Needs of Plants and Animals (Amplify Science Integrated)
Unit Title Needs of Plant and Animal (Amplify Science Integrated) |
| Grade Level 5K |
| WMELS Standards Addressed: V.C.EL.1, V.C.EL.2,V.C.EL.3V.C.EL.4 |
| ELS Standards Addressed: ELS.C1.B.e, ELS.C1.C.e, ELS.EX2.B.e, ELS.EX3.B.e, ELS.EX4.A.e, ELS.EX5.B.e |
Checklist for Quality
Yes/ No | Criteria |
Yes | Does the unit: Engage students physically in exploring, investigating, and manipulating elements in their environment? |
Yes | Does the unit: Involve students in asking questions, probing for answers, conducting investigations, collecting and analyzing data? |
Yes | Does the unit: Address questions that are relevant to the child? |
Yes | Does the unit: Encourage children to engage in science process skills such as predicting, observing, classifying, hypothesizing, experimenting, and communicating? |
Yes | Does the unit: Invite students to create, test, and revise theories? |
Yes | Does the unit: Provide opportunities for students to share their observations and ideas with peers? |
The preceding checklist is provided to assist with reflecting on whether the unit lessons support the development of scientific thinking in young children.
References
Selly, Patty Born. Teaching STEM Outdoors: Activities for Young Children. Redleaf Press, 2017.
Wilson, R. “Promoting the Development of Scientific Thinking.” EarlychildhoodNEWS, www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleId=409%20. Accessed 18 Oct. 2019.
Wisconsin. Early Learning Standards Steering Committee. Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards: with Introduction. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction, 2017.
Needs of Plants and Animals: Outdoor Expectations
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can keep myself and others safe and be respectful of nature while using my science toolkit to make observations. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will behave safely and respectfully in the woods while using their senses to make observations. | ||||
Essential Question: How do I behave in the woods in order to keep myself and others safe and respect nature? What can I see, hear, touch and smell in the woods? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): Students will practice the outdoor behavior expectations while also using their senses (science toolkit) to make observations. | ||||
Materials Needed: None Set up ahead of time: Amplify Needs of Plants and Animal Lesson 1.2. Students need to learn about their science “Tool kit” ( Their 5 senses to OBSERVE as SCIENTISTS) Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dressed for the weather. | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | We are going to see what we notice with our science toolkit while in the woods. Review senses. Before we go out we need to think about how to keep ourselves and each other safe in the woods, while also taking care of nature. Go over outdoor expectations: listen, walk and stay on the path, quiet voices, stay with group, leave nature with nature. When we return to the classroom we will record our noticings. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into groups. Walk through the woods, stopping to explore with our senses. | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement, specifically looking for students using their 5 senses to explore and investigate the woods. | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Share and record noticings. Use different senses as prompts- What did you hear? What did you smell? What did you see? What did you touch? | Formative Assessment: Student responses to questions, listening for their describing observations made through different senses. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target- I can keep myself and others safe and be respectful of nature while using my science toolkit to make observations. | |||
Needs of Plants and Animals: Animal Needs and Habitats
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can explain whether or not a squirrel can live in the Crestwood woods. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will use their science toolkit to find evidence that a squirrel can live in the Crestwood Woods. | ||||
Essential Question: Can a squirrel live in the Crestwood Woods? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): An animal can live in a habitat if it provides for its needs of food, water and shelter. | ||||
Materials Needed: Nonfiction book or video about squirrels that addresses what they eat, how they find water, and what they need for shelter. Set up ahead of time: Complete Amplify lesson Needs of Plants and Animals 1.4, read A Squirrel's Home during shared reading. Here are the slides for the lesson. Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dress appropriately for the weather | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | Listen to song about habitats when coming to the carpet. Review from Amplify- an animal can live in a habitat if that habitat provides for its survival needs. Review animal needs of food, water, shelter and space.. Watch video on squirrel nests. Review that a squirrel could live where it could find- water, food, shelter. From our book/ video- What does a squirrel eat? Where could a squirrel find water? What does a squirrel need for shelter? Can a squirrel live in our woods? If so, why? We are going to use our science toolkit to see if the woods habitat has the food, water and shelter squirrels need. If it does, a squirrel could live there! If not, it probably couldn’t. We are going to go on a hike to look for squirrel food, shelter supplies, and water. We will come in to record our findings. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into 3 groups. Students walk through woods in their small groups looking for food, water and shelter. Provide time for kids to explore freely, looking for food and shelter supplies. | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement, specifically looking for students searching for evidence of squirrel food, shelter building supplies, and access to water. | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Groups share their observations/ findings. Based on what they found/ observed, the group decides why a squirrel could live in the woods. | Formative Assessment Student responses to the questions, their observations and sharing their reasoning about whether squirrels can live in woods. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target- I can explain whether or not a squirrel can live in the Crestwood woods. | |||
