Aquarius Lesson Plan
Focus
Grade Level
Focus Question
Underwater Sea Creatures
5th - Science
What are some producers/consumers/decomposers that
you might see if you lived/worked on Aquarius?
Learning Objectives:
NC State Objective and Goal Being Addressed:
Social Studies
1.01 Describe the absolute and relative location of
major landforms, bodies of water, and natural resources in
the United States and other countries of North America.
6.01 Explore the meaning of technology as it
encompasses discoveries from the first primitive tools to
today's personal computer.
6.02 Relate how certain technological discoveries have
changed the course of history and reflect on the broader
social and environmental changes that can occur from the
discovery of such technologies.
Science
1.01 Describe and compare several common ecosystems
(communities of organisms and their interaction with the
environment).
1.02 Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within
the population of the ecosystem:



Producers.
Consumers.
Decomposers.
1.03 Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of
organisms.
1.04 Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature,
and soil composition in an ecosystem's capacity to support
life.
1.05 Determine the interaction of organisms within an
ecosystem.
Language Arts
1.03 Increase reading and writing vocabulary through:



wide reading.
word study.
word reference materials.
Aquarius Lesson Plan







content area study.
writing process elements.
writing as a tool.
debate.
discussions.
seminars.
examining the author's craft.
1.04 Use word reference materials (e.g., glossary,
dictionary, thesaurus, online reference tools) to identify
and comprehend unknown words.
3.06 Conduct research (with assistance) from a variety of
sources for assigned or self-selected projects (e.g., print
and non-print texts, artifacts, people, libraries, databases,
computer networks).
4.02 Use oral and written language to:




formulate hypotheses.
evaluate information and ideas.
present and support arguments.
influence the thinking of others.
4.03 Make oral and written presentations to inform or
persuade selecting vocabulary for impact.
4.08 Focus revision on target elements by:




improving word choice.
rearranging text for clarity.
creating simple and/or complex sentences for
clarity or impact.
developing a lead, characters, or mood.
4.09 Produce work that follows the conventions of
particular genres (e.g., essay, feature story, business
letter).
4.10 Use technology as a tool to enhance and/or publish a
product.
5.01 Consistently use correct capitalization (e.g., names of
magazines, newspapers, organizations) and punctuation
(e.g., colon to introduce a list, commas in apposition,
commas used in compound sentences).
5.02 Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing
by using:
Aquarius Lesson Plan


troublesome verbs.
nominative, objective, and possessive pronouns.
5.03 Elaborate information and ideas in speaking and
writing by using:



prepositional phrases.
transitions.
coordinating and/or subordinating conjunctions.
5.04 Determine the impact of word choice on written and
spoken language.
5.05 Spell most commonly used words accurately using a
multi-strategy approach to the learning of new spellings.
5.06 Proofread for accuracy of spelling using appropriate
strategies to confirm spelling and to correct errors.
5.07 Edit final product for grammar, language conventions,
and format.
5.08 Create readable documents through legible
handwriting (cursive) and word processing.
Learner Objective(s): At the completion of this lesson,
students will be able to:
Tell anyone all about Aquarius (it’s significance, what takes
place there, etc.), as well as know all about the underwater
habitat that lives there.
Materials
Paper, Crayons, Tape, Pencil
Audio/Visual Materials
Active Board, Computers
Teaching Time
Seat Arrangement
2 days
Desks are in groups of 4 to allow students to share crayons
and other supplies, but work will be done in pairs
Technology, producer, consumer, decomposer, habitat,
Atlantic Ocean, Aquarius, scuba diving, ecosystem,
absolute/relative location
Students understand there are a variety of ecosystems,
and the ocean is one of them
Maximum Number of Students
Key Words
Background Information (Prior Knowledge)
Opening Activity
Ask the students how they would feel about living underwater
for 10 days, and then show them the Aquarius website on the
Active Board.
- Information about Aquarius http://aquarius.uncw.edu/about/
-Information about the coral reef
http://aquarius.uncw.edu/education/reef_information
Learning Procedure ( Activity)
In pairs that I will assign, students will create “Aquarius
Aquarius Lesson Plan
Connections to Other Subjects
Closing Activity and Assignment
Assessment
Other Links and Resources
Information Cubes.” They will cut and fold cardstock paper
to make a cube. Before taping the cube together, students
will draw on the cube. Students will research on the
computer information about producer, consumers, and
decomposers that they might see if they lived/worked on
Aquarius. On the cube, each student will draw 1 picture
on one side of the cube. They will also have 2 sides on
which they will write paragraphs of the information that
they found on the cube. Between the 2 students in each
pair, this will cover all 6 sides of the cube.
The paragraph writing and online research will connect to
English. Learning about the ocean and location of
Aquarius, as well as the technology of Aquarius, will
connect to Social Studies.
Each pair will be allowed to pass their cubes around the
room and present their information found.
Rubric - attached
http://aquarius.uncw.edu/
http://www.pennekamppark.com/