Life Science Unit: Survival of Plants and Animals

LIFE SCIENCE UNIT
Survival of Plants and Animals

Members: Sierra Butcher, Josh Deeney, Savannah Horwood,
Mikaela Marsh and Kate Lynn Morrison
Science Methods 2016 Spring Semester
May 1, 2016
Table Of Contents
Is it Alive?........................................................................................................................2-10
Digging Deep to Learn About Plants...........................................................................11-19
How Plants Grow: Lighting...........................................................................................20-24
Water The Plants............................................................................................................25-28
Forest Appreciation ......................................................................................................29-34
Pass the Plants, Please...................................................................................................35-38
What's an Omnivore?...................................................................................................40-48
Lets Eat Meat...............................................................................................................49-51
Wildlife Conservation Society Guest Speaker............................................................52-55
Food Web: Assessment.................................................................................................56-65
Lesson: # 1
Title: Is it Alive?
1
Teacher: Kate Lynn Morrison

Grade Level: 1st-2nd
Duration: 85 minutes, two classes
Date(s): Second week in April
Description
During this lesson, students will learn about the difference between living and nonliving things
and what living things need to survive. This lesson guides student learning through a variety of
hands on investigations using venn diagrams, reference charts and working individually, in
groups and class discussions. Students will gain an understanding that living things grow and
reproduce and they need air, energy and water to survive.
Standards Benchmarks:
NGSS Performance Expectation
PE: K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including
humans) need to survive.
Disciplinary Core Idea
LS1.C:Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: All animals need food in order to
live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and
light to live and grow.
1. All living things need sunlight, water, oxygen and carbon dioxide, although some living things
do not need direct light for energy. Energy, for the most part, is transferred from organism to
organism.
2.Plants need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to facilitate photosynthesis, which store energy,
forms plant matter, and releases oxygen
3. Plants can provide a food resource for animals
4. Animals can provide a food resource for animals
5. This all creates an ecosystem, cycle or web
6. All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from
other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
Practices
1.Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyzing data in K2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and
sharing observations.Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the
natural world in order to answer scientific questions.
2. Connections to Nature of Science Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.
Crosscutting Concepts
Patterns: Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as
evidence.
Benchmarks from the MT Standards for Science
Science Content Standards
1. Identify that plants and animals have structures and systems that serve different functions for
growth, survival, and reproduction
2.Identify, measure, and describe basic requirements of energy and nutritional needs for an
organism
Inquiry Standards
1.3 use data to describe and communicate the results of scientific investigations.
1.4 use models that illustrate simple concepts and compare those models to the actual
phenomenon.
Montana Essential Learning Expectations
A-C: identify and label the parts of a plant (stem, root, leaf, flower) and a flower (stamen,
sepal, petal, pistil, pollen, ovule)
D: Identify that animals have systems for certain functions.
E: Explain the relationships between basic animal systems and their functions.
A: define producer, consumer, decomposer, food chain, food web.
B: Explain the difference between a food web and a food chain.
C: Illustrate and explain the relationship between a food web and a food chain.
A: describe a plant life cycle
B: describe an animal life cycle
A: use a simple classification system for plants and animals.
Learning Objectives
Learning objective 1: Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar
and different resources to survive
Learning objective 4: Students will be able to make observations from investigations.
Instructional Procedures
Fully describe how you will teach the lesson, in enough detail for a substitute teacher, but do not
write a script. Do include the approximate minutes each segment will take.
Engage:
(5 mins)Pre-assessment: Picture/Word T Chart What do all Living Things Need?
1. The teacher will create a T chart on the board that is titled What do all Living Things Need?.
There will be two columns one saying before the lesson we thought and the other saying after the
lesson we learned.
2. Students will be asked to draw and write what they think all living things need to live and then
the teacher will tape the different ideas under the before the lesson we thought.
1.
2.
1.
2.
(2 mins) Focusing event: Real worm v Gummy worm

Today we are going to be learning how to be scientist and figure out if something is living or
nonliving. First I want you to meet my delicious friend named Phil and my other friend named
Joe. Teacher will show class Phil and Phil is a gummy worm in some oreo crushed up to be the
dirt. Next, the teacher will show the class Joe and Joe is a real worm in some dirt. We will find
out if Phil and Joe are alive today! If one of them is alive, then we are going to find out what all
living things need!
(5 mins)Driving question: We have two questions we are exploring today and trying to
find the answers.
Teacher will write questions on the board.
Ask students to write each question on the top of a new page in their science notebooks. Teacher
should give example.
What is the difference between living and nonliving things?
What do all living things need to survive?
(30 mins) Explore:

Students will explore whether things are living or nonliving by looking at an assortment of
things laid out on the table and then students will be using their inquiry skills to decide if
he/she think the things are living or nonliving.
1. Students will list all ten things in their science notebooks under the What is the difference
between living and nonliving things?Below is a list of the different things children will look at
and write living or nonliving.
2. Ask students to write if yes or no and WHY they think its one or another.
Things:
1. A plant
2. Rock
3. Soil
4. Pencil
5. Phil gummy worm
6. Joe a real worm
7. A book
8. You
9. Live frog
10. A glass of water
3. Next the teacher will write all ten things on the board and have students raise their hands to
take a tally of how many people thought each item was alive.
4. The teacher will draw a ven diagram, and place the item picture in the circle the majority of
students voted on.
5. Finally, students will brainstorm ideas of how to classify what all living things need to
survive? Teacher will write a few ideas they come up with on the board.
( 20 mins) Explain:
1.
Teacher will show the anchor chart that shows the difference between living and
non-living things. Teacher will explain both driving questions.
What makes something living?
Living things grow. For example you grew from a baby to how big you are now. Plants grow
from a seed to a flower.
Living things reproduce. For example a chicken will lay eggs and baby chicks hatch or an apple
tree has apples with apple seeds that can be planted and make more apple trees.
2. Teacher will show Living Things Need chart.
What do living things need?
Living things need energy to stay alive. Plants get their energy from the sun and we get out
energy from the food we eat.
Living things need water. Plants need water from the rain or we have to water them like the
grass in our yard. We need to drink water and so do our pets.
Living things need air. Plants need carbon dioxide and we need oxygen to breathe.
3. Allow students to ask question to clear up any confusion.
1.
2.
3.
4.
4. Now that we know what makes something living and what living things need, let's decide if
Phil, the gummy worm and Joe the earthworm are living? Have students put a thumbs up if they
think yes and a thumbs down if they think no. Have a quick discussion on each.
Hold up the gummy worm, Phil, and ask questions.
Does Phil grow?
Can Phil reproduce?
Does Phil need energy?
Does Phil need water?
Does Phil need air?
Hold up the earthworm, Joe, and ask questions.
Does Joe grow?
Can Joe reproduce?
Does Joe need energy?
Does Joe need water?
Does Joe need air?
(20 mins) Elaborate:

The class will revisit the list of they created of living and nonliving things.
Students will work in pairs and discuss if they think each of the ten items are living based on the
explain portion. What do living things do? What do all living things need. They can refer to the
anchor charts.
In marker they will write yes or no to the same list of the 10 things with their partner.
The class will come back together and do a re-tally of ideas and the teacher will move over the
pictures as ideas might change. If there are any misconceptions the teacher will address them at
this time.
Teacher will handout a copy of the ten pictures to each student and a living/non-living venn
diagram so they can paste in the pictures and diagram in their science notebooks.
(5 mins) Post assessment: Picture/Word T Chart What do all Living Things Need?
1. Students will be asked to draw and write what they think all living things need to live and then
the teacher will tape their new ideas under the after the lesson we learned.
Evaluate:
Pre assessment: Picture/Word T Chart What do all Living Things Need?
Formative assessments: Earth worm/gummy worm, living and nonliving list of 10
Summative assessment: Creation of Venn diagram
Post assessment:Picture/Word T Chart What do all Living Things Need?
Materials & Resources
6
List all the materials, people, and references that:

