Anna Maria Faragalli-Melone

Lesson Plan Day 5

Background Information:

Concepts:

Environment
Places

Vocabulary:

Ecosystem
Deciduous forest
Native species
Everglades

Skills:

Creating
Researching
Presenting

Lesson duration: 1 hour

Integration of Learning Outcomes:

Students will be able to identify animals and plants that live in different ecosystems found in the
Southeastern United States.

Students will be able to identify differences and similarities among the animals and plants that
inhabit a specific ecosystem.

Standards:

PASAS:

Standard - 3.1.4.B5: Identify observable patterns in the physical characteristics of plants or

groups of animals.

Standard - 3.1.4.A5: Describe common functions living things share to help them function in a
specific environment.

NCSS:

1.3.e ...challenge learners to speculate about and explain physical system changes, such as
seasons, climate, and weather

1.4.h ...assist learners as they work independently and cooperatively within groups and
institutions to accomplish goals

Anticipatory Set:

Teacher will ask who remembers what an ecosystem is? After receiving an answer the
teacher will show students pictures of the different ecosystems found in the Southeastern region
of the United States and have the students identify them.
Procedures:

Students will be split into four groups. Each group will receive a type of ecosystem found in the
southeastern United States (Mississippi river, swamp, beach, everglades).

Each group will be given a list of some animals found in each of their ecosystems. They will
select any two animals.

Each group will be given an iPad and be instructed to go to http://a-z-animals.com/ and look up
their animals. They will be instructed to make note of three similarities and two differences
between the animals.

Each group will be given a piece of construction paper and instructed to make a poster with a
venn diagram of the differences and similarities they found as well as what states within the
southeastern region the animals can be found in.

Differentiation:

Students will be placed in homogeneous groups so that students with different abilities will work
together. Read-write learners will be able to read the information and write it out. Kinesthetic
learners will be able to create the poster and venn diagram.

Closure:
Each group will present their poster with the venn diagram to the rest of the class. They will
highlight the similarities and differences that they found and describe how these might link to the
ecosystem in which the animals live.

Formative/Summative Assessment:

Formative Assessment: As the group's work on their posters the teacher can walk around
monitoring progress, asking guiding questions to struggling groups, and answering any
questions.

Summative Assessment: The groups will present their venn diagrams to the rest of the class. As
they do this the teacher will complete the checklist found in appendix c.

Materials/Equipment:
Construction paper
Markers
Pictures of the different ecosystems
Lists of the different animals for each ecosystems that students can choose from.

Websites for teacher use:

http://www.lesslawn.com/articles/article1046.html
https://educators.brainpop.com/bp-topic/ecosystems/

Technology:

iPads

Reflection on Planning:

When planning this lesson there were a few things I had to consider. For one I had to consider
the grade level for which I was creating the lesson to make sure it was appropriate. I also had to
consider the themes I wanted to meet to make sure this was accomplished. Some of my
conerns about this lesson would be that depending on the class sixe the groupings may be too
large and need to be divided more and that the students would need more time for the
assignment. I feel that a good extension to this activity would be to complete similar activities
for each of the regions of the United States.

Content Outline:

Some of the ecosystems found in the southeastern United States include beaches, the
everglades, the Mississippi River, and deciduous forests.

Deciduous forest means a forest in which the leaves fall off the trees when the winter comes.

The everglades are a marshy tract of land that is mostly under water and covered with tall grass.

Some animals found at the beach are crabs, jellyfish, horseshoe crab, minnows, hermit crabs,
sharks, and seagulls
Some animals found in a deciduous forest are white tailed deer, raccoons, red foxes, cardinals,
bobcats, and snowy owls.

Some animals found in the evergaldes are alligators, crocidiles, rattlesnakcs, wild hogs, and
gree tree frogs.

Some animals found in and around the Mississippi River are catfish, brown pelicans, louisiana
blackbears, sunfish, and bald eagles.

Appendix A

Pictures for ecosystems

Beach:
www.publicdomainpictures.net

Deciduous Forest:
Upload.wikimedia.org

Everglades:

upload.wikimedia.org

Mississippi River:

upload.wikimedia.org
Appendix B

Lists of Animals

Beach
Crab
Jellyfish
Horseshoe Crab
Minnows
Hermit Crabs
Shark
Seagulls

Deciduous Forest

White tailed deer

Raccoons
Red fox
Cardinals
Bobcats
Snowy Owl

Everglades

American Alligators
American Crocodiles
Rattlesnake
Wild Hogs
Green Tree Frog

Mississippi River

Catfish
Brown Pelican
Louisiana black bears
Sunfish
Bald Eagles

Appendix C

Checklist for presentations

____

Poster includes in which states in the southeastern United States the animals can be
found.

____

Poster includes three similarities and two differences between the animals.

____

Poster is decorated creatively.