile their information into a report and select a represen-tative to present their findings to the class.
Meeting Individual NeedsAsk students to look up the words climate, weather, and environment in the dictionary. What does eachword mean? What do the words have in common? (Climate is the average weather of a region.Weather is a region’s current state of temperature, precipitation, wind speed, humidity and other fac-tors. Environment consists of surrounding objects and conditions, including weather.)
Cultural DiversityWhat might it be like to live in a desert? On a coastal island? In a temperate rainforest? Ask studentsto research one of the locations listed to learn more about its climate, people and lifestyles. Tell them toassume the persona of a student living in that region and write a one-page diary entry about their day’sactivities, including elements of the outdoors.
Connection to ArtUsing information from the Cultural Diversity activity, ask students to draw an outdoor scene mentionedin their diary entry. Encourage them to include themselves in the drawing. What articles of clothing arethey wearing? What buildings are nearby? What are nearby people doing? What kinds of plants andanimals are included in the picture?
Label a classroom wall as “Biomes of the World” and display the drawings, grouped by location.
In the NewsroomDivide the class into seven groups and assign each group one of the seven major biomes to researchand prepare a news report on, “Our Biome, the Whole Story.” Ask them to research details of geo-graphic location, latitude, elevation, climate, and the variety of animals, plants and other living organ-isms common there. Have each group select one or two anchorpersons to present their news story tothe class. If feasible, videotape their presentations for review and further discussion.
Critical ThinkingThe biome we live in affects many things in our lives. How do our surroundings and weather affect whatwe wear? How might our food supply differ from what is available in other biomes? Would adults’ jobsor the sports, hobbies and other outdoor activities we enjoy be possible in other biomes? How mightour homes, schools and roads need to be different if our biome was different? (Student answers willvary, but should include discussion of temperature, precipitation, plant and animal life and other fac-tors that greatly influence lifestyle.)
Hands OnMany biomes can exist within the same country. After the class has determined what type biome theircommunity is located in, encourage students to spend a few days exploring their outdoor environment.Provide each student with a small notebook for the purpose and ask them to make notes of any animallife they observe, as well as the current weather patterns. If feasible, have them also collect small spec-imens of plant life. They should also include drawings of animals, larger plants and geographical fea-tures such as mountains or rivers. When the assignment is concluded, display the notebooks so thatstudents can enjoy the work of their classmates.
Link to the WorldAll over the world, changes are occurring in various biomes. Some of these changes have been blamedon human actions, such as the burning of fossil fuels. Acid rain from the burning of coal has alreadydamaged much of the Earth’s forests, coral reefs, and coastal communities. In addition, rainforests arebeing destroyed to make room for grazing livestock. The damage to the ozone layer, the subsequentgreenhouse effect and the beginning of polar ice cap melting are also blamed in part on the use of fos-sil fuels.
Ask students to think about these problems for a few moments. What are some ways that everyone canhelp protect the Earth’s biomes? Who is responsible for doing these things? (Answers will vary, butshould include: using less electrical power, carpooling, recycling paper, metal cans, plastics, using solarenergy as feasible, cleaning up pollution and supporting laws that protect the Earth, contributing timeor money to conservation groups. As far as responsibility goes - it’s the responsibility of everyone liv-ing on Earth to do these things.)
Culminating ActivityHave students work individually or in small groups to create a multi-media presentation about the biomein which they live. Brainstorm with the class the topics that should be covered, as well as the types ofmaterials and media they would like to include in their presentation. Have each individual or group pre-sent to the entire class. If feasible, videotape their presentations for review and further discussion.
30 Minutes
Extended
45 Minutes
Extended
Name
VOCABULARY
The following vocabulary words are from Biologically Speaking: Biomes Of The World. Fill in the numberof each term next to its closest definition, then on a separate piece of paper use each term in a sentence.
Read the following sentences and circle the letters of the words that best fill each blank.
In order for life to exist, there are four basic requirements. Nutrients, such as 1 , are needed to make living cells. Energymust also be available, either from the sun or from 2 energy stored in the tissues of other organisms. The third require-ment is 3 . The final requirement for life is a range of 4 that allow chemical reactions to take place. In dif-ferent areas of the Earth these basic requirements are more, or less, available. The overall availability of these requirements in aregion result in that region being a certain type of 5 , or a region with characteristic plants and animals. An area’saverage weather, or 6 , is affected by many environmental factors. Elevation and nearness to 7 can helpdetermine the temperature and rainfall of a particular region. 8 , or location north and south of the equator, is anotherfactor that contributes to climate. Places close to the 9 , which has a latitude of zero degrees, are very hot and wet.These environmental and geographical factors determine a biome’s 10 .
These vocabulary words from Biologically Speaking: Biomes Of The World can be found in the maze below.The letters of the words may be arranged horizontally, vertically, diagonally or backwards.
You and your students might also enjoy these other AIMS Multimedia programs:
2604-EN-VID: Biologically Speaking: Ecosystems and the Cycles of Nature8207-EN-VID: Animal Communities8559-EN-VID: Ecosystems: Nature in Balance8206-EN-VID: How Animals Survive8205-EN-VID: How We Classify Animals8598-EN-VID: Learning abut Science: Flowers
The following vocabulary words are from Biologically Speaking: Biomes Of The World. Fill in the numberof each term next to its closest definition, then on a separate piece of paper use each term in a sentence.
Read the following sentences and circle the letters of the words that best fill each blank.
In order for life to exist, there are four basic requirements. Nutrients, such as 1 , are needed to make living cells. Energymust also be available, either from the sun or from 2 energy stored in the tissues of other organisms. The third require-ment is 3 . The final requirement for life is a range of 4 that allow chemical reactions to take place. In dif-ferent areas of the Earth these basic requirements are more, or less, available. The overall availability of these requirements in aregion result in that region being a certain type of 5 , or a region with characteristic plants and animals. An area’saverage weather, or 6 , is affected by many environmental factors. Elevation and nearness to 7 can helpdetermine the temperature and rainfall of a particular region. 8 , or location north and south of the equator, is anotherfactor that contributes to climate. Places close to the 9 , which has a latitude of zero degrees, are very hot and wet.These environmental and geographical factors determine a biome’s 10 .
1.a) ice and fireb) water and airc) calcium and nitrogend) salt and sand
2. a) chemicalb) electricalc) solard) ocean
3. a) saltb) waterc) oxygend) oil
4. a) animalsb) plantsc) temperaturesd) weather patterns
5. a) countriesb) precipitationc) hemispheresd) biomes
6. a) climateb) latitudec) elevationd) forecast
7.a) mountains and oceansb) towns and citiesc) plants and animalsd) none of the above
8. a) temperaturesb) longitudec) latituded) elevation
9. a) equatorb) sunc) desertd) grassland
10.a) plant lifeb) animal lifec) weatherd) all of the above
These vocabulary words from Biologically Speaking: Biomes Of The World can be found in the maze below.The letters of the words may be arranged horizontally, vertically, diagonally or backwards.