1. White board
2. Markers
3. Paper
4. coloring pencils or markers
5. Glue
6. Scissors
7. tape
8. living/nonliving venn diagram
9. Picture assortment
10. Living Things Need poster
11. Living vs Nonliving poster
12. https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/originals/88/00/5f/88005ff01f2a43be05eff396c366a517.jpg
Reflection:
This is the introduction lesson where students learn how to tell if something is alive or not and
what all living things need to survive. Students are engaged actively in their learning throughout
this lesson; they will explore a variety of things and make observations, discuss their findings
and thoughts, and then apply what the instructor explains to their first set of observations. This
lesson is primarily student centered minus the explain part. I chose to do this so students are
actively engaged but they are able to clearly understand the science content.
Materials for Lesson #1
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Lesson: # 2
Title: Digging Deep to Learn About Plants
Teacher: Savannah Horwood
Duration: 30-50 (3 sessions)
Description:
Students will learn what a plant is and the parts of a plant. Students will learn about the functions
of a plant parts such as roots, stem, leaves, flower, buds, fruit, seeds. Students will create a plant
diagram labeling functions of parts of a plant. They will start the project and experiment of
growing a seedling, this project involves student collecting data and observation about their seed
that begins to grow.
NGSS
MTCC
3.1 identify that plants and animals have structures and systems that serve different functions for
CCSS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5
Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts,
and feelings.
Disciplinary Core Idea:
organism.
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Practices:
evidence.
Benchmarks from the MT Standards for Science:
organism
Inquiry Standards:
phenomenon.
Learning Objectives:
Lesson Objective 4: Students will be able to make observations from investigations.
Learning Objective 1: Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar
More specific:
Students construct their own plant diagram.
Students describe the needs of a plant.
Students relate plants to humans.
Students will experiment with growing a plant.
Engage: (Day 1) (40min)
Pre-assessment:(5min)
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A picture of plants will be posted on the board a plant with fruits and a plant with flowers.
Students will be asked to use their sticky notes to identify the parts of a plant they know.
Focusing event: (8-10 min)
Reading the book From Seed To Plant will be used to get students introduced to the cycle of
growing a plant. This will lead to the questionDo you think we are similar to plants? This
question allows for student to connect to plants before learning about the functions of plant parts.
Driving question:(20-25 min)
Written on two posterboard What do plant need to grow? What are the function of the plant
parts? During this discussion the class will discuss the parts of the a plant that might be similar to
the parts of a human(roots=feet or leaves=breathing in from our mouths).(This will allow for
discussions from students ideas as well the teacher sharing specific facts with students)
Explore: (Day 2) (30min)
A classs investigation will start off the day. Students have learned that roots take in nutrients and
water for the plant. The teacher will have a 3 white daisy and place it in a warm cup of water
with different colors of food coloring. Ask the students what do you think will happen? And have
them write their ideas in their journal and then give time to share their ideas with the class. The
following day students will be able to observe the effects.
Students will then be creating a plant identification flipchart. This chart allows for students to
identify a part of a plant and then identify the function of that part. Students will draw their own
flowering plant and write in their definition this will make these understandings more concrete
for each student. *The explain part will need to come ahead of creating their flip chart.
Explain: (20min)
In order for students to create their flip chart students must be taught about the functions of the
part of a plant ahead of time. Bringing in a live plant to go along with the explaining will allow
student to touch a feel the plant parts. Defining the parts of the plant will be written up on the
board for students to read and copy for their plant flip chart.
Plant- is a large group of living things that use sunlight to make their own food. Most plants
have leaves, stems, roots and either flowers or cones. Plants use a green pigment called
chlorophyll to absorb energy from sunlight. Grasses, trees, vines, vegetables, cactuses, ferns and
mosses are plants.
Roots the part of a plant that grows under the ground. Roots take in water and food, and they
hold the plant in the soil. They take in water and minerals to help the plant stay alive.
Stem the main part of a plant that supports the branches, leaves, and other parts. The stem
carries water from the roots to the other parts of the plant.
Leaves a flat part of a plant or tree that grows from the stem or branch. A leaf is usually green.
Leaves take in the air and light that a plant needs to live.
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Flower Flowers often have a pleasant smell and color. flower helps the plant reproduce,
making seeds that will grow into new plants.
Bud - A bud is an undeveloped shoot from which leaves or flower parts grow
Fruit - Contains seeds too that can then dispersed to grow more plants.
Seeds - the small object produced by a plant from which a new plant can grow
Other Facts
The plant first germinated by splitting its seed case and growing out of the top.
Roots grew down through the dirt to help anchor the plant in place and absorb nutrients and
water from the soil.
The stem of the plant carried these nutrients and water up into the leaves, helping the plant grow.
Plants have to make their own food through photosynthesis. This process requires the green
pigment chlorophyll in the leaves to convert the carbon dioxide in the air and energy from the
sun into sugar and oxygen.
The plant uses the sugars as food, and we use the oxygen to breathe!
Students will listen to the song once then the class will get up and march to the song and
repeated the lyrics. And repeat a third time if students desire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI 1:02
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Elaborate / Explore: (Day 3) (40 min)

Looking at the flower experiment done on day 2 students will make observations of what
happened to the flowers and write the results in their science journal a short class discussion will
follow.
Next students will be grouped in pairs to plant their seed. This project will continue to be worked
on throughout ongoing lessons that follow. Students will be growing a seed in a Cd case. Pass
out the materials for planting the seed. Cd case, seed, cup of soil, bowl. Explain that that the cd
case will act as a greenhouse, clarify what a greenhouse is if there are questions), students will be
able to watch the process of the seed sprouting and growing roots
Steps:
Open cd case
Place a large handful of potting soil into a small bowl. Mix the soil with water until it is wet, but
not muddy.
Fill the empty case halfway with the wet potting soil, leaving the half closest to the cases hinge
empty.This empty space will be room for your plant to grow!
Planting the seed place it in the middle of the soil (with a lima bean plant it so the it looks like a
frown facing down to where you open the cd)(grass seedlings need to be planted more at the
top) (watermelon will be planted just in the middle of the soil).
Students will close their cd and then use two small piece of tape to close it shut.
Students will fill in their first row on their observation sheet (date, observations, measurement
and drawing) *Next observation will not begin until plants are germinating and the seed coat has
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broken open.5-6 days later.Although watering of the plant must happen daily with the
eyedropper.
Evaluate:
Pre-assessment: What are the part of the plants that you know?
Formative assessment: looking at student science journals and their flip chart.
Summative assessment: Students will do a summative assessment by matching simple definitions
to parts of a plant.
Materials & Resources:
Markers/Crayons
Paper
Pencils
Poster board
Smart board/ projector
Seeds (Lima bean, watermelon, grass)
Paper towel
Soil
bowl
Cd cases
Eye Dropper
News paper
Books (having a variety of text about plants out for students to engage with will further their
knowledge, interest, and experiences with plants.)
Reflection:
Students are constructing knowledge in a variety of ways. Students connect plant to self, they are
involved in group discussion, they reflect in their science journal, they are able to be creative in
creating their flip chart, sing a song, quiz, they work in pairs, they get their hands dirty and plant
a plant. With the large variety of ways for students to construct their knowledge it ensures that a
variety of learning types will be able to be successful and learn the material. The role of the
teacher is to guide students and teach them the material. Ensuring students are understanding the
material and if not determining a way to help them understand. The need for good classroom
management will be important in the planting of the seed.
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Name:
Date:
I take air and light in so the plant can live.
I support the the branches, leaves and other parts of the

the plant.
I take water and food in. I also hold the plant in the
ground.
I bloom and make seed. Insects will come and take my

pollen and pollinate me.
I am the very start of a plant, you can plant me and then I

will grow if I am giving all the things I need like water,
sunlight, and air.
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19
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Lesson #3: How Plants Grow: Lighting

