Introduction to Life Cycles

Transcription

1 Introduction to Life Cycles How do we effect the cycles of living and non-living things? Carolina Teuscher Columbus Elementary School New Rochelle, NY GRADE 1 SCIENCE WASTE: Product Life Cycles These two lessons introduce students to cycles, and that all living things and products have cycles. These lessons support the teaching of sustainability, with the big idea being that our actions have consequences, in conjunction with the teaching of objects and their properties, as well as seasonal changes. A Project-Based Learning Unit Children s Environmental Literacy Foundation PO Box 412 Chappaqua, NY For more information, contact us at info@celfeducation.org.

2 Introduction to Life Cycles A Grade 1 Interdisciplinary Carolina Teuscher, Columbus Elementary School, NY CELF Summer Institute UNIT/LESSON SUMMARY These two will introduce first graders to cycles, and that all living things and products have cycles. These lessons will support the teaching of sustainability, with the big idea being that our actions have consequences, in conjunction with the teaching of objects and their properties, as well as seasonal changes. These lessons would be taught after having visited an apple orchard and having covered the idea of their actions having consequences in the classroom. The lessons to follow will have the students take a look at what they are eating for snack, thinking specifically about the product cycles of what they are eating, and thinking about how their actions can affect those cycles. They will begin to think about which may be healthy snacks, as well as look at the waste they are producing and understanding that there is no away, always referring back to the big idea that their actions have consequences, good and/or bad. They will also begin to explore animal and plant life cycles throughout the school year. Stage 1 - Desired Results Established Goals: NY State Science Standards: -Science Standard 1- Analysis, Inquiry and Design- students will use scientific inquiry to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions. -Science Standard 6- Interconnectedness: Common Themes- Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning. -Science Standard 7- Interdisciplinary Problem Solving- Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions. United States Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development 2.1 Interconnectedness, Relationships Economic Systems, Human Needs and Wants Social and Cultural Systems Next Generation Science Standards 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. 2-LS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow. CELF UbD Template adapted from "The Big Ideas of UbD by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,

3 Essential Questions: What is a life cycle? What is the life cycle of an apple? How do we affect life cycles? Outcomes Enduring Understandings: Every living thing has a cycle. Cycles can Vary We can affect life cycles Students will know what a cycle is the cycle of an apple that their actions can affect cycles Students will be able to explain a life cycle create a life cycle for an apple begin to think about how we affect cycles Performance Tasks: Stage 2 Assessment Evidence I. The students will create and share the life cycle of an apple. II. The students will identify one factor that could affect the life cycle of an apple. Stage 3 Learning Plan Learning Activities: I. Upon returning from an apple orchard field trip with our freshly picked apples, we will begin to think about where the apples came from? How did they grow? What do they need to grow? Through our conversation, I will create and model the life cycle of an apple on the smartboard. II. The students will partner up and be given the attached pictures to create a life cycle of their apple on a large piece of construction paper. It will be called MY ORCHARD APPLE. They will be instructed to use a red marker to show/mark each arrow/step in the cycle. III. The students will be encouraged to think about, and then add, any other pieces to the life cycle, such as the sun, farmer and/or any other parts to the cycle that they feel might be necessary for the apple to have grown on the tree that they ended up picking. IV. The students will then share their MY ORCHARD APPLE cycle maps with the class, explaining what a life cycle is. V. In groups of 3, the students will explore the idea if they could change the life cycle of an apple? Does the life cycle have to happen in a certain sequence? What about an apple we buy in the supermarket, how would the life cycle of that apple be the same or different? What would we have to add to the cycle? What information does a life cycle give us? How do we affect life cycles? VI. The class will then brainstorm other living things that have a life cycle, concluding that all living things have life cycles. CELF UbD Template adapted from "The Big Ideas of UbD by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,

4 Life Cycles B Grade 1 Interdisciplinary Carolina Teuscher, Columbus Elementary School, NY CELF Summer Institute UNIT/LESSON SUMMARY The lessons to follow will have the students take a look at what they are eating for snack, thinking specifically about the product cycles of what they are eating, and thinking about how their actions can affect those cycles. They will begin to think about which may be healthy snacks, as well as look at the waste they are producing and understanding that there is no away, always referring back to the big idea that their actions have consequences, good and/or bad. They will also begin to explore animal and plant life cycles throughout the school year. Stage 1 - Desired Results Established Goals: NY State Science Standards: Science Standard 1: Analysis, Inquiry and Design- students will use scientific inquiry to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions. Science Standard 6- Interconnectedness: Common Themes- Students will understand the relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning. Science Standard 7- Interdisciplinary Problem Solving- Students will apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions. US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development 2.1 Interconnectedness, Relationships Economic Systems, Human Needs and Wants Social and Cultural Systems Outcomes Enduring Understandings: Essential Questions: What is a product cycle? Every Product has a cycle What is the product cycle of an apple granola Product cycles vary bar? Product cycles give us useful information that Does it matter what we choose to eat? Is we can use to make choices choosing an apple the same as choosing an apple granola bar? Students will know Students will be able to what is meant by a product cycle? the product cycle of an apple granola bar that product cycles give us useful information to make choices create an apple granola bar product cycle discuss the differences between the product cycle of an apple and an apple granola bar. use the product cycles to think about their choices and take action. CELF UbD Template adapted from "The Big Ideas of UbD by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,

5 Stage 2 Assessment Evidence Performance Tasks: I. The students will build the product cycle of an apple granola bar bought at a supermarket. II. The students will compare and contrast the two product cycles they have created, verbally sharing with their classmates what they noticed and what information these product cycles give us. Learning Activities: Stage 3 Learning Plan I. Connect to prior knowledge- Talk about the life cycle they created the day before of the orchard apple. What is a life cycle? What did they discover from creating the life cycle of an apple? What are other things that would have a life cycle? II. The students will each be given a product, an apple granola bar. Is there a product cycle to the granola bar? Where did the apple granola bar come from? The students will brainstorm as a class what the product cycle of the apple granola bar might look like. Will any of the steps in the life cycle for the apple be in this cycle? How will it look the same/different? Look at the packaging. Look at the ingredients. Where did the ingredients come from? Did they all come from the same place? How did it get to the supermarket? III. The students will then partner up and have to build a product cycle for the SUPERMARKET APPLE GRANOLA BAR. Again, they will get a piece of construction paper, the same pictures used the day before, and they will have to add the necessary steps (trucks, machinery, gas), as well as show/mark each arrow/step in the cycle with a red marker. IV. The students will then compare and contrast the two cycles they have created. They will discuss the difference between a life cycle and a product cycle. There will hopefully be a lot of red arrows on the apple granola bar and the least amount on the orchard apple, and they will discuss what those red arrows are. Are those red arrows good? How can a product cycle be better? What can we do? What actions can we take? Which food, apple or apple granola bar, is better to eat and why? CELF UbD Template adapted from "The Big Ideas of UbD by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe,