Transcript Endangered Species

Endangered Species
A Collaborative Teaching Unit
Overview
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This lesson will be taught in collaboration with the fifth
grade teacher and part of an overall unit on the study of
Habitats.
The class will be instructed in the use of Internet resources,
including the Kid Infobits database of the Tennessee
Electronic Library, to find information relating to
endangered species.
The class will be divided into small groups. Each group
shall select an endangered animal, collect information on
that animal and formulate a plan to combat its
endangerment. At least one current article must be located
through the Kid Info bits database.
Each group will have a choice of formats by which to
present the results of their research.
Assumptions
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Students will have an understanding of the term “endangered species”
and will have already discussed in class some of the causes of
endangerment and extinction.
Students will have basic computer skills, such as using the mouse,
entering data, clicking on links.
Students will have limited or no knowledge of data base searching.
Equipment Required
•LCD Projector and White Board
•COW (mobile computer lab) laptops
Time Required
•Two 40 minute sessions – scheduled media class
•Review endangered species and construct information web
•Instruction in database search skills.
Small group assistance as needed – open library time
Teaching strategies include whole class lecture and
discussion, using the Internet with an LCD projector, whole
class activity using handouts and a worksheet to learn basic
database skills, and working with small groups to help with
their research.
Tennessee Curriculum Standards
Science
The student will investigate how living things interact with one another
and with nonliving elements of their environment.
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Classify specific kinds of relationships among plants and animals within an
ecosystem.
Predict the consequences of human action on the environment
Identify environmental changes caused by living things.
Predict the effects of human actions and/or natural disasters on the
environment.
Tennessee Curriculum Standards
Language Arts
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Continue to use computer technology to find information, to create reports
and presentations, and to support research.
Research topics and organize gathered information into presentable
documents.
Retrieve, organize and represent information.
Gather and record information.
Write to inform a particular audience about a specific issue.
Utilize resources available in the media center.
Tennessee Curriculum Standards
Social Studies
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Detect cause and effect relationships to acquire information.
Identify relevant factual material to problem-solve and analyze data.
Information Seeking Strategies
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Students will access and use a Webquest page created in advance with
the Filamentality tool on the AT&T Knowledge Network site. This
allows a user to set up a simple page of links to a specific topic or a
webquest, using a simple fill-in-the-blank format and then gives you a
URL for it. http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/
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Students will receive instruction in searching the Infobits database
accessed through the Tennessee Electronic Library. This source will be
used to find articles in current periodicals.
Lesson One
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What do we know about endangered animals? (We will
view the slide show, Endangered Means There’s Still
Time (http://training.fws.gov/deo/endang/lrg/sld01.html)
as a review of what has been learned in class.
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What do we need to find out about the specific animal we
select? Students will construct an information web.
Overview of websites linked to Filamentality page.
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Information Web
Chararacteristics
Range
My Animal
What caused the problem
Possible solutions
Lesson Two
Data Base Searching
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Access Tennessee Electronic Library through a bookmark.
Infobits Topic Guides – demonstrate the concept of starting with a
broad term and going to a narrower term.
Simple Search – demonstrates subject categories (searching
endangered animals will bring a “See endangered species” prompt.”)
Advanced Search – Boolean operators, date limits, wild card
truncation, parenthesis, full text vs. keyword vs. title.
Handouts:
 Explanation of terms from Infobits Help page.
 Worksheet to record number of hits using various combinations.
Small Groups
Tasks for each group:
 Select an endangered animal
 Complete a Fact worksheet on the animal
 Construct an action plan to help the animal.
 Action plans to be presented in class. Choice of:
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Poster
Oral report
Powerpoint presentation
Dramatic skit
Expected Outcomes
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Students will have an understanding of some of the factors
that affect our environment, particularly the consequences
of human action.
Students will have use critical thinking skills to formulate
their action plan.
Students will learned basic database searching skills
Evaluation and Follow-up
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Completion of animal fact sheet and database search
worksheet.
Students will be evaluated on their project by the
classroom teacher.
Follow-up activities will be conducted on other topics to
reinforce and further develop database searching skills.