Teacher: Joshua Deeney
Grades: 1st-2nd
Duration: 45 minutes (preparation and planting seeds)
One 30 minute follow-up period.
Time to measure plants 2-3 times per week over four weeks.
Dates: Second week of April to the second week of May.
Description:
Teams of students will set up an experiment to discover how light affects plant growth They will
set up a control group of four of the same type of seedling in the same type of soil receiving the
same amount of water on a window sill or sufficient light source. After that, each group will set
up four more pots of the same type of seedling as the control group. Every variable will be kept
the same (soil type, water amount, type of seedling, etc.) except this experiment group will be
placed in a dark place such as a closet or cupboard. Students will track the growth of both groups
of plants and record the growth of all the plants.
NGSS
MTCC
CCSS
and feelings.
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: All animals need food in order
to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and
organism.
2. Plants need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to facilitate photosynthesis, which store
energy, forms plant matter, and releases oxygen
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Practices:
1. Analyzing and Interpreting Data
sharing observations. Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the
2. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence.
Crosscutting Concepts:
evidence.
2. Identify, measure, and describe basic requirements of energy and nutritional needs for an
organism.
Inquiry Standards:
phenomenon.
- Lesson Objective 1: Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar
and different resources to survive.
Lesson Objective 4: Students will be able to make observations from investigations.

Instructional Procedures:
Engage: (30 minutes).
Discuss with students what they think plants need to grow.
Introduce driving question: How does plant growth with adequate light compare with the
same plant without an adequate light source? These questions and discussions will serve as my
pre-assessment to determine what the students already know about the needs of plants.
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Tell learners about the exciting experiment we get to do as a class, explaining how we are
going to measure the growth of plants in differently lit environments.
Divide students into teams of four to monitor their own plant cups. Each group will monitor
four plants by the windowsill and four plants in the cupboard. Each cup will be labeled with the
groups number so they can continue to come back and monitor. Since we are with second
graders, I will prep all of the plants and cups and label them with the groups number.
Explore: (Spread out over four weeks)
The learners will pursue the driving question: How does plant growth with adequate light
compare with the same plant without an adequate light source? as each group measures each of
the seedlings growth 2-3 times a week. The learners will keep track of the growth of each plant
by measuring them with strips of construction paper which they will keep track of by gluing
them onto a poster boar each week. This will serve as a good visual representation of the growth
of the plants in their differently lit environments.
Throughout the growing period, probe students to make observations about the growth of the
well-lit plants vs. the cupboard plants such as, Which plant grew the most this week? Was it the
plant by the windowsill or the plant in the cupboard?, Why do you think the plants grew the
way they did?, or If they are all the same seed, have the same soil, and all have the same water,
then what could the difference be?. These questions will prompt the students to wonder about
the differences in growth of the windowsill plants and the cupboard plants and it models for them
how to as their own questions.
Explain: (1:45 minute video the kids will watch at home)
Our group has created a flipped lesson for this phase of the 5E lesson. We made a
PowerPoint and a screencast that students can view at home giving some more details about how
plants need light and outlining the basics of photosynthesis. Then they can return to the
classroom to discuss these concepts further as we observe the growth of our plants. My flipped
lesson is attached to this document. (It has a different driving question because we made this
video before I finalized my lesson. In a real class I would go in and make another screencast to
correct it).
Elaborate: (20 minutes)
In order to assess where my students are at in their understanding of how light affects plant
growth, students will revisit their original predictions. We will discuss as a class the various
predictions the groups came up with, using a RAN Chart as a guide to discover the parts of their
predictions which were accurate, identify misconceptions, what we learned about plants and
light, and what we are still wondering about. RAN Charts are typically used in relation to
nonfiction texts, but the outline would be very helpful in reflecting on our classroom experiment
as well.
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Evaluate: (30 minutes)

To wrap up our learning about the ways that light affects plant growth, each group will get a
chance to share what they have found with the rest of the class. They will each have about five
minutes to go in front of the class with their poster of their plant growth and they will share their
original prediction about the growth of the plants on the windowsill and in the cupboard, share
two observations they made during the measurement time, and then they will tell the group what
they learned after watching the plants grow for four weeks.
Materials and Resources:
40 bean seeds, a large jar, paper towels, 40 paper cups, potting soil, masking tape, pens, and
a watering can.
Poster boards and colored strips of construction paper.
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RAN Chart.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_bp_I41UQjg/UtrtiUnxXxI/AAAAAAAABDc/qEUtE7gb0FI/s1600/RAN+chartanalyzing+nonfiction.jpg
Access to a computer to view the flipped lesson.

Project Learning Tree Activity Guide, pg. 179-181.
Reflection:
In this lesson, students will get the chance to explore the needs of plants in an interactive, handson way. Learners will have a unique interest in the growth process as they are able to observe
their very own plant. This will benefit students who learn best through activity better than if they
were merely to read about the needs of plants to have light or to hear a lecture about how plants
need light to survive because there is a real, tangible connection between the students and their
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learning. Not only will they be actively involved in the growing process, but they will also get an
introduction to the process of making predictions and observations about the phenomena they see
in front of them, as well as getting the chance to see how their own group work compares to that
of the other groups in the class.
Lesson: # 4
Title: Water the Plants
Teacher: Sierra Butcher
Grade Level: 1st-2nd grade
Duration: Over the span of two weeks
Date(s): April
Description
Students will continue the research on the plants growing in class and investigate how water
effects the life of a plant.
Standards Benchmarks
Identify the pertinent standards you are addressing with this lesson. Include the following, using
the headings:

o K-LS1-1: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including
humans) need to survive
Associated Disciplinary Core Idea(s),

o LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other
animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
1)
All living things need sunlight, water, oxygen and carbon dioxide, although some living
things do not need direct light for energy. Energy, for the most part, is transferred from organism
to organism.
2) Plants need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to facilitate photosynthesis, which store
All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from
Associated Practice(s)
o Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.
Associated Crosscutting Concept(s)

o Patterns
Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as evidence.
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Benchmarks from the MT Standards for Science (including both science content and inquiry
skills).
o Inquiry
Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate the ability to design, conduct, evaluate, and
communicate the results and form reasonable conclusions of scientific investigations.
Benchmark End of Grade 4
1.3 Use data to describe and communicate the result of the scientific investigations.
o Life Science
C. Science Content Standard 3: Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate knowledge
of characteristics, structures and function of living things, the process and diversity of life, and
how living organisms interact with each other and their environment.
D. Benchmark End of Grade 4
3.2 Identify, measure, and describe basic requirements of energy and nutritional needs for an
organism
Learning Objective
Students will be able to
1. Understand that plants and animals need similar and different resources to survive.
4. Make observations from investigation.
5. Design, conduct, evaluate and communicate results.
6. Form reasonable conclusions based on scientific investigations.

Engage: 15-20 minutes
Pre-assessment: Ask students to discuss what the importance of sunlight was to the
plants. Then ask them to discuss if they think water is important for plants.
Focusing event: Discuss with students about what happens this time of year when we get
a lot of rain over time. What happens to the plants and the grass and such? Ask them to predict in
their science journals what would happen if we didnt get any rain in this time of year.
Driving question: Students will begin to discover that water is important to plants to
survive, and then I will tell them today we are going to try and discover what the importance is to
plants.
Explore: 10 min, everyday for 2 weeks

Students will already have plants from the previous lesson that they experimented with the
importance of light and a plant's survival. Students will then take those plants and experiment
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what the importance of water is to a plant's survival. Every student's plant will be placed in the
same area of lighting. This is a good opportunity to explain to students why keeping variables the
same is important and only change one to see the desired results. Each student is responsible for
each day after lunch to give their plant different amounts of water. Two students will have 0oz,
two will have 2oz, two will have 4oz, etc. The students are also responsible for recording the
height of their plant, and record the color and sketch appearance of their plant each day after
lunch. This will continue for two weeks.
Explain: 15-20 minutes
After the two weeks, students will gather together as a class and I will demonstrate how
to graph the different heights for the different amounts of water. Students with their partner of the
same amount of water, will discuss the appearance of their plant and whether with the amount of
water they had helped their plant survive. Each group will then report to the class their findings.
Then as a class we will discuss and analyze our information and how water effects plants
survival.
Elaborate: 10 minutes
I will then guide students through a discussion about how plants can use little amounts of
water and still survive but then its the bare minimum. Plants need a sufficient amount of water
in order to survive, but they would also die if they are given too much water. I will then ask
students to also predict about what would happen if plants had little water and little sunlight.
Evaluate: 5 minutes
I will assess students knowledge by seeing their predictions about what would happen if
the plants didnt have a lot of sunlight or a lot of water.
1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

I came up with this lesson on my own
Are required to teach the lesson, including all physical materials, sources, and resources outside
the classroom
Plants
Measurement devices for the water
Rulers
Science journals
Appropriate amount of room to store the plants in proper lighting
Giant graph paper
Multiple colored markers
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In this lesson students roll is to record and analyze the importance of water. Students are
responsible for taking care of their own plants, and they are also in charge of recording their
observations. Students will also communicate their results with each other and the class. The
teachers role is to support and to guide the students to the correct answers of why plants need
water to survive. I chose to do it this way to it is more student focused than teacher focused and
the students are able to create and record their own observations.
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Lesson: # 5
Title:Forest Appreciation
Teacher: Savannah Horwood
Duration: 40-50 (3sessions)
Description:
This lesson will have students learn the value of the forest for a variety of consumers. The book
Forestry will start the lesson then the class will brainstorm who uses the forest and why is the
forest important. Students will then collect images that represent these groups that will allow for
visual cues. Students will then engage in forest game that further reinforces the idea of the
consumption of the forest and the importance of a forest.
NGSS
MTCC
CCSS
and feelings.
organism.
30
Practices:
evidence.
organism
Inquiry Standards:
phenomenon.
Learning Objective 1: Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar
Learning Objective 2: Students will understand the human impact on plants and animals.
More specific:
Students will identify 5 consumers of forest products.
Students will demonstrate the need for a forest by playing the Forest Power game.
Students will describe the importance of a forest.
Students will recognize the human impact on a forest
Engage:
Pre-assessment: (5 min)
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Before reading the book Forestry, students will be asked what is a forest? What do you know
about a forest? What animals live in the forest?
Focusing event: (5 min)
The book Forestry will be read to the students.
Driving question: (1 min)
The question being explored during this lesson is: What is the value of a forest and why is it
important to sustain a forest? This will be written on the board and asked to the students. This
will not need to be discussed now but rather introduced to students and seen by them during the
lesson in order for them to respond to this question at the end of the lesson.
Explore: (Day 1) (30-35 min)
After reading the book the whole group will brainstorm who uses the forest. The teacher will
post on the board a large chart that will list different consumers of the forest People Recreation,
People Jobs, People Products, Animals, Earth. The teacher will need to explain the word
consumer (a person or thing that eats or uses something) and relate it to each section. Then have
students think and share of their ideas, this may be a time to address misconceptions if students
identify examples incorrectly. Students will then be placed in their table groups and work on
finding picture representations of the different groups. They will have magazines and newspapers
to cut out images that will then be glued to the chart under the group they belong in. After the
class as a whole will reflect on the images.
People Jobs: ranger, lumberjack, biologist, logger.
People Production: paper, lumber, food.
People Recreation: Skiing, Mountain biking, hiking, fishing.
Animals: food, shelter, space.
Earth: clean air, clean soil, oxygen, keeping soil in place.
Explore: (Day 2) (45-50 min)

Game Day!
Divide class into 5 groups
Create a line in the space have groups set up behind the line. Leaving more space in front of the
line.
Assign each group a consumer label
Allow students to then brainstorm how they benefit from the forest. The chart the students made
will be displayed to visually help them think of ideas. (during this time the teacher will scatter
the trees face down)\
When the Cd is turned on, one student at a time will look under a tree and determine if it is a
match for their groups consumptions, if it is the keep it and bring back if they do not think it is a
match they place it back down and get back in line. The the next person in line has a turn.
Students are encouraged to discuss with their group if they all believe it is a match,
The game ends when each group has all their consumables.
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When all the trees are gone the forest has been clear cutted.
(Variation: students must move in the manor of the consumable they represent.)
Explain:
(explain would actually be moved above the explore)
The idea of consumer and producer is a new concept for students, so the teacher will need to go
into detail about these concepts. Asking student of their ideas, then inform them of the definition
and insure to give examples. The overall goal through this investigation and lesson is for students
to understand our connection to a forest and understand human relation with a forest. Looking at
a forest in relation to oneself will allow student to see how they are similar to such plants and
other animals and look at without forest we and other animals and other diversities would not be
able to survive. Explain to students the importance of a forest: Help us breath providing oxygen,
keep the earth cool, cause rain, stop flooding, keep dirt from eroding, clean up dirty soil, clean up
dirty air, feed us, help us make things, give us medicine, create jobs.
Watch the short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnMgNt3122I
Elaborate: (15 min)
After playing the game once students will have a seat and listen to the Music from the book The
Tree while the teacher shares the images from the book. This book has a very meaningful
intention to have children think about the life of a tree and the importance of caring for them.
After the book is shared students will reflect and then discuss why it is important to save a forest
and ideas they have about ways to protect a forest.
(The next day students will play the game again and after a forest has been clear cutted, student
will go and lay out the trees representing that they are replanting the forest.)
Evaluate:
Pre-assessment: Students will be asked what is a forest? What do you know about a forest?
What animals live in the forest?
Formative assessment: Embedded in the lesson; whole group discussion and small group cut
and paste will allow the teacher to identify who understands the concepts. The tree game
although played in a group can be used as an individual assessment of students understanding the
concepts presented.

Poster chart board
Magazines
Newspapers
Books Forestry and The Tree
Markers
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glue
Cut out of trees, labeled
Location with space
Sounds of the forest CD
video
The Tree, by Dana Lyons

America at Work: Forestry, by Jane Drake, Ann Love, Pat Cupples
http://www.forestinfo.org/sites/default/files/pdfReports/ForestAppreciation.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnMgNt3122I
Reflection:
Students will be acquire knowledge by working on hands on activities of searching for
consumptions that forest provides. By taking part in the game students will be able to learn with
the use of movement. Class discussions will allow students share their ideas aloud and hear
others, leading to a deeper understanding of the content. The teacher must have previously
prepared for this lesson in get all materials. The need for guiding the class discussion posing
questions and sharing information. Setting up the game and supervising. The lesson
meets a variety of learning style.
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35
Lesson: #6
Title: Pass the Plants, Please
Teacher: Mikaela Marsh
Grade Level: First and Second Grade
Duration: 90-120 Minutes (2-3 class sessions)
Date(s): April 22nd-April 25th
Description
The scope and context of this lesson is to give the students a deeper understanding about
herbivores and why it is so important that they have plants because that is what they need in
order to survive. Each student would also be able to see the role that plants play in their diet too
and how their favorite foods would be affected if plants werent around to be included in the
ingredients. The curricular goal of this lesson is to get students to be thinking about herbivores
and what they need to survive, the main focus being plants, and this also ties into the lessons of
this unit that are being taught about carnivores and omnivores. The other curricular goal is to
teach about food chains and cycles because the students will need to know the different cycles of
the plants and animals to know how they all help each other survive and keep the food chain
alive. Although they are not mentioned in this lesson, all three of these concepts will be taught
throughout the unit. The science content that will be taught is the food chain of a carnivore and
also what plants need to survive in order to feed us a humans (omnivores) and herbivores.

Associated Disciplinary Core Idea(s)

o LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms- all animals need food in
order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need
water and light to live and grow.
o Analyzing and Interpreting Data: analyzing data in k-2 builds on prior experiences and
progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to
answer scientific questions.
o Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence
36
o Patterns: patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as
evidence.
skills).
o D. Benchmark End of Grade 4
3.2 Identify, measure, and describe basic requirements of energy and nutritional needs for an
organism
3.3 Describe and use models that trace the life cycles of different plants and animals and
discuss how they are differ from species to species
o Benchmark End of Grade 4
phenomenon.
Learning Objectives
Students will understand that different animals need different resources to survive.
Students will be able to research information using provided technology.
Students will then be able to form reasonable conclusions about herbivore survival based
on the research.
1. Have the students brainstorm a list of their favorite foods and then have them think about
the different components that their favorite foods are made up of. (10 minutes)
2. Point out that many foods are made up of plants, even if its not obvious. (5 minutes)
a. Examples: Bread is made from wheat and grains, pizza is made from wheat and the sauce is
made from tomatoes, tortilla chips are made up of ground corn.
3. Have the students get into groups of 3-4 students and each give one of their favorite foods
and see if they can come up with more answers of the different plants that make up their favorite
foods. (10 minutes)
4. On the board, write out a chart that lists all of the categories of plants (roots, stems, leaves,
leaf stalks, flowers, fruits, and seeds) and ask the students if they can think of any animals that
also eat these foods (10-15 minutes)
a. Looking for all answers of animals that are mainly herbivores
5. After the students have noticed that they eat some of the same foods as herbivores, they can
each pick a herbivore animal to research (15-20 minutes)
6. The students will have the rest of the class period and the whole next class period to
research and create a presentation on their herbivore animal of choice. (50-60 minutes)
7. The students will each give their presentation to the class about the herbivore that they
researched. (50-60 minutes)
37
Engage:
Pre-assessment: Have the students list out their favorite foods and see if they can identify
what plants make up that food. The class discussion on the board will also be part of the preassessment by making the chart together as a class.
Focusing event: To engage the students in the lesson, I will make an emphasis on them
knowing a majority of what they eat is made up of some sort of plant(s) and that herbivores are
animals that survive from eating just plants and having them make the connection about what
would happen if they didnt have plants to make their favorite food to what it would be like if
herbivores didnt have plants, which would mean they wouldnt have any food either.
Driving question: The driving question for this lesson is can you describe a typical food
chain for a herbivore? and I would introduce the question that will drive the inquiry by first
doing the pre-assessment with the students where they first find out that herbivores need plants
to survive and then from there we would create a food chain starting with a herbivore and then
listing different plants that the particular animal eats and then moving on to what that plant needs
to survive, and so on until we get to the soil where the plant grows. This way the students will be
able to answer the question because they will know what they food chain of a herbivore consists
of.
Explore:
The activities that will provide the students with evidence to answer the question of can you
describe the typical food chain for a herbivore is having the students look at a food chain that
starts out with using one particular herbivore animal and then moving down the food chain with
what plants they eat and then what those plants need to survive. The other activity that will be
used for the students to gather evidence to answer the question is having them do research on a
herbivore and through their research they will be able to find out the typical food chain for the
herbivore that they are researching. They will also have an opportunity to present this evidence
to the class when they each present about their herbivore that they chose to the class at the end of
the lesson.
Explain:
The instruction that will guide the students in analyzing the evidence and developing an
explanation to help answer the question will be to guide them in their research to look into what
plants their herbivore needs to survive and then looking further into what those plants need to
survive, also. This way they are able to look at the whole food chain of the herbivore and be able
to answer the question and analyzing their evidence from their research and the class discussion.
To fill in any gaps in their explanations, I will explain the science of the problem by showing
them that plants need soil and nutrients to survive, which is important because the herbivores
38
need the plants in order to survive; the science behind this is the different cycles of the plants and
animals and how they build off of each other in order to keep each other alive.
Elaborate:
Describe the instruction/activities that will allow students to apply their new knowledge
to new learning task(s)
The activities that will allow the students to apply their new knowledge to new learning
task are building the food chain and the research that they did on their particular herbivore. By
understanding how food chains and food webs work, they will be able to complete the activity in
the last lesson of the unit that looks at the big picture of how plants and animals survive in an
environment. The research that they do will not only help them with getting used to doing
research and working on the computer, but it will also give them more research about a herbivore
that they were interested in and the speaking skills that they will be using while presenting their
animal to the rest of the class.
Evaluate:
I will use a summative assessment with this lesson when the students do their
presentations at the end of the lesson to the rest of the class. The presentations will show how indepth the student got when they were researching and if they researched the correct information
about their herbivore and the plants that it eats and how to fit that information into a food chain.
Computers
White board and marker
Work Cited
Pre K-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide: Activity 16
Attach to the lesson plan a print-ready copy of everything students will see in the lesson (i.e.,
handouts, PowerPoints, formative and summative assessment instruments, rubrics, etc.)
Reflection: This lesson involves teaching the students about herbivores, which are animals who
only eat plants. We included this lesson in our unit because the students may not realize how
many plants are in some of their favorite foods, such as pizza. The role of the teacher is to guide
the discussion of the students and the students role is to understand the connection between
humans and herbivores. We wanted to teach the students that herbivores need plants in order to
survive and humans need plants to survive also. The main point of the lesson was to have the
students connect the need for plants in order for animals, especially herbivores, to survive.
39
Lesson: # 7
Title: What's an Omnivore?
Teacher: Kate Lynn Morrison
Duration: 1 hour- 1 session
Description
This lesson allows students to explore what makes something an omnivore by watching a series
of short video clips and drawing and writing down their observations. Furthermore, it explains
that animals are classified by what they eat and mentions all three categories, herbivore,
carnivore and omnivore; this lesson focuses on omnivores. Students will be introduced to the
content with visuals and the use of music. Finally, students will use what they learned to
categorize a series of animals and write out their definition of an omnivore.
Disciplinary Core Idea
organism.
40
Practices
evidence.
Benchmarks from the MT Standards for Science
Science Content Standards
1.1.L.2.1 Summarize the needs of living organisms for energy and growth
Inquiry Standards
phenomenon.
Montana Essential Learning Expectations
A-C: identify and label the parts of a plant (stem, root, leaf, flower) and a flower (stamen,
sepal, petal, pistil, pollen, ovule)
D: Identify that animals have systems for certain functions.
E: Explain the relationships between basic animal systems and their functions.
A: define producer, consumer, decomposer, food chain, food web.
B: Explain the difference between a food web and a food chain.
C: Illustrate and explain the relationship between a food web and a food chain.
A: describe a plant life cycle
B: describe an animal life cycle
A: use a simple classification system for plants and animals.
41
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar and different resources
to survive
Students will understand that different animals need different resources to survive.
Students will be able to make observations from investigations.
Students will be able to design, conduct, evaluate and communicate results.
Students will then be able to form reasonable conclusions based on scientific investigations.
1.
2.
3.
4.
(5 mins)Engage:
Focusing event: Class discussion
Raise your hand if you have a pet or know someone with a pet?
Can anyone name something your pet likes to eat? Think about veggies,meat, and fruit?
Raise your hand if you are surprised by something your pet eats
Explain that today we are going to explore what omnivores eat.
Driving question: After the focusing event, the teacher will explain to students that they
will be learning about what omnivores eat. Write driving question on the board. Today our focus
question is what is an omnivore?
Pre-assessment:
1. Students will be asked to write what they think an omnivore is on a sticky note and place it on
the board.
1.
2.
3.
4.
(20 mins)Explore:Students will be given a worksheet that guides them through questions that
explore what makes an omnivore while watching clips of various omnivores. The students will
be asked to draw what meat and fruit/veggies they eat on the worksheet. Next, students will
watch a few short clips of different omnivore animals eating and draw/write on the worksheet
what they eat. Students will use the information they observed/gathered to predict what makes an
omnivore.
Handout worksheet
Students fill out questions 1 and 2 about what they eat.
Read other prompts to students but tell them not to fill out anything yet.
Pull up video https://youtu.be/_SAAHtfl3hs
42
5. Explain to students that they will be watching a few clips on bears eating some things and
squirrels eating some things. This will be the focus of the worksheet.
6. Student can fill questions 3 and 4 out while watching the video or after.
7. Finish the reflective questions 5 and 6. Remind students to use their evidence they collected and
recorded from the video.
8. Have students compare their answers with a partner.
(25 mins) Explain:
Describe the instruction/activities that will guide students in analyzing the evidence and
developing an explanation to help answer the question(s); also describe how you will explain the
science to fill in any gaps in their explanations
Once the student make predictions about what an omnivores eat, they will have time to share
their thoughts. After getting a few explanations, I will explicitly tell the students that omnivores
eat plants and animals.
1. Raise your hand if you have a guess what makes an omnivore based on your evidence collected
on the worksheet from the video clips.
2. Have a couple students share ideas.
3. Show students visual picture for omnivores, herbivores and carnivores.
4. We can classify, or group animals, based on what they eat. There are three different groups,
omnivores, herbivores and carnivores. Herbivores eat only plants and carnivores eat only meat.
Our focus today is on omnivores. Tell students that omnivores are animals, including us, that eat
both plants and meat or animals. Plants can be fruit and vegetables.
5. Can we name some meats and animals omnivores might eat? Beef, fish, chicken, other animals
like the snake.
6. Can we name some plants an omnivore might eat? Lettuce, apples, carrots, cucumbers.
7. So is the bear an omnivore? Yes, eats lettuce, apples and fish.
8. So is the squirrel an omnivore? Yes, eats cucumbers and the snake.
9. Are humans omnivores? Sometimes but sometimes humans are vegetarians or herbivores.
10. Sing song to help remember what an omnivore is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pPQjI22vV2w
(10 mins) Elaborate:

