Activities
Suggested Set-up:
Before heading outside, I would suggest introducing the students to any unfamiliar technology while still in the classroom. This is due to two very practical reasons. 1. Less distance you have to chase students down to assist them, and it will be more obvious who is having problems. 2. You have the other students, and the full school resources, at hand.
Beyond that it is up to you how you would address this unit. Do you want to do a pre-test? Do you need to cover some basic terms first? Maybe the rubric for the assignment? How about assigning groups and tasks? Deciding upon the problem to address? How much leeway will students have for being creative? All of these things, and many more, are considerations you need to address, but they are part of normal lesson planning.
If you need assistance with some lesson plan ideas, check out this link.
What I going to do now is give you some suggestions for activities students can do - to enhance your existing lesson plan.
Before heading outside, I would suggest introducing the students to any unfamiliar technology while still in the classroom. This is due to two very practical reasons. 1. Less distance you have to chase students down to assist them, and it will be more obvious who is having problems. 2. You have the other students, and the full school resources, at hand.
Beyond that it is up to you how you would address this unit. Do you want to do a pre-test? Do you need to cover some basic terms first? Maybe the rubric for the assignment? How about assigning groups and tasks? Deciding upon the problem to address? How much leeway will students have for being creative? All of these things, and many more, are considerations you need to address, but they are part of normal lesson planning.
If you need assistance with some lesson plan ideas, check out this link.
What I going to do now is give you some suggestions for activities students can do - to enhance your existing lesson plan.
Pocket PC/LaptopFor these activities, the experimental design is simply picking a species or location, and learning the proper methods of analysis. From there, an excel spreadsheet would be effective. These are good for students that are not as adept with technology. All that is required is an understanding of some form of data recording system, from word to excel, and using a calculator.
Basic Data Collection and Analysis * Population counts - birds - plants - small mammals - insects * Species richness/evenness/diversity * Estimating population size Comparing/Contrasting * Tree size and elevation - using a handheld altimeter (many smartphones have an app for this) - graph data * Species identification - using online resources |
Flipcams/Camera/GPS units, etcThese activities range from a little more advanced to challenging. Many smartphones have GPS apps, as well as really nice cameras, so students can supply some of their own resources.
* Taking pictures of each species to create a brochure, website, PPT, etc for sharing with the school * A comparison tree elevation v tree circumference, using handheld GPS unit for mapping of the local * Using GPA to plot nesting locations of native bird species * Using GPS to plot locations of mammal scat * Recording and later editing a "field guide" to the school's grounds * Creating a virtual map or field guide of species locations * Recording, and later editing, a documentary of the class' activities * Creating a "Why Nature Matters" or other such documentary for sharing with the elementary school students |
Back in the ClassroomThese activities range from very simple, to challenging, depending upon student comfort level.
* Create a PPT to share your experiment, and what you learned * Graph your data and write a report of your finding * Create a fictional scientific journal and write up your finding as an article in it * Create a brochure of native plant and animal species that you found * Create a field guide for native species, using your pictures and research from reputable websites * Edit your video clips into a documentary, using such programs as Windows MovieMaker *Create a map of plant locations * Create an interactive map of plant locations * Posting a video they created to the school's website, or to a school approved sharing site |