I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Interactions and Adaptations

Essential Question:

How do different species adapt and interact within the different biomes and what determines which b

Bridge:

Compare and Contrast

Content:

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: Students will make a connection between pictures and species found in their own environments. They will then interact by sharing responses.

Activity: Show students pictures of a variety of plants and animals. Ask if the plants and animals can be found in Council Bluffs (IA).

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: Students will interact in small groups and infer why certain species live in certain areas.

Activity: Have students work in small groups. They need to discuss why they think some of the plants and animals shown do live in Council Bluffs and why some do not live in their area. After 5-10 minutes, each group can share some ideas with the group.

Assessment for Q1:
Student engagement and willingness to present an answer they are not totally sure of.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: Students will discover relationships between species that do and do not live around them. They will reflect by putting their ideas into a poem.

Activity: Students need to choose one plant or animal that is not found in Council Bluffs. They need to create an acrostic poem for each of their choices.

Assessment: analysis, logic, accuracy, reasoning

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: Students will acquire knowledge about each of the six land biomes. They will discover the relationships between different species that live within the biomes.

Activity: Students will read information from the text and other sources about each of the six land biomes. Teacher will present basic information about each of the biomes in a lecture (animals, plants, adaptations, climate). A video about the biomes will also be shown. Students will fill out a graphic organizer to keep their information organized.

Assessment: Concept congruence, concept maps showing linkages among ideas and ability to break it into parts.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: Students will complete a test comparing and contrasting the animals, plants, adaptations, climate and other important characteristics of the six biomes.

Activities: Students use notes and graphic organizers to study and take a test over the basic information presented.

Assessment: Accuracy and thoroughness

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: Students will successfully complete two activities that require them to collect data from resources, inquire, record data, problem solve, make decisions, and manage their time so they complete them on time.

Activity: 1) Students will choose two of the following biomes to write a report on: desert, tropical rain forest, grassland, deciduous forest, tundra, taiga. Students will use a variety of resources to write their two reports.

2) Students will choose one biome they reported on. Small groups will then be romed based on those choices. Each small group will create a model of the chosen biome. Students can bring materials from home and use materials from school to create their models

Assessment: see Q4 assessment

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: Students will create models of their selected biome and revise and edit their reports. Students will both reflect on and evaluate their reports and models while revising, editing and putting on the finishing touches.

Activity: 1) Students will revise and edit their reports and will have 2-3 peers revise and edit their reports. After revising and editing is complete, they will write a final report.
2) After the group biomes have been created, each group will put on any finishing touches they wanted. They will also rehearse information they need to present to the class about their biome.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: Students will bring unit and projects to a close during the final activities. They will also summarize important information in their presentations.

Activity: 1) Students will turn in the final drafts of each of their reports.
2) Each group will present their model to their class and the other 6th grade classes in the school.

Assessment for 3R, 4L, 4R: Integration into life, timelines, contingency logic and reasoning, first and second drafts
oral/visual presentations: appropriateness, sensitivity to feedback, originality, relevance to larger audiences

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: