Introductory Lesson Plan Name: Michila Andersen Subject: Life Sciences 11 Theme: Classification Grade: 11 Materials: Ball of yarn Cards of animals in ecosystem Dichotomous keys (laminated, one for every pair of students) Student science journals Paper, markers, tape Bridge-in: (Who Am I?) 5 minutes The class will start with an introduction activity to get students active and engaged in the class topic. Give each student a square of paper (use small scraps of recycled paper). On it, each student has to write the name of an animal in large, readable print. After this, they need to switch pieces of paper with another student. Then, have them switch pieces of paper one more time. The goal is for students to switch papers so that they are unaware of what animal they have. Students will then pick up a piece of tape and tape the animal name on the nearest person. (If students know what animal they have, this activity will not work!) Students are not allowed to take off their piece of paper and look at their animal. But they must figure out what animal they are! They can walk around the room and ask the other students “Yes/No” questions only. For example: - Do I walk around on four legs? - Am I covered in fur? The person they have asked has to answer the question honestly. The goal for each student is to determine what animal they are. Transition: Once students have had a chance to play, have them return to their desks. Use this opportunity to discuss how this activity relates to classification and using a dichotomous key. Outcomes (Learning Outcomes): Big Ideas, Learning Standards, Curricular Competencies 1. Further student’s understanding of taxonomic principles 2. Demonstrate critical thinking while analyzing various environmental samples to classify organisms 3. Discuss, communicate, and share ideas effectively while trying to determine the appropriate classification of organism 4. Understanding the importance of relationships and types of relationships in various ecosystems 5. Understanding interrelationships between organisms and attaching learning to feelings of place 6. Connecting with nature and place and including First People’s Principles of Learning Pre-Assessment: Refresh on Using a Dichotomous Key 5 minutes Have students pair up or assign them partners. Give each pair a dichotomous key. On the board, draw one of the organisms that is present on the dichotomous key (or bring up an image on the projector). Have the students work in their groups to try and identify the organism. Once they believe they have identified it, have students raise their hands. This is an opportunity to check in and see how many students are familiar with using dichotomous keys. Participatory Learning: 20 mins Based on student level of understanding, demonstrate and provide a lesson on how to use the dichotomous key. Provide several more examples for students to practice. Have students grab necessary items and head outside to a nearby field or outdoor space. Each group of students should have with them: their dichotomous key, a clipboard, two pens, and their science journals. For the first five minutes, have students explore and choose an organism they want to classify (that is an option for the dichotomous keys you have provided). Once they have chosen, each student needs to draw their organism in their science journals. Write out any unique or defining characteristics that it has. Once they have completed this, they can work on identifying the species. Students should check in with the teacher and confirm their classification before moving on. Post-Assessment 10 minutes Once finished, students can answer the questions below in their science journals: 1. How was the beginning class activity (Who Am I?) related to using a dichotomous key? Explain your reasoning with specific examples from the game and the dichotomous key. 2. When you and your partner were discussing the classification, what did you do when there was a disagreement? How did you both display positive and constructive communication? 3. How can using a dichotomous key help scientists identify organisms? 4. Was there any part of the dichotomous key that you would change to make it easier to classify the organism? Why would you change this? Game The Web of Life 10 minutes The purpose of this game is to represent the interconnected relationships of organisms in an ecosystem. Dependent upon where you are teaching, the organisms can easily be changed to represent different food webs and ecosystems. Before the class, have the cards printed off and laminated. Punch a hole in each card and put a string around it (so the students can put it around their neck). (Alternatively, students can just choose one of the animals they found and identified in the ecosystem. But this would have less diversity of types of organisms). Have students arrange themselves into a large circle. The teacher will start out with the ball of yarn and provide instructions. The goal of this game is to identify the relationships between various organisms. You have to consider what organism you are labelled and what someone else is labelled. The person with the yarn ball will pass the ball to another person while explaining how they are related (example below). In order for this to work, each person MUST hold onto a piece of the string (and not let go of it after they throw the ball)! A mouse (first person) eats grass seeds (the second person). Then, the second person will throw the ball to a third person and identify a relationship between them. For example: The grass seeds (second person) sprout into grass (third person). The game is finished when every single person has a connection in the web. Quite often, several people will be connected more than once. At this point, it is a good visual representation of the complexity of ecosystem food webs. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The next part is optional but I like to do it to represent the importance of maintaining ecosystem health and diversity. I explain to students that fertilizer has leached into the nearby pond. The extra nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) have provided an abundance of food for the algae which has resulted in an expansive algal bloom. This abundance has decreased sunlight in the pond, resulting in the dying off of a local kelp forest. At this point, have any students that were labelled as “kelp” or “seaweed” drop their part of the string. (This should decrease the level of interconnectedness of the web). Due to the dying off of the kelp forest, there is limited oxygen in the pond. This results in the dying of zooplankton and aquatic microorganisms. Have students with either of these organisms drop their pieces of string. At this point, most of the web should be falling apart. This is a great opportunity to discuss the importance of all species in an ecosystem and the maintenance of species diversity.