Students will use what they learned from the explain portion and sort animals based on
their diets. The grading is mostly concerned with the omnivore section.
1. Handout worksheet and allows students to fill it out
2. Post assessment- On the back of the worksheet have students write what omnivores eat and two
examples of omnivores.
Evaluate:
Pre-assessment- sticky note activity
Formative - omnivore worksheet
Summative - animal sort worksheet
43
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Projector
computer
Visuals
Worksheet- omnivores
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPQjI22vV2w
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/211880357447679252/
Colored pencils or markers
Omnivore clip video https://youtu.be/_SAAHtfl3hs
Reflection:
In this lesson the students are learning about what makes an omnivore. The activities guide
students in discovering their own understandings but the questions help ensure this process is
done correctly. After the students do their own exploring by watching the small video clip and
reflecting on the worksheet and with their classmates, the teacher will explicitly explain the
science. I chose to do this that way students can still feel in control of their learning but the
science content is still addressed and misconceptions can be addressed as well.
44
45
46
Name:_____________________________________
Omnivores
1. Draw and write what type of vegetables
2. Draw and write what meat you eat.
and fruit you eat?
47
3. Draw what the squirrel ate.
Circle all the correct answers.

Did it eat fruit or vegetables?
A.
B.
Circle all the correct answers.

Did it eat fruit or vegetables?
A.
fruit
vegetables
C.
4. Draw what the bear ate.
meat
5. What do you predict makes an animal an

omnivore? Hint use the information you
gathered.
B.
fruit
vegetables
C. meat
6. Draw another animal you think is

an omnivore.
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Lesson: # 8
Title: Lets eat meat
Teacher: Sierra Butcher
Duration: 70-90
Date(s): Beginning of May
Description
Students will understand what a carnivore is and what they need to eat to survive. Students will
read the book Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds, and learn and discuss why and how carnivores can
only eat meat in order to survive.
49
K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including
humans) need to survive. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that
animals need to take food but plants do not; the different kinds of food needed by different types
of animals; the requirement of plants to have light; and, all living things need water.
LS1.C: Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms

o All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from
other animals. Plants need water and light to love and grow.
Patterns: Patterns in the natural and human world can be observed and used as evidence.
skills).
Inquiry Skills:
o Benchmark End of Grade 4
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to

o 8. Understand that different animals need different resources to survive.
Engage: 15-20 minutes
Pre-assessment: I will ask students to write in their science notebook what they think a
carnivore is.
Focusing event: Ask the students to share what they think a carnivore is. Explain to
students that a carnivore is an animal that eats meat.
Driving question: I will ask students to then write in their science notebooks any
carnivores they can think of in the world, I will also ask students to begin to think about if
carnivores will be able to eat anything other than meat. I will even ask kids to think about how
they feel about carnivores and if they think they are bad or not.
50
Explore: 30-35 minutes

Describe the instruction/activities that will provide students with evidence to answer the
question(s)
Together as a class we will read the book Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds. The book follows three
carnivores, the lion the wolf, and the great white shark and how they decide to only eat plants
because no one wanted to be their friends because they were scared of the carnivores. The
animals then discover that they are not made to be vegetarians and they can only eat meat in
order to live.
Explain: 15 minutes
Describe the instruction/activities that will guide students in analyzing the evidence and
developing an explanation to help answer the question(s); also describe how you will explain the
science to fill in any gaps in their explanations
Students will then as a class write up animals on the board animals we are not sure if they
are carnivores or not. As a class we will discuss whether or not they are carnivores. After the
class is satisfied on their answers we will look up together as a class where or not they are
carnivores and discover what their diet is.
Elaborate: 10 minutes
I will ask students to copy the animals in science notebook. I will ask students to write
down characteristics of those animals that may help them be carnivores.
Evaluate: 10 minutes
Students will be given the worksheet below to work out and will be evaluated by their
responses.
1.
1.
2.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.

