Summer Himes
Butler/fall 2007
Profile Sheet
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Science
Language Arts
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
After receiving a letter from a local environmental group, Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle
Oberst has requested our help in building an animal friendly habitat. Students will assume the
role of Ecologists, with Growing Green Industries. Students will either be specialized in plant
ecology or animal ecology. It has come to the mayors’ attention that with all of the current
neighborhoods being constructed in the Panama City Beach area animals no longer have a safe,
natural habitat in which to dwell. Up to this point, attempts to create safe, natural habitats have
failed due to the record high temperatures. Growing Green Industries has been given the task of
designing and producing a habitat that will survive in Panama City Beach, Florida while
attracting different types of animals.
Teacher:
Grade Level:
Summer Himes
4th Grade
Adaptations for students from a non-Western culture:
Include materials that compare Florida’s climate and conditions (type of soil, average rainfall,
ect.) to the student’s native climate and conditions.
Use instructional techniques and classroom activities consistent with student’s culture.
Invite parents of students from a non-Western culture to speak to students about habitats from
their native land.
Adaptations for ESOL students:
Allow students to write in first language when creating visual aids.
Include resources in student’s first language.
Display in the classroom and label pictures, in student’s first language, of plants and animals
students will use in the habitat.
Allow students to type out their journal on a disk in their first language and then use a translating
program to translate their journal to English.
Title, Learner Characteristics, and Sunshine State Standards
Teacher:
Title:
Primary Subject Area:
Outside Subject Area:
Grade Level:
Summer Himes
Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Science
Language Arts
4th Grade
Primary Sunshine State Standards:
SC.G.1.2.1: Knows ways that plants, animals, and protists interact.
SC.G.1.2.3: Knows that green plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight energy to turn
minerals and nutrients
into food for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.
SC.G.1.2.5: Knows that animals eat plants or other animals to acquire the energy they need for
survival.
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards:
LA.A.2.2.5: Reads and organizes information for a variety of purposes, including making a
report, conducting
interviews, taking a test, and performing an authentic task.
Learner Characteristics of Elementary Grades:
Physical: Obesity can become a problem for some children of this age group.
Justification: Snowman and Biehler point out that at this age, 9 and 10 year olds, have more
control over their eating habits and tend to overeat and when paired with little physical activity
can cause children to become overweight. Since a majority of animals are not overweight,
creating a habitat will teach students about eating for the purpose of gaining energy to survive
not eating for pleasure. Creating a habitat will also give unathletic students a physical activity
they can participate in.
Social: The peer group becomes powerful and begins to replace adults as the major source of
behavior standards
and recognition of achievement.
Justification: Snowman and Biehler state that 9 and 10 year olds are at the age where they are
“more interested in getting along with one another without supervision” (79). Therefore,
creating a habitat will give students a chance to work in groups independently from their teacher
and it will put students in charge of their own achievements.
Emotional: During this period, children develop a more global, integrated, and complex selfimage.
Justification: Because this project will require group work, competition and individualism will
not be a factor. Working together will give all students the chance to equally participate
eliminating the need for comparing themselves to one another.
Emotional: Disruptive family relationships, social rejection, and school failure may lead to
delinquent behavior.
Justification: Creating a habitat will give students with a dysfunctional home life a chance to
interact with other students in a positive way. Working together can promote a sense of
belonging and interest. With the feelings of belonging and interest comes a more motivated
student.
Cognitive: The elementary grade child can think logically, although such thinking is constrained
and inconsistent.
Justification: Creating a habitat will give these logical thinkers a concrete experience. Creating
their own concrete experience will help students think in a more general and abstract way.
Learning Outcomes, Student Role & Problem Situation,
Meet the Problem Method
Title: Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Teacher: Summer Himes
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.G.1.2.1: Knows ways that plants, animals, and protists interact.
LO #1: After researching the web and interviewing (by phone) an ecologist and local nursery
worker, student groups will accurately choose three types of plants that will survive in Florida
and attract at least 2 different types of animals. –Evaluation
SC.G.1.2.3: Knows that green plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight energy to turn
minerals and nutrients into food for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.
LO#2: After reading and discussing the magazine article and Meet the Problem document,
student groups will generate 3 accurate to add to the Know/Need to Know board related to the
survival of plants. –Synthesis
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
LA.A.2.2.5: Reads and organizes information for a variety of purposes, including making a
report, conducting interviews, taking a test, and performing an authentic task.
