Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
Cacoo Diagrams and the Carbon Oxygen Cycle
In
A Special Education Earth Science Class
Big Idea: The atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere are constantly changing and these
changes have planet wide consequences.
Essential Question: How do plants and other organisms that capture carbon dioxide and release
oxygen cause atmospheric changes?
Performance Task: To demonstrate an understanding of the flow of Carbon and Oxygen into
and out of the atmosphere students should be able to construct a diagram demonstrating the
biological, non-biological, and human factors that create and affect this cycle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------California State Earth Science Standards:
Bio-geochemical Cycles 7. Each element on Earth moves among reservoirs, which exist in the solid
earth, in oceans, in the atmosphere, and within and among organisms as part of biogeochemical
cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept: a. Students know the carbon cycle of photosynthesis
and respiration and the nitrogen cycle. b. Students know the global carbon cycle: the different physical
and chemical forms of carbon in the atmosphere, oceans, biomass, fossil fuels, and the movement of
carbon among these reservoirs
ISTE NETS for Students:
1. Creativity and Innovation: Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge,
and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students a)apply existing
knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b) create original works as a means of
personal or group expression
2. Communication and Collaboration: Students use digital media and environments to
communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning
and contribute to the learning of others. Students: a) interact, collaborate, and publish with peers,
experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.
3. Research and Information Fluency: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use
information. Students: a) plan strategies to guide inquiry. b) Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate,
synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media.
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making: Students use critical thinking
skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed
decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: b) plan and manage activities to
develop a solution or complete a project.
5. Digital Citizenship: Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to
technology and practice legal and ethical behavior. Students: a) advocate and practice safe,
legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
Grade Level: 9-12
Lesson Objective(s): Students will demonstrate an understanding of the Carbon/Oxygen cycle
by completing the following tasks; Students will use internet search engines to research the
carbon and oxygen cycle. Students will properly document the sources of their information.
Students will use “Cacoo” to create a diagram explaining the stages of biotic and abiotic factors
involved in the cycle including those factors created or influenced by human actions. Students
will then use the internet to search for pictures that represent each of those factors and add them
to the diagram. Again, students will properly document their sources.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Teacher Notes:
Materials;
Computer Lab with internet, preferably one computer per student though they will be
collaborating in pairs. Be sure to arrange with the technology teacher your needs in advance so
that they may make sure the computers are ready and they are prepared to provide instruction
and assistance to the students. Students will also need access to an e-mail account or a Dropbox
for their completed assignments.
Announce to the students: When we have worked in the library, the librarian has given you
instructions and explained what resources are available and how to use them as well as providing
direct assistance with your research. For this activity we will be using the computer. Our
Technology teacher will introduce you to the use of the computer and lead you through the steps
you will need to follow to access the programs we will be using. These will include internet
search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing, as well as the main program “Cacoo” which
he/she will guide you through the steps to follow in creating a Cacoo account. Students may also
need instruction in how to create, save, and attach an MSWord document to an e-mail or do put it
into your Dropbox depending on your preference.
Brief the student on the task before turning the class over to the technology teacher.
Instruct students that they are to use the internet to research for the carbon/oxygen cycle and
make a diagram of the cycle using the program “Cacoo.” They will be working in pairs to access
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
the information and assemble it. One possibility is to have one student work on researching the
information and creating the flow chart while the other student, in communication with the first,
looks for appropriate pictures. Cacoo provides for students to send messages to each other.
Remind students that they need to save the URLs of their resources in an MSWord document as
well as a screen shot of their completed diagram. (A Google document would be preferred if
possible as they then could collaborate on one document while collecting their notes.)
The technology teacher will need to show the students how to open up an internet
browser and use a search engine. More importantly, the students will need to be shown how to
open Cacoo, create an account, and set it up to collaborate with their partner (they should also
have it set to share with the teacher). They will also need to be shown some of the basic
commands to help get them started and how to take a screenshot of their completed diagram.
*With lower classes you might want to provide a list of essential vocabulary words they
will need to research and include within their diagrams. You may also want to provide some
websites to help them get started finding relevant information.
**An option for classes that struggle with basic skills would be to create the steps for the
carbon/oxygen cycle in a Cacoo diagram but have them placed randomly on the page. The
students would then be responsible for correctly arranging the steps of the cycle and providing
appropriate pictures to accompany the steps.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
Diagramming the Carbon/Oxygen Cycle
Student Instructions:
Oxygen is essential to most living things on Earth including plants. Plants themselves
release the oxygen we breathe and have in large part created the atmosphere we live within on
Earth. The oxygen we breathe in exits our bodies as Carbon Dioxide, something that is also
essential to plants. You may have heard about “Climate Change” or “Global Warming” and the
concern over carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
One of the things you need to think about is how do people influence the amount of
carbon dioxide in the air.
The movement of Carbon and Oxygen into and out of the atmosphere is of major
importance to all life on Earth.
Your task is to use various search engines on the internet to research the Carbon/Oxygen
cycle and identify how and what is responsible for their moving into and out of the atmosphere.
Be sure to document the sources you find.
Note: Open an MSWord document to save your research and document your sources. (If
they have a Google account, a Google document would be even better as they could collaborate
on a single document.)
After you have identified the steps, create a ‘flow-chart’ to diagram what happens. Use
arrows and boxes to show the direction of movement for each and then add text to briefly explain
why it is happening.
Using Cacoo you can each work together on different steps and then connect them. After
you have created your diagram with arrows, boxes, and text, look for pictures on the internet to
represent each of the steps on your diagram. Several pictures for each step would be even better.
Again, be sure to document the sources you find.
After you have completed your diagram, take a screenshot of your diagram and paste it
into your MSWord document. Check to make sure you have provided citations for your research
and pictures. Save your document and then follow the directions you were given to ‘deliver’ your
document to the teacher. Include a link to your Cacoo diagram and make sure you have ‘shared’
it with your teacher.
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
Sample Vocabulary List
Abiotic
Biotic
Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Carbonate
Carnivore
Cars
Coal
Combustion
Decomposition
Factory
Fossil Fuels
Green Plants
Limestone
Oil
Oxygen
Photosynthesis
Phytoplankton
Power Plant
Respiration
Vegetarian
Volcanoes
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
Scientific
Drawings :
Carbon/Oxygen
Cycle
Teacher Name: Craig Richardson
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
4
3
2
1
Labels
Every item that
needs to be
identified has a
label. It is clear
which label goes
with which
structure.
Almost all items
(90%) that need to
be identified have
labels. It is clear
which label goes
with which
structure.
Most items (75-89%)
that need to be
identified have labels.
It is clear which label
goes with which
structure.
Less than 75% of the
items that need to be
identified have labels
OR it is not clear which
label goes with each
item.
Pictures
All steps have an
appropriate picture.
Almost all steps at
least 85%) have an
appropriate picture.
Less than 50% of
steps have an
appropriate picture.
There are no or almost
no appropriate
pictures.
References
References appear
complete and are
clearly identified.
References are
mostly complete,
identification is
mostly clear.
References are
incomplete and/or
not identified.
References are missing.
Content
Contains more than
the minimum
components
Contains only the
minimum
components
(Photosynthesis and
Respiration)
Has some
components but does
not reach the
minimum
Has no relevant
components
Date Created: Feb 06, 2014 05:51 pm (CST)
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
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Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
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Craig Richardson: Collaborative Lesson
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