You used in creating this lesson, and
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/165225880058024829/
Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds
Are required to teach the lesson, including all physical materials, sources, and resources outside
the classroom
Science notebooks
Whiteboard
Smartboard
Carnivorous by Aaron Reynolds
handouts, PowerPoints, formative and summative assessment instruments, rubrics, etc.)
51
Reflection:
Students are conducting learning by reading a fun book and about how carnivores can only eat
meat. Students also have to think about animals that can only eat meat and classify the animals
into the different categories. Student also have to think critically about what other physical
characteristics make a carnivore a carnivore. The students main job is to think about the
information and processing it to new information. The role of the teacher is to guide and
facilitate the students thinking and lead them away from misconceptions. I chose to do this
because I want to guide the students rather than just tell the students. The book also helps
understand that carnivores are not bad, its just what they need to survive.
Lesson #9: Wildlife Conservation Society Guest Speaker

Teacher: Joshua Deeney
Grades: 1st-2nd
Duration: Three 40 minute lessons.
Dates: Second week of May.
Description:
This lesson will give learners an opportunity to see the ways that humans are striving to preserve
the welfare of animals. The Wildlife Conservation Society is working to protect animals and their
habitats from human activity which could potentially threaten them. They have a list of target
animals they are aiming to protect as well as 15 zones around the world they are seeking to
preserve. A representative from the Bozeman office will come into our classroom and share what
52
the WCS is doing to achieve these goals and tell the students how they can contribute in ways
around their local community.
NGSS
MTCC
CCSS
and feelings.
LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms: All animals need food in order
to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and
organism.
2. Plants need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to facilitate photosynthesis, which store
Practices:
1. Analyzing and Interpreting Data
sharing observations. Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the
2. Connections to Nature of Science: Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence.
Crosscutting Concepts:
53
evidence.
2. Identify, measure, and describe basic requirements of energy and nutritional needs for an
organism.
Inquiry Standards:
phenomenon.
Lesson Objective 2: Students will understand the human impact on plants and animals.
Instructional Procedures:
Engage: (10 minutes)
Introduce Driving Question: How can humans positively impact the survival
of animals?
Pre-assessment discussion: What ways can you think of that you could positively impact the
survival of animals?
Explore: (30 minutes)
In groups of three, learners will spend some time looking at the websites of some of the major
conservation organization (which I will provide), looking for their main vision statement and one
of the efforts the group is in the process of making to positively impact the lives of animals.
http://www.wcs.org/
http://www.fws.gov/
http://montanaraptor.org/
54
Explain: (30 min-roughly three minutes for each group)

Each group will show what they researched about the conservation websites. They will show this
by creating a simple poster with the name of the organization they are presenting about, the
organizations vision statement, a picture of an animal (hand drawn or printed) and one effort the
organization is making to positively impact the lives of animals.
Elaborate: (30 min)
To expand on the learners background knowledge and now the new knowledge they came up
with their research, we will have a representative from the Bozeman office of WCS come into
our classroom and share more about the organization. They will share about what the WCS is,
how it started, its main vision statement, and some of the ways the group is engaged in
preserving wildlife and their habitats all around the world. At the end, the representative will
share about the new law passed by Congress: the Bison National Legacy Act.
Evaluate: (20 min)
The Bison National Legacy Act was passed recently by Congress just a couple of days ago. The
representative will share how important it is to show support for legislators when they stand up
for wildlife like this. When they hear our voices, it encourages them to continue looking out for
the concerns of wildlife in America and will be more likely to pass other laws which protect
animals!
As a final assessment, students will write a letter to congress sharing about what they have been
learning in class about how important it is to look out for animals and the different ways that
organizations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society are helping! They will also thank the
legislators for doing their part in passing the Bison National Legacy Act.
Through this letter assignment, I will be able to see students learnings about animal
conservation and the positive impact of humans on animals, and the students will get the
opportunity to engage in a real-life opportunity to positively impact animals by supporting
Congress decisions to protect them.
Materials and Resources:
-Access to a computer cart is necessary for this lesson.
-Compliance of the WCS to send someone to come in and speak.
-https://www.wcs.org/.
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-http://www.fws.gov/
http://montanaraptor.org/
-Poster paper.
-Markers.
-Stamps to send the letters to Congress.
Reflection:
This lesson will be much more developmentally appropriate (and less scary) than the Marsh
Mystery. It focuses on positivity and the good things humans are doing to benefit the wellbeing
of animals. Students will get a chance to use researching skills to look into conservation
organizations and see the efforts that they are making right now to protect animals. They will
have the chance to demonstrate this understanding through their posters. The representative
coming in will also show them that these efforts are happening in real life, and they will even get
to play a part in the fight to protect animals by sending a letter to Congress.
Lesson: # 10
Title: Food Webs
Teacher: Mikaela Marsh
Duration: 60-90 minutes (1-2 sessions)
Date(s): May 15th-16th
Description
Several sentences addressing the scope and context of the lesson and curricular goal. Include a
brief but thorough description of the science content this lesson will teach.
The scope and context of this lesson is to teach the students about how plants and animals live in
their natural environments, what they do to survive, and how they help each other survive. They
56
will do this by creating a food web based off a certain ecosystem and have to be able to connect
the plants, animals and natural resources that each of them use to survive day-to-day. The
curricular goals of this lesson is to get the students to understand that plants and animals need
similar and different resources to be able to survive, to be able to make observations off of the
investigations that are done in class, and be able to communicate the results from their
observations to the teacher and other classmates. This lesson will be used as a summative
assessment in the unit because the students will be able to use all of the information that they
collected from the previous lessons in the unit about the survival of plants and animals and be
able to make a food web that includes all the plants and animals that they are given. The science
content that will be taught in this lesson is the different survival methods of plants and animals
and how they use each other to survive in their natural environments. Carnivores, herbivores and
omnivores will also be discussed throughout the lesson, which the students will have previous
knowledge of due to previous lessons in the unit.


o LS1.C: All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants
and from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow.
o Analyzing and Interpreting Data: Analyzing data in K-2 builds on prior experiences and
progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
o Scientists look for patterns and order when making observations about the world.

