Kimberly Champion STEM Lesson “Home Sweet Habitat” Purpose The purpose of this activity is to explore animals, including their characteristics, adaptations and habitats through research and presentation. Students will choose an animal and thoroughly research its physical and behavioral adaptations, eating patterns, position in the food chain, biological characteristics and other interesting facts. Each student will create a diorama showing the animal in its habitat, design a poster summarizing their research and present their project to the class. This lesson also fosters STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) components as students perform electronic research, represent and interpret measurements, discover animal characteristics and construct a diorama. This lesson will address the following misconceptions: 1) Traits are developed by individual organisms to the needs of the individual, instead of recognizing traits are developed across generations in response to environmental demands or conditions. 2) Species coexist in ecosystems because of their compatible needs and behaviors and need to get along, instead of understanding species compete for resources, feed on one another and live in the same ecosystem because of similar adaptations and environmental needs. 3) Organisms higher in a food web eat everything that is lower in the food web, instead of realizing organisms higher in a food chain eat some, but not necessarily all, of the organisms below them in the food web. 4) Varying the population size of a species may not affect an ecosystem because some organisms are not important, instead of recognizing all organisms are important within an ecosystem and that varying a species’ population size may not affect all other species equally, but it will affect the ecosystem as a whole. 5) Ecosystems are not a functioning whole but simply a collection of organisms, instead of realizing ecosystems include the organisms, the interactions between organisms and the interaction between the organisms and their physical environment.
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Transcript
Kimberly Champion
STEM Lesson
“Home Sweet Habitat”
Purpose The purpose of this activity is to explore animals, including their characteristics,
adaptations and habitats through research and presentation. Students will choose an
animal and thoroughly research its physical and behavioral adaptations, eating patterns,
position in the food chain, biological characteristics and other interesting facts. Each
student will create a diorama showing the animal in its habitat, design a poster
summarizing their research and present their project to the class. This lesson also
fosters STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) components as
students perform electronic research, represent and interpret measurements, discover
animal characteristics and construct a diorama.
This lesson will address the following misconceptions:
1) Traits are developed by individual organisms to the needs of the individual, instead of
recognizing traits are developed across generations in response to environmental demands
or conditions.
2) Species coexist in ecosystems because of their compatible needs and behaviors and
need to get along, instead of understanding species compete for resources, feed on one
another and live in the same ecosystem because of similar adaptations and environmental
needs.
3) Organisms higher in a food web eat everything that is lower in the food web, instead of
realizing organisms higher in a food chain eat some, but not necessarily all, of the
organisms below them in the food web.
4) Varying the population size of a species may not affect an ecosystem because some
organisms are not important, instead of recognizing all organisms are important within an
ecosystem and that varying a species’ population size may not affect all other species
equally, but it will affect the ecosystem as a whole.
5) Ecosystems are not a functioning whole but simply a collection of organisms, instead of
realizing ecosystems include the organisms, the interactions between organisms and the
interaction between the organisms and their physical environment.
6) Carnivores are big and ferocious and herbivores are small and passive, instead of
understanding that although some carnivores may be big and ferocious and some
herbivores small and passive, there is a great diversity among each group of organisms.
Lesson Goal or Objectives As a result of this lesson, students will become mini-experts on the animal of their
choosing through diligent research. Students will gain experience with the Engineering
Design Process in an authentic way as they design and develop a diorama and corresponding
poster while receiving directives and constraints. They will also expand their
understanding of the relationship between environment and adaptations of an animal and
the significant role of adaptations in the sustainability of a population. Students will
enhance their written and oral presentation skills as they share information with their
classmates.
Lesson STEM Challenge Question/Directive Design and construct the habitat of an animal in which viewers will acquire a genuine
perspective of its natural environment without further explanation. In addition, create a
corresponding poster that provides viewers a true understanding of the animal by offering
fundamental and interesting facts in a succinct manner.
Target Group This lesson was planned for fourth grade students.
Approximate Time Teacher Prep: Thirty minutes to copy student worksheets and review activity and
background information.
Student time is estimated as follows:
Engage: Thirty minutes
Explore: One class period for initial research in media center or computer lab
One class period for integrated math measurement lesson
Explain: Thirty minutes to forty-five minutes
Extend: Two to three class periods to present and explain challenge to students and
perform additional animal project research
One class period to create poster displays
*Students will construct dioramas at home
Evaluate: 5 minute student presentations; three class periods for all presentations
Background Science Information A habitat can be described as ‘the immediate environment in which a living organism (an
animal or plant), exists.’ Animal habitats may include living organisms and nonliving objects
and can vary greatly in size, temperature, rainfall and surrounding landforms across
species. Animals make their homes in a variety of places including deserts, swamps and
Discipline-based Content Expectations Science Content Expectations: L.EV.04.22: Identify how variations in physical characteristics of individual organisms give
them an advantage for survival and reproduction.
L.OL.04.16: Determine that animals require air, water, and a source of energy and building
material for growth and repair.
Mathematics Common Core: Measurement and Data (4.MD) Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit. 1. Know relative sizes of measurement units within one system of units including km, m, cm;
kg, g; lb, oz.; l, ml; hr, min, sec. Within a single system of measurement, express
measurements in a larger unit in terms of a smaller unit. Record measurement equivalents
in a two column table. For example, know that 1 ft is 12 times as long as 1 in. Express the
length of a 4 ft snake as 48 in. Generate a conversion table for feet and inches listing the
number pairs (1, 12), (2, 24), (3, 36).
2. Use the four operations to solve word problems involving distances, intervals of time,
liquid volumes, masses of objects, and money, including problems involving simple fractions
or decimals, and problems that require expressing measurements given in a larger unit in
terms of a smaller unit. Represent measurement quantities using diagrams such as number
line diagrams that feature a measurement scale.
Technology Standards: Grades 3-5 Research and Information Fluency (3-5.RI) 1. Identify search strategies for locating information with support from teachers or
school library media specialists.
2. Use digital tools to find, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.
4. Understand that using information from a single Internet source might result in the
reporting of erroneous facts and that multiple sources should always be researched.
Engineering Standards: Engineering Design 1D2: Designing, testing, and building a system, component, or process to meet desired
needs within realistic constraints.
1P1: Learn that the engineering design process includes defining a problem, brainstorming,
researching and generating ideas, identifying criteria and specifying constraints, exploring
possibilities, selecting an approach, developing a design proposal, making a model or
prototype, testing and evaluating the design using specifications, refining the design,
creating or making it, and communicating processes and results.
Materials Needed Engage -Pebblego.com subscription or similar animal information website
-Variety of pictures of animals in their natural habitats demonstrating the basic
requirements for sustaining life (i.e. eating, drinking water, having space, etc.)
-Now and Later worksheet (for each student)
Explore -Arrange access to the computer lab or media center computers for student research