Animals
Click on work samples to see a larger version.
One of the fifth grade students from my student teaching placement brought in a snake to keep in the classroom. Since it was a wild snake, the students had to do research to find out what factors it needed to survive and if we were capable of providing that in the classroom. While unplanned, the snake's addition to the classroom was a great launch point for the students' study of environments in science.
The fifth grade curriculum in my student teaching placement included working with isopods and beetles in the FOSS Environments unit. On the recommendation of my cooperating teacher, I reserved one entire science time for the students to get to know the creatures. It took most of the period for several students to touch them (no one was forced to do so), and it meant we had fewer distractions when it came time to do the experiments.
After the initial introduction to isopods and beetles, I created a chart with the class with our questions about the animals. We updated this chart with answers throughout the investigations. Toward the end of the unit students were asked to design their own investigation, so some of the students used questions from the chart to begin their designs.
Several students appeared to have difficulties following directions given out loud, so while I was going over experimental set up with the class I had slides prepared that included the visuals from the teaching materials in order to help students focus. I also had step-by-step instructions on slides during the experiments themselves in case students found themselves confused as to what to do next. Examples of those slides can be found on the lessons plans page of my portfolio.
Students studied the moisture preferences of the animals. This setup is the one I was describing in the previous picture.
Using the worksheets provided by the curriculum and then pasted into their science notebooks, students recorded plans and results.
Using the questions from the class chart and their own curiosity, students designed individualized experiments to study their interests. These students are attempting to discover if isopods or beetles go down hills faster.
After this experiment (which failed beautifully) we discussed what changes would have to be made in order to hold all variables but one constant. We talked about the different light and moisture preferences of isopods and beetles and why that might have affected the races run by different animals, as well as how each creature's foot characteristics might alter whether it can move on such a steep incline.
In the end, the students also learned that not every creature likes to race.
After this experiment (which failed beautifully) we discussed what changes would have to be made in order to hold all variables but one constant. We talked about the different light and moisture preferences of isopods and beetles and why that might have affected the races run by different animals, as well as how each creature's foot characteristics might alter whether it can move on such a steep incline.
In the end, the students also learned that not every creature likes to race.