4thGradeLifeScience:CulminatingResearchProject

Author:RabeaMcCullough
Datecreated:03/24/20157:22AMEDTDatemodified:04/19/201511:22PMEDT

VITALINFORMATION
TotalNumberofStudents

31students.16boysand15girls.

Area(s)StudentsLiveIn

Urban

Free/ReducedLunch

13%

EthnicityofStudents

16areWhite,3areHispanic,10areAsian,and2areofmixedrace.

EnglishLanguageLearners

2EnglishLanguageLearners.BothareclassifiedasEarlyAdvanced.

StudentswithSpecialNeeds

6studentshaveIEPs.Onestudenthasautismandreceiveshelpfromafulltime,personalaide.Onestudentreceives
only30minutesofpulloutamonthformath.Twostudentsreceiveabout90minutesofpulloutforbothmathand
languageartsskills.Onestudentreceivesanhourofpulloutformath.OnestudentispulledoutforSpeechand
Languageforastutter.

Subject(s)

LanguageArts(English),Science

TopicorUnitofStudy

Thisisthefourthgradelifescienceunit.Specifically,thisunitsurroundstheinterdependenceoforganismsandnonliving
elementswithinanecosystemandhowtheyarerelated.Forexample,studentswilllearnhowenergytransfersthrough
afoodchain.

Grade/Level

Grade4

Comments

KEYCONCEPTS&STANDARDS
BigIdea&Essential
Questions

Atthispointintheunit,studentshavelearnedaboutalloftheroleswithinanecosystem,includingproducers,
consumers,anddecomposers.Studentshavealsodiscussedhowtheseorganismsinteractwitheachotherandthe
nonlivingcomponentssurroundingthemwithintheirenvironments.Priortothislesson,studentshavereadabout
ecosystemsandthenextractedrelevantinformationinordertomapoutafoodweb.
Forthisactivity,studentswillhavetoaskthemselves:Howdotheorganismsinthisecosysteminteract?HowcanI
createoptimalconditionsforthesurvivalofacertainorganism?Whatfactorsneedtobeincludedwithinanecosystemin
orderforallcomponentstothrive?

LearningOutcome(s)

Studentswillbeabletoidentifyanddescribefood,water,sunlight,andshelterastheessentialcomponenetsofa
habitat.
Studentswillbeabletodifferentiatebetweenlivingandnonlivingcomponentsofanecosystem.

Summary
Standards

CACaliforniaCommonCoreStateStandards(2012)
Subject:EnglishLanguageArts&LiteracyinHistory/SocialStudies,Science,andTechnicalSubjects
Grade:Grade4students:
ContentArea:InformationalTextK5
Strand:Reading
Domain:IntegrationofKnowledgeandIdeas
Standard:
9.Integrateinformationfromtwotextsonthesametopicinordertowriteorspeakaboutthesubject
knowledgeably.

CACaliforniaK12AcademicContentStandards
Subject:Science
Grade:GradeFour
Area:LifeSciences
SubStrand2:Allorganismsneedenergyandmattertoliveandgrow.Asabasisforunderstandingthisconcept:
Standardb:Studentsknowproducersandconsumers(herbivores,carnivores,omnivores,anddecomposers)are
relatedinfoodchainsandfoodwebsandmaycompetewitheachotherforresourcesinanecosystem.

Comments

ASSESSMENTS

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Assessment/Rubrics

Thisassessmentwillbesummativeasthisistheculminatingprojectoftheunit.
Studentswillreadmultiplesourcesaboutaspecifictopicsandwriteafiveparagraphresearchpaperthatsupportsthe
componentstheyhaveincludedintheirsanctuary.
Studentswilldesignananimalsanctuarybasedontheneedsandtheenvironmentoftheanimal,thiswillincludetypes
ofproducersincluded,otherrelatedconsumers,anddecomposers.