o Patterns: Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as
evidence.
skills)
o Benchmark End of Grade 4- Content Standard 3.1: Identify that plants and animals have
structures and systems that serve different functions for growth, survival, and reproduction.
Identify that animals have systems for certain functions.
Explain the relationship between basic animal systems and their functions.
Learning Objectives
Objective 1: Students will be able to understand that plants and animals need similar and
different resources to survive.
Objective 4: Students will be able to understand how a food web works.
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Objective 5: Students will be able to work together to create a realistic food web.
1. Once all of the students are sitting at their desks quietly and ready to learn, hand out the
food web worksheets. (10-15 minutes)
a. Directions: With arrows, create a food web by connecting the animals and plants that need
each other to survive
2. After all of the students have finished their food webs, go over them with the whole class
and call on the students to have them explain why they connected two of the pictures or why they
think that these two items help each other survive. (20 minutes)
3. Give each of the students one of the premade cards that have a plant, animal or natural
resource listed on it. (20-30 minutes)
a. Directions: Have the students first work individually and think of different plants or animals
that need what you have on your card to survive. After 5 minutes, the students will all get in a big
circle in the classroom and a ball of yarn will be started at a certain person, for example the
person holding water. The students will then have to work together as a class to brainstorm where
to pass the yarn based on who has the yarn at the time and which plant or animal can use that
resource to survive, for example the person who has the pine tree could toss the yarn to the
person who has a robin because the robin uses the pine tree as a home. Continue tossing the yarn
around the circle until everyone has had the yarn tossed to them and a food web is created.
4. After the food web is created, start a discussion with the students about what they learned
about the survival of the plants and the animals in the environment and how this activity helped
them learn more about what resources plants and animals use to survive. (10-15 minutes)
Engage:
Pre-assessment: A worksheet will be given to the students about the different ecosystems
around the world and the plants and animals that live in them. The students will have to create a
food web between the pictures of animals, plants, and natural resources (water, mud, etc.) that
are on the paper. This will be used to assess their prior knowledge about how plants and animals
survive in their natural environments and how they used each other for survival.
Focusing event: The focusing event of this lesson is to get all the students up and moving
by giving them a piece of paper that has either a plant, animal, or natural resource on it. The
students will then have to make their own food best based on their knowledge of the survival of
plants and animals in their natural environment and how they survive off of each other.
Driving question: The driving question will be introduced before we start the food web
activity where the students will have the challenge of creating their own food web. The driving
question for this lesson is if you were given a list of plants and animals, would you be able to
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create an accurate food web that uses all the plants and animals that you are given? This will get
the students thinking about how the plants and animals survive in their natural environment and
also get them thinking about how to use every plant and animal in their food web.
Explore:
The food web is the activity that will be used to answer the question of if you were given a list of
plants and animals, would you be able to create an accurate food web that uses all the plants and
animals that you are given? This activity will be helpful in answering this question because the
students will not only have to think about how everything survives in the environment, but they
also have to work together and come up with an answer about how all the plants, animals, and
natural resources that they were given at the beginning of the activity. Questions from the
students might also be raised about what a certain animals needs to survive, for example, and the
other students can all come up with an answer to these questions while doing the activity, which
will also help them learn and acquire more knowledge about a certain ecosystem and the plants
and animals that live there.
Explain:
The food web activity and worksheet will help guide students in analyzing the evidence
and developing an explanation to help answer the questions because the worksheet is used to get
the students thinking about previous information that they have learned throughout the unit and
using that information to be able to help the students analyze the plants and animals that they are
given and be able to come up with valid explanations on how to connect them in a food web
depending on what the plants and animals need to survive in their natural environment. To fill in
any gaps in the explanations, I will explain the science by making sure the students know the
difference between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores so they can correctly identify which
animals need what to survive and I will also tie in the science fact that the ecosystem could not
survive if a plant or animal was missing because no matter what plant or animal be taken out of
the ecosystem, something survives off of it and then there would be a chain reaction because the
plants and animals that survive on those things would eventually die out also. By explaining this
to the students, they will understand the science behind a food web and the correlation between
the survival of the plants and animals.
Elaborate:
The food web activity will allow students to apply their new knowledge to new learning
tasks because not only will they understand the different types of plants and animals in the
different ecosystems, but they will also be able to relate them to each other and know the
different ways that plants and animals survive and what they need to survive in their natural
ecosystem. This will give them the knowledge for future lessons when learning about plant and
animals cycles or anything pertaining to the survival of plants and animals.
59
Evaluate:
The students knowledge and skills will be assessed through formative assessments and
summative assessments. The formative assessment will be built off of the worksheet at the
beginning of the class. The worksheet is listed as a pre-assessment, but it will be used to assess
what they students know before they have to create the food web in the circle and the students
should all be able to use the knowledge that they have from previous lessons in the unit to be
able to understand what the different plants and animals need to survive in their natural
environment. The summative assessment will be the food web activity where the students will
have to be able to create their own food web based on the different plants and animals and what
they need to survive. This will assess if they know the different plants and animals and they also
have to explain why they connected the different parts of the food web, which will show whether
or not they understood the concepts of the different plants and animals in the ecosystem.
In-class activity about food webs. Professor Rosanna Vallor. Science Methods. 2016.
Yarn
Cards with plants, animals, and natural resources on them

Work Cited
Food Web Worksheet idea found from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/49750770855049488/
Vallor, Rosanna. Science Methods 2016. Food Web Investigation. Class Material. 2016.
handouts, PowerPoints, formative and summative assessment instruments, rubrics, etc
Reflection: The point of this lesson was to tie up the entire unit and have the students use
everything they learned in both the plants and animal individual lessons to be able to make a
food web. They will complete this by each getting a plant, animal or natural resource that is
found in a specific ecosystem and they will have to make a food web based on their knowledge
about these specific plants and animals and what they need to survive. The role of the teacher is
to assess the students and the students role is to work together as a group and use the knowledge
that they have obtained throughout the entire unit to be able to successfully make a food web that
is accurate to what actually happens out in the wild. We did not want our unit to end in a test, but
we still wanted to assess their knowledge from the lessons, so the food web was a fun way to do
both.
60
Forest Food Web Cards
Conifer
Tree
Squirrel
Fox
Rabbit
Grass
Sun
Water Worm
61
Red- Mushroom Mud

Tailed
s
Hawk
Vulture
Mouse
Frog
Pine
Tree
Shrub
Forest Food Web Cards (Part 2)
Grizzl
y
Bear
Red-Tailed
Hawk
Chipmu
nk
Marmot
Grous
e
Deer
Water
Butterf
y
62
Berrie
s
Mushroo
ms
Mud
Pine
Tree
Flowe
rs
Mouse
Frog
Grasses
Wetland Food Web Cards
Hawk
Snake
Shrew
Marsh
Grass
Frog
Sun
Cricke Worm
t
63
Cattai Grasshopp
l
er
Fish
Mosquito
Mud
Duck
Frog
Catfis
h
Marine Food Web Cards
Crab
Seagull
Seawe
ed
Sun
Sea
Stars
Plankton
Corral
Worm
64
Dolphi
n
Whale
Mud
Sand
Turtle
Sea
Anemon
e
Frog
Shark
65
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Life Science Unit: Survival of Plants and Animals

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LIFE SCIENCE UNIT

Survival of Plants and Animals

Teacher: Kate Lynn Morrison

(2 mins) Focusing event: Real worm v Gummy worm

(30 mins) Explore:

(20 mins) Elaborate:

List all the materials, people, and references that:

Materials for Lesson #1

Elaborate / Explore: (Day 3) (40 min)

I take air and light in so the plant can live.

I support the the branches, leaves and other parts of the

I bloom and make seed. Insects will come and take my

I am the very start of a plant, you can plant me and then I

Lesson #3: How Plants Grow: Lighting

3. Plants can provide a food resource for animals

Lesson Objective 4: Students will be able to make observations from investigations.

Evaluate: (30 minutes)

Access to a computer to view the flipped lesson.

NGSS Performance Expectation

Associated Disciplinary Core Idea(s),

Associated Crosscutting Concept(s)

4. Make observations from investigation.

5. Design, conduct, evaluate and communicate results.

6. Form reasonable conclusions based on scientific investigations.

Explore: 10 min, everyday for 2 weeks

Materials & Resources

Explore: (Day 2) (45-50 min)

Materials & Resources

The Tree, by Dana Lyons

NGSS Performance Expectation

Associated Disciplinary Core Idea(s)

Associated Crosscutting Concept(s)

(10 mins) Elaborate:

Materials & Resources

2. Draw and write what meat you eat.

and fruit you eat?

3. Draw what the squirrel ate.

Circle all the correct answers.

Circle all the correct answers.

4. Draw what the bear ate.

5. What do you predict makes an animal an

6. Draw another animal you think is

LS1.C: Organization for matter and energy flow in organisms

Students will be able to

Explore: 30-35 minutes

Materials & Resources

Lesson #9: Wildlife Conservation Society Guest Speaker

Explain: (30 min-roughly three minutes for each group)

NGSS Performance Expectation

Associated Disciplinary Core Idea(s)

Associated Crosscutting Concept(s)

Objective 4: Students will be able to understand how a food web works.

Cards with plants, animals, and natural resources on them

Forest Food Web Cards

Red- Mushroom Mud

Forest Food Web Cards (Part 2)

Wetland Food Web Cards

Marine Food Web Cards

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