LO#3: After reading related articles, course materials, and problem materials, students will
organize the material to separate facts from inferences and knows from unknowns, creating an
accurate Know/Need to Know board with 5 items in each category. –Analysis
Description of Student Roles and Problem Situation:
After receiving a letter from a local environmental group, Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle
Oberst has requested our help in building an animal friendly habitat. Students will assume the
role of Ecologists, with Growing Green Industries. Students will either be specialized in plant
ecology or animal ecology. It has come to the mayors’ attention that with all of the current
neighborhoods being constructed in the Panama City Beach area animals no longer have a safe,
natural habitat in which to dwell. Up to this point, attempts to create safe, natural habitats have
failed due to the record high temperatures. Growing Green Industries has been given the task of
designing and producing a habitat that will survive in Panama City Beach, Florida while
attracting different types of animals.
Meet the Problem Document:
-Letter from Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle Oberst
-Copy of letter from local environmental group
Mayor Gayle Oberst
3100 Hwy 79
Panama City Beach, FL 32413
850-230-7777
September 10, 2007
Growing Green Industries
67 Evergreen Lane
Panama City Beach, FL 32413
After receiving a letter from Edgar Treestump, President of The Grass is Greener Environmental
Group; it has come to my attention that Panama City Beach is lacking a safe, natural habitat for
native animals to live. This unfortunate event is occurring due to the large number of housing
developments being built in the area. Because the animals now have no where safe to live they
are becoming a danger to the growing people population on the beach. The Grass is Greener
Environmental Group has attempted to create a safe, natural habitat for the animals, but, their
efforts have failed due to the record high temperatures we have been experiencing. The Grass is
Greener Environmental Group has recommended Growing Green Industries to create a safe,
natural habitat that can survive in this area and will attract different types of animals.
The City of Panama City Beach would like to hire Growing Green Industries to create a safe,
natural habitat that will attract several different types of animals. The grant we have secured
requires the project be started by September 28, 2007 and must be completed by November 30,
2007.
Thank you,
Gayle Oberst, Mayor
The Grass is Greener Environmental Group
1717 Green Grass Road
Panama City Beach, FL 32413
850-230-1234
President- Edgar Treestump
July 10, 2007
Mayor Gayle Oberst
3100 Hwy 79
Panama City Beach, FL 32413
Mayor Oberst,
As President of The Grass is Greener Environmental Group I feel I need to inform you of a
serious problem involving Panama City Beach. Due to all of the new housing developments
being built, natural habitats are being destroyed and animals no longer have a safe place to dwell.
In the past two weeks alone we have received over thirty recorded phones calls from concerned
citizens of these homeless animals being in the roadways and in backyards, creating dangerous
situations for both people and the animals. The Grass is Greener Environmental Group has
attempted to create a safe, natural habitat to attract the different types of homeless animals but all
of our efforts have failed. Due to the recently record high temperatures our plants have been
unable to survive making it an impossible habitat for animals. We have a group of local
ecologist that I believe can help solve our problem. Please consider contacting Growing Green
Industries to design and produce a safe, natural habitat that will attract different types of animals.
Thank you,
Edgar Treestump
Problem Statement, Know/Need to Know Boards, and Possible Resources
Title: Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Teacher: Summer Himes
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.G.1.2.1: Knows ways that plants, animals, and protists interact.
LO #1: After researching the web and interviewing (by phone) an ecologist and local nursery
worker, student groups will accurately choose three types of plants that will survive in Florida
and attract at least 2 different types of animals.
SC.G.1.2.3: Knows that green plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight energy to turn
minerals and nutrients into food for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.
LO#2: After reading and discussing the magazine article and Meet the Problem document,
student groups will generate 3 accurate to add to the Know/Need to Know board related to the
survival of plants.
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
LA.A.2.2.5: Reads and organizes information for a variety of purposes, including making a
report, conducting interviews, taking a test, and performing an authentic task.
LO#3: After reading related articles, course materials, and problem materials, students will
organize the material to separate facts from inferences and knows from unknowns, creating an
accurate Know/Need to Know board with 5 items in each category.
Problem Statement:
How can we, as Ecologist, create a habitat in such a way that
-The habitat can survive the high temperatures in Florida.
-Several different types of animals are attracted to the habitat.
-The habitat is safe and natural, no chemicals are used.
-We stay within our budget.
Know/Need to Know:
Know
Recent high record temperatures
Neighborhoods being built
Animals no longer have safe, natural habitat
Recent attempts to create habitats have failed
Must design and produce a habitat
Habitat must attract different types of animals
