Grade 5 Animal Behavior

Research Project
By Stephanie Hamiter

OBJECTIVES:
TLW identify traits of innate and learned behavior in animals.
TLW understand how an animal’s instincts and behaviors help it to
survive.
TLW understand the connection between the environment and
behavior.

TEKS:
5th grade science
10A : Identify traits that are inherited from parent to offspring in
plants and animals.
10B: Give examples of learned characteristics that result from the
influence of the environment

5th Grade Technology

4: The student uses a variety of strategies to acquire information from
electronic resources, with appropriate supervision.

5th Grade English Language Arts and Reading

16A: Write imaginative stories that include a clearly defined focus,
plot, and point of view; a specific believable setting created through
the use of sensory details; dialogue that develops the story

TOOL USED:
Webspiration
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/351967a1295c

OVERVIEW:
This lesson will begin with a discussion of major terms and definitions.
“Mindtools are most effectively used collaboratively,” (Jonassen p. 32)
and so I will have students work in pairs or groups of three to research
an animal. They will use the internet to conduct research, and
construct a mind map using the information they learn. Students’
maps will be evaluated by comparing it to the course goals.
Specifically, I will be looking to see if they have included information
concerning the environment and behavior of the animal, and to see if
they have identified any innate and learned behaviors. I will aso be
looking to see if they have “demonstrated the interconnectedness of
ideas,” (Jonassen p.114) by using links between behavior and
environment , or diet and habitat, etc. Once students have completed
their maps and they have been evaluated, they will then use the
information to write a creative short story about the animal’s life
during one of the four seasons of the year.

This activity will take place over several days and it assumes students
have had prior
experience with mapping

View full map at:

http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/351967a1295c
Example of Outline:

Polar Bears
I. Diet
A. Carnivore
B. Adapted for Habitat
1. Mostly Seals
2. Fast in late summer/early fall
3. Hunt from platform of ice

II. Behavior
A. Innate
1. Denning
2. Protect Young
3. Nursing
4. Mating
B. Learned
1. Hunting
2. Swimming
III. Characteristics
A. Active year round
B. Keen sense of smell
C Adapted for Habitat
1. Blubber layer
2. Padded paws with fur
3. Black skin with 2 layers of hair
4. Fur blends in with habitat
IV. Habitat
A. Global Warming
B. Arctic
C. Ocean
D. Ice
 2nd Grade Fossils
by Melissa Garcia

Objective:
The learner will use the model to identify and analyze the information
presented. The learner will understand the main concepts on fossils.

TEKS:
TEKS 2.4A & B- Using tools and models to observe, describe organisms
and objects
TEKS 2.5A- Organisms, objects, and events have properties and
patterns

Tool Used:
Webspiration: http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/351180a3600d

Overview:
Semantic networks simulate knowledge structures that are found in
the human mind (Jonassen, pg 101). Therefore, representations of
knowledge in the physical realm can greatly aid students in
understanding the material. Webspiration, a concept mapping tool, can
be used in the classroom to enhance learning and understanding.

I would use this tool in preparation and assessment of a new chapter

or subject. The students map use a template, with the subject and
connection words prefilled. They will fill in the nodes with their past
knowledge or educated guesses as to what that node might entail. At
the end of the presentation of the chapter or subject, the students will
fill a new concept map with the information they know now. They will
compare their first map with their new map to physically see their
conceptual change.

To assess the outcome, I will look for subject and knowledge growth,
as well as look for understanding in the complexity of the new map.
Their maps represent what they have known all along or are learning
(Jonassen, pg103).

It is true that the best concept maps are those built over time
(Jonassen, pg102-103). I will require the collection of all maps for the
chapters covered and at the end of the school year, as a final project,
the students will merge their maps accordingly.
Semantic Network Activity:

1) http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/351180a3600d
(If you cannot access website, please view attached document.)
2) Outline:

Fossils
1. Are
a. Remains of living things

2. Found In
a. Sedimentary rocks

3. Formed When
a. Dead plants or animals are buried quickly by sediment

4. Can be
a. Plants
b. Animals
c. Footprints
d. Wood
e. Bone
f. Teeth
g. Shells
h. Burrows

5. Show
a. How it moved
b. How Big or Small
c. How It Ate
d. Where It Lived
View full map at: http://www.mywebspiration.com/publish.php?i=351180a3600d
Teacher: ___Janice Audra Hale_____________________
Date: _______March 3, 2010_______________________
Subject & Grade level: __Theatre 3rd-5th grade_______
Title: _____The Five Sense________________________

Concept: The Five Senses

TEKS:Theatre, Level I.
(1) Four basic strands--perception, creative expression/performance,
and critical evaluation--provide broad, unifying structures for
organizing knowledge and skills students are expected to acquire.
(c) Knowledge and skills.(1) Perception.
The student develops concepts about self, human relationships, and
the environment, using elements of drama and conventions of theatre.
The student is expected to:
(A) improvise, using emotional and sensory recall

Objective(s): The student will become more observant of the Five

Senses. Over several lessons this will be shown through exercises and
acting. Today the student will be introduced to the Five Senses.

Rationale: The Five Senses are extremely important in acting and it’s
foundation.
Example: When an actor has a “heavy” suitcase in their left hand we
know it is really empty. How? The actor leans to the left, if the suitcase
was really heavy the actor would lean to the opposite side to give
themselves a counterweight helping their body to support the suitcase.
This actor needs to “become more observant on the Five Senses”

3) http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/368222
***Document not available***

Overview: I will conduct a lesson on the 5 senses over the course of

2 maybe 3 class periods. After we have discussed the lesson and gone
through it thoroughly the students will then take time to create their
own concept maps. These will be used as reference guides, therefore
the student will use guidelines on how to create a concept map
(learned in a previous lesson) and create their own map for future
reference. This will also be used in the lesson as an assessment tool. If
the students do not finish their concept map in class they will take it
home for independent practice and present it the next day in class.
They will explain their map and why it helps them recall what they
have learned. The full lesson plan is also attached.
Outline: 5 Senses
I. Taste
A. taste of an orange
1. sweet & juicy
a. reminds me of summer
I. Sight
A. Remember what hands look like
1. Long and skinny
I. Touch
A. touching feathers
1. soft & light
a. reminds me of my pet bird
I. Smell
A. smell of bread
1. smells warm
a. reminds me of my grandmas house
I. Hearing
A. hearing the pop goes the weasel
1. coming from an ice cream truck

(Does anyone know how to copy the actual map itself?)