Posting my ARI Grant-Do We Need One Another?
Summary of Project
During this 9 week unit my Kindergarten Class will be immersed in plant and animal life through real life, as well as technological experiences. They will become botanists and zoologists as they get up close and personal with worms, tadpoles/frogs, caterpillars/butterflies, soil, water, air, and seeds/plants. These experiences will help them develop an understanding of the interdependence of plants, animals (including humans) and the environment. After various observations and hands on activities, including IPAD QR activities and apps, the students will create models to communicate their understandings and construct arguments how plants and animals change their environments to meet their needs. They will also understand and communicate how changes in the environment by one (plant, animal, or human) can affect another with an emphasis on creating possible solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the environment. They will even become engineers and construct a habitat that will support butterflies in each stage of life. In the end they will create models to represent the relationship between the needs of all of these groups. Ultimately, I would like them to develop and understanding that we have a responsibility to the animals and plants that share our environment and we really need one another to survive.
Project Objectives:
As a result of this grant the students will be able to do the following:
K-LS1-1. The students will use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
K-ESS2-2. The students will construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
K-ESS3-1. The students will use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals (including humans) and the places they live.
K-ESS3-3. The students will communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.*
All of the above science standards will be measured using various tools: teacher observation of student journals and notes, checklists, rating scales, and student self-reflections. I will also do an overall teacher reflection on this unit with an examination of each activity’s effectiveness.
K-2-ETS1-1. Students will ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. The butterfly habitat built by the students will be evaluated using student self-reflections, rating scales and teacher checklists through observation of student work.
Language Arts, Math and Technology Standards are embedded throughout the Science and Engineering Standards listed above. Measures of those standards are part of the aforementioned evaluations.