Online Resources
- Name/Title of the resource: Investigating Local Ecosystems
- URL: http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/investigating-local-ecosystems/
- How you found it: searched "ecosystems" on the Science net links website
- How you might use it in your final project: This has many questions that would be good to use in order to get y students interested in the topic of ecosystems. The questions can help them figure out what an ecosystem is and what is in one.
- What standards does the resource address:3-LS4-3 Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
- Name/Title of the resource: Vocabulary Dominos
- URL: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Dominoes-Environment-Unit-61965
- How you found it: I searched "ecosystems" on Teachers pay teachers
- How you might use it in your final project: These cards would work as a great study tool for students to use while learning the vocabulary for the ecosystem unit. They can work on their own or in partners in order to hone in their defining and linking skills.
- What standards does the resource address: 3-LS2-1 Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
- Name/Title of the resource: New Report Available on Ecosystems and Climate Change
- URL: http://www.esa.org/esablog/ecology-in-the-news/news-events/new-report-available-on-ecosystems-and-climate-change/
- How you found it: While searching for blogs for my PLN I found this environmental blog and decided it would be a good place to find a scientific entry about ecosystems.
- How you might use it in your final project: I would use this as a factual reference as to what can happen when the climate in an ecosystem changes.
- What standards does the resource address: 3-LS4-4 Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.
Hey Janet, I am posting my feedback below! I think we are good to pair up because we have very similar ideas :)
ReplyDeleteOkay, so your first source is cool because even though you are doing lower elementary and I am doing junior high, there are a lot of similarities! I am doing an ecosystem investigation, and I plan to get my students outside into their school ground ecosystems to make observations. It seems like your source is credible, since science net is managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science which is a non-profit organization. The lesson plan you have chosen is also linked to specific national science standards which is always a good sign! One thing that I notice is that the standard you picked out asks students to argue why specific organisms survive well in some habitats but not others, and I’m not sure the lesson plan idea from science links really addresses this. Since this is a lesson plan idea—which my sources are too—there are not any barriers to student accessibility.
The second source from Teachers Pay Teachers seems to have gotten great ratings—3.8/4. The teacher who uploaded the idea also has an overall rating of 3.9/4. I have never used Teachers Pay Teachers before, but my cousin who is a second grade teacher uses it quite a bit. I am just skeptical that the site is basically a marketplace for teachers to sell things. Most of the reviews gave very positive feedback with only a few saying that the definitions were confusing or that the cards didn’t turn out well. However, I don’t see anywhere that the teacher has linked the activity to standards or suggested a possible way to use it productively in the classroom. Would you use it at the beginning of the unit to see what they know? Or as a sort of formative assessment? Another thing I see is that the intended age level for the vocabulary dominos is 3rd-6th but the age for the first lesson plan is K-2. I am curious which age level you are designing your lesson for and whether you think both sources could work for the same developmental age? In terms of accessibility, I am curious how big the words would be printed on the cards. Also, if you have students who struggle with fine motor skills it might be easier to laminate the flash cards or put them on blocks or Styrofoam to be easier to manipulate.
The Ecological Society of America looks like a credible source; it is a nonprofit designed wholly for scientific and educational purposes. The ESA also runs workshops for educators and releases several publications including Ecology. The specific blog post seems like it is a written at a good level for educators. Are you planning to just use it to read up on yourself before teaching this unit? Because the reading level is well above the elementary level. Another thing is that the blog post claims to present a “new report,” but it was written in 2008. There are probably more recent pieces of information that would be easy to find, and that way you could talk about recent events or the recent status of various ecosystems.