Needs of Plants and Animals: Seasonal Changes
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can notice and describe seasonal changes in the Crestwood woods. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will use their science toolkit to notice seasonal changes in the Crestwood woods. | ||||
Essential Question: How has the squirrel's habitat changed since the last time we were out? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): Plants and animals change as the season changes from summer to fall to winter. | ||||
Materials Needed: None Set up ahead of time: Complete Amplify Lesson 1.5 Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dress appropriately for the weather | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | Review last Outdoor Ed- We explored the woods and found that the woods has everything a squirrel needs to live- water, supplies for building a shelter and food. We determined that the woods is the squirrel’s habitat. Indeed, we even found a squirrel’s home in the tree. That is evidence that a squirrel does live in the woods! Today, we are going to use our science toolkit to notice changes that have happened in the squirrel’s habitat since our last outdoor ed. Review science toolkit- sight, smell, hearing, touch. We will use our senses today to notice changes in the woods. When we come in we will record our notices and ask questions about what we have observed. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into 3 groups. Explore woods using senses to notice changes. | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement, specifically looking for students using their 5 senses to explore and investigate seasonal changes in the woods. | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Group shares observations/ findings. Record noticings. Invite kids to wonder about what they noticed. If kids do not pose the question, the teacher will ask, “Why have most of the trees lost their leaves?” | Formative Assessment Student observations about changes in the woods, looking for observations using different senses. Student questions (wonderings) about why things are changing. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target- I can notice changes that have happened in the squirrels habitat, the woods. | |||
Needs of Plants and Animals: Plant Needs
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can use my science toolkit to make hypotheses about why the leaves have fallen from the trees. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will use their science toolkit to investigate and make predictions about why the leaves have fallen. | ||||
Essential Question: Why have the leaves fallen from the trees? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): Plants need sun and water to grow. Because sunlight and water are hard to get during winter, many plants drop their leaves and go dormant. (This is a simplified explanation for a complex process- but it is developmentally appropriate for kindergartners.) | ||||
Materials Needed: Magnifying lenses Set up ahead of time: Complete Amplify lesson 2.5 Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dress appropriately for the weather | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | Review last Outdoor Ed- We explored the woods and found that the woods have changed as the seasons have changed. Review some of their noticings from last week. Today, we are going to use our science toolkit to investigate what is happening with the leaves and make hypotheses about why many of the leaves have fallen or have changed color. Activate their knowledge about plant needs that they have been learning about in Amplify. What have we learned through our study of monarchs and milkweed, about what plants need to live? Let’s remember that as we investigate outside. I wonder if the plants can get what they need to live in our Crestwood woods... Outside, we will be looking closely at the leaves and plants. We will use our science toolkit to make noticings. In our small groups we will guess why the leaves and plants are the way they are. We will share those guesses with the whole group when we come inside. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into 3 groups. Explore woods looking closely at leaves and plants. Have students collect some leaves and look closely at them with magnifying glasses. Encourage kids to use the Beetles protocol: “I notice, I wonder, it reminds me of” to investigate the leaves. Gather together to make hypotheses about why the leaves and plants are they way they are. If needed, pose the wondering “I wonder if plants are able to meet their needs for water, sun, and air during winter?” | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement in the activity, specifically looking for students using their senses to investigate plants and fallen and not fallen leaves leaves closely. | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Group shares observations and hypotheses. Remind students, if needed, about what plants need to live. If needed, guide students to the hypothesis, that plants aren’t getting enough sun and water to grow during the winter. | Formative Assessment Student responses to the questions, their observations and their reasoning about why deciduous trees loose their leaves. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target- Today we used our science toolkit to investigate plants and leaves in the woods and make hypotheses about why many plants lose their leaves in the winter. We think that many plants lose their leaves because they aren’t able to get enough water and sunlight to grow during the winter. | |||
Needs of Plants and Animals: Winter Birds
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can use my science toolkit to investigate whether different birds can find food in the Crestwood woods during the winter. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will understand that some birds stay in Madison for the winter while others migrate south. Whether they stay or migrate depends on if they can find food during the cold months. | ||||
Essential Question: Can birds live in the woods during the winter? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): Different animals have different food needs. Some birds, whose food is not available during the winter, migrate to warmer places during the winter in order to find food. | ||||
