Designing an Enviorment

By Haley Hodge

First Grade/Life Science

Grade-Level Standard:
1.LS.1 Living things have basic needs, which are met by obtaining materials from the physical environment.

Lesson Summary:
This lesson is to teach the students the basic needs of organisms and how they survive in different
environments. Kids will be broken up into 5 groups to work together. Over the span of the 3 days of the
experiment, each group will be assigned a different animal, ideally each animal is from a different
environment. Using an electronical device, over the span of 3 days, the students must design the ideal
environment for each animal. By the end of the week, they must present and explain why they chose what they
did.

Estimated Duration:
This lessons duration will vary throughout each day, but in total it will be a total of 120 minutes – 150 minutes.
The first day, we will spend 30 minutes going over a power point, then the next 3 days we will go about
conducting the experiment about 20 minutes per day, then on the last day, we will take 30 minutes to an hour
to go over our findings.

Commentary:
With this lesson, I believe that the students will easily get hooked with it being so hands on and as a designing
project. It keeps them busy and they get to work together. I think the biggest challenge for this project is for the
kids who cannot operate a computer as well as the others but should overcome the challenge with AT.

Instructional Procedures:

Day 1: As we enter the design project, there will be a 30-minute opening lesson to help the kids understand the
importance of proper environment and basic resources for an animal to thrive and live. There will be a
PowerPoint for the kids to have visuals to help them understand the different environments and animals.

Day 2: To begin the actual design process, the kids will be divided up into 5 groups based on compatibilities,
specifically with disabilities. Once they are all assigned a group, they will all be assigned an animal. They will
also be given guidelines to help them remember what all to include in the environment. Once assigned an
animal, they will go to their laptops and begin to brainstorm on google docs what their animal needs to survive
so they can be prepared to start designing the environment on Day 3.

Day 3: For the second day into the design process, they will get to build the environment in which their animal
would thrive in on a computer program designed for them to customize an environment. They will follow their
guideline sheet and hopefully set up the correct food source, shelter source, substrate/forage, and their water
source. Once they are done with creating their environment, they will print off a picture of their environment to
prepare for the next task on Day 4.

Day 4: To prepare to conclude their design project, they will get back into their groups and discuss why they
chose what they chose for their environment. They will be required to write this down a google doc to track
their progress and to present on Day 5.

Day 5: For the project fair, each group will present their environment to the class and explain why they chose
what they chose. Those who are not presenting at the moment can offer feedback once the presentation is over
for. I will offer feedback as well and correct any mistakes.

Pre-Assessment:
Before we begin the design process, it is important to make sure the kids understand what they learned the
previous day. At the beginning of class, we will have a fun class quiz where they all work to answer the
questions verbally. I will hold an animal up and they’re responsible for saying where they live and what they
eat.
Scoring Guidelines:
I will use my judgement to decide if the kids need another review or if they are ready to start the design
process. If kids are hesitant and making too many mistakes when given an animal, we will do another
review, if they can identify the animal and their environment with minimal mistakes, we will continue
with the design process.
Post-Assessment:
To know if the kids truly learned about the different environments and needs of the animals, they must present
their environments along with why they chose what they chose to the class. As they present, I will grade based
on a grading rubric I create making sure they mention each guideline.

Scoring Guidelines:
There will be 4 guidelines they must meet, type of land, weather, food source, and water source. Each
guideline is worth 10 points. Each student will receive the opportunity to receive 40 points on the
assignment as long as I notice them participating and presenting.

Differentiated Instructional Support

Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or accelerated
students: Instructions are concrete for the most part minus the presentation part. If there are kids who have a
speech disability that handicaps them from presenting to the class, they will still get credit as long as the
write/type describing why they chose what they did for one of the guidelines and then submit it to me.
Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be struggling with the
material: If there are kids struggling with the content, we can set aside 10 minutes to discuss the material again,
if one needs individual help, we can set aside a time at lunch to receive 1 on 1 help

Extension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjZsKiZZ6dQ
Videos are excellent resources for additional help as they are more visual. If they need help or reminded of the
different animals and their environments, they can watch this video.

Homework Options and Home Connections

It is very important for parents to be a part of the learning process, especially for the kids who need additional
help in building their cognitive functions. I would like to send animal flash cards home, or even an online
version of animal flash cards, so the kids and visualize the animal and review at home the different
environments and the animals needs.

Interdisciplinary Connections
With this lesson, kids are using communication skills to work with one another to complete a common goal.
Kids are also learning design/computer skills as they must design the biome online. Not only have they learned
what the standards are, but they are learning additional skills as well.

Materials and Resources:

For teachers A power point lesson

A computer if the students need help
Printer
Magnets (to hold the poster on the board)

For students 1 computer for each group

Key Vocabulary
 Ecosystem
 Climate
 Grassland
 Lake
 Forest
 Saltwater
 Freshwater
 Ocean
 Desert
 Arctic
 Habitat
 Rainforest
 Wetland
 River
 Shelter
 Resource
 Population
 Shelter