Comments

MATERIALSANDRESOURCES
InstructionalMaterials&
Technology(handouts,etc.)

Booksatappropriatereadinglevelsforawiderangeofstudents.
Computers
Sciencenotebooks
Readingnotebooks
Pencils
Graphpaper
iPadsorChromebooks
Writingpaper

Comments

IMPLEMENTATION
SequenceofActivities

Day1:
TheteacherwillhaveprefacedtheprojectadayortwobeforehandafterstudentshavereadabouttheMontereyBay
MarineNationalSanctuary.Studentswereaskedtothinkofananimalthattheywouldliketodesignasanctuaryfor.
Theteacherwillintroducetheprojectbyinformingstudentsthattheygettheopportunitytostepintotheroleofa
Zoologistanddesigntheirownanimalsanctuary.Thissanctuarywillbedesignedinordertohelptheanimalsbest
survive.Theteacherwillaskthestudentswhatcomponentswillneedtobeincludedinorderforthesanctuarytothrive.
Theteacherwillhavetheclerks(astudentjob)passoutthedirectionsfortheprojectandtherubric.Theteacherwillask
studentvolunteerstohelpreadthedirections,whichwillbeginwithaletter:"DearLocalScientist,Therearerumorsthat
inthenearfuture,taxpayerswillhaveraisedenoughmoneyfortheU.S.NationalParksServicetocreateawildlife
sanctuarysomewhereintheU.S.Weareaskinglocalexpertstosubmitdesignsforasanctuarywithinanyregioninthe
U.S.Toaccompanyyourdesign,weareaskingforascientificreportstatinghowtheorganismsinthesanctuarywill
interact.Ifyourdesignischosen,thesanctuarywillbecreatedinyourname.Pleasesubmityourdesignsandreportsby
________sothatwecantakeyourideasintoconsideration.Sincerely,theU.S.NationalParksService"
Theteacherwillaskstudentswhattherefirststepshouldbewhendesigningtheirsanctuary:research!Minilessonon
howtoidentifyreliablesourcesforresearch.Whatdoesthesourceneed?Studentswilltakenotesintheirreading
notebooks.
Theclasswillgodowntothelibrarywherethestudentswillhaveachancetofindbooksontheirtopicanddoresearch
inthecomputerlab.
Duringthewritingblock,studentswillbeginwritingouttheirreportonwhichproducers,consumers,anddecomposers
needtobeincludedintheirsanctuaryandwhy.
Day2:
Theteacherwilldoaminilessononhowblueprintsaredesignedfromanaerialview.Teacherwillmodelhowto
imaginewhatanobjectwouldlooklikefromtheairanddrawingthemout.Teacherwillmodelhowtocreatealegendas
youdesignsothatotherscanunderstandyourimage.
Oncestudentshavecollectedenoughinformationtobegindesigningthesanctuary,studentswillbegivengraphpaper
todesignanaerialviewoftheirsanctuary.
Studentswillcreate3Dversionsoftheirdesignsathomewiththeirparents.
Duringthewritingblock,studentswillfinishwritingouttheirreportonwhichproducers,consumers,anddecomposers
needtobeincludedintheirsanctuaryandwhy.

GroupingStrategies

Studentswillworkindepentlytocompletetheirreportsanddesigns.
Studentsmaycollaboratewithotherswhohavethesameorsimilaranimalsorecosystemstocompareinformation.

DifferentiatedInstruction

Studentswillbeabletochoosewhicheveranimalandecosystemtheydesiretohelpgeneratestudentinterestforall
students.
StudentswithdifficultywritingwillbeabletodictatetheirreportsintoachromebookoriPadaftercreatinganoutlineon
paper.Thesereportswillonlyneedtobethreeparagraphslonginsteadof5.
Theteacherwillprovidebooksforstudentswithawiderangeofreadingskilllevels.

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Comments

REFLECTIONS
PriortoLesson
PostLesson
Comments

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