Materials Needed: Slideshow, plastic spoons for digging, resource showing the favorite foods of robin (worms and caterpillar) and cardinal (seeds and berries). Set up ahead of time: Complete Amplify Lesson 2.5 Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dress appropriately for the weather | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | Review what they have explored and investigated during outdoor ed. We know that squirrels can live in the Crestwood woods because in the woods they can find food, water, shelter and air. The woods are the squirrels’ habitat. We know that during the winter, the leaves of some trees die and fall to the ground because during the winter the trees cannot get enough sunlight and water to keep growing. I wonder if birds can live in the Crestwood woods during the winter. What would they need in order to live there? Review that birds would need food, water, shelter and air. Today we are going to use our science toolkit to investigate whether birds can meet all of their needs in our woods during the winter. We are going to be thinking about 2 kinds of birds- robins and cardinals- and if they can find food in the woods during the winter. Show slideshow to learn the favorite foods of robins (worms and caterpillars) and cardinals (seeds and berries). If robins can live in the woods during the winter, we would need evidence that they could find worms or caterpillars to eat. If cardinals can live in the woods during the winter, we would need to find evidence that they could find seeds or berries to eat. Where do you think we could find worms, caterpillars, seeds and berries? Make sure kids understand that worms would be in the soil- they will have to dig in the soil a bit when looking for them. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into 3 small groups. Walk to the woods in these groups to an investigation spot. Divide small groups in half. One half will be looking for the robin’s food- worms and caterpillars. Give these students a plastic spoon to dig in the soil. One half will be looking for the cardinal’s food- seeds and berries. If students request a spoon, also give them spoons, although they will be looking on the surface of the ground as well as for seeds and berries still on the bushes and trees. | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement in the activity, specifically looking for students searching for evidence of available food for robins and/ or cardinals | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Inside, ask kids if they think a cardinal could live in the woods.What evidence did they find to support their conclusion? What about robins? Can robins live in the woods during the winter? Why or why not? They cannot find juicy worms and caterpillars when the ground is frozen! How do you think they find food during the winter? | Formative Assessment Student responses to the questions, their observations, and their reasoning about whether robins and cardinals can live in the woods during the winter. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target- I can use my science toolkit to investigate whether different birds can find food in the Crestwood woods during the winter. | |||
Needs of Plants and Animals: Celebration of Outdoor Learning
Learning Targets (As a result of this experience outdoors, the student will know and be able to do): I can use the outdoors for fun and celebration. | ||||
Success Measures (The student will know they are successful if they can): Students will celebrate being out in nature as the season changes from fall to winter. | ||||
Essential Question: How do people enjoy being in nature? | ||||
Big Idea (I want my students to understand that…): Nature provides for the needs for plants, animals and people. In addition to providing food, air and other products for people, nature also provides for fun and celebration. | ||||
Materials Needed: Party hats, popcorn and 1 cup per student, tarp for sitting on, book for sharing, winter song. Set up ahead of time: Prepare party hats. Children are prepared and will bring outdoors: Dress appropriately for the weather | ||||
Connect | ||||
Circle-Up/Opening | Teacher | Today we are going to celebrate the end of our fall exploration of the woods as well as the changing of the seasons from fall to winter. Review what we have done in outdoor learning this fall. “This fall we have explored our woods and investigated how the woods provide for the needs of plants and animals. We have also learned that during the winter, plants and animals change to survive the cold weather. Some plants drop their leaves in the fall because there is not enough water and sunlight during the winter. Some birds like robins leave Wisconsin for warmer places because they can’t find enough worms and caterpillars to eat during the winter. Other birds like cardinals can live in the woods during the winter because they can still find their food. In addition to celebrating all of our learning this fall we are also going to celebrate the changing seasons. The first day of winter is on Saturday. It is called the winter solstice. Sometimes people also call it the shortest day of the year because it is the day with the shortest amount of daylight. People celebrate a lot of things this time of year. What holidays does your family celebrate this time of year? The first day of winter, the winter solstice, is another thing to celebrate!” Explain that for our celebration, we will make party hats in the woods, then gather on the tarp for a story and popcorn. Demonstrate making party hats. When we go outside, you will have a few minutes to gather leaves and what not and stick it to your headbands. Demonstrate sticking things to the headbands.Then we will gather on the tarp for our story, song and snack. | ||
Explore | ||||
Inquiry What inquiry will students be involved in to develop skills/understanding of the learning target? | All | Divide into 3 small groups. Give each kid a headband. Once in the woods, allow kids to gather and create their party hats for 5-10 minutes. Gather on the tarp. Two teachers hand out popcorn while the other reads a story. | Formative Assessment Student behavior and engagement in the activity, specifically looking for students to create their nature hats, enjoy being with classmates and listen to the story. | |
Engage | ||||
Reflection/Synthesis | All | Ask students, “what value the woods have for plants, animals and people?” The woods provide habitat for plants and animals. They provide a place for people to connect with and learn about nature, to have fun, and to celebrate. | Formative Assessment Student responses to the questions and observations about what value the woods have. | |
Review and Closure | Review the learning target-I can use the outdoors for fun and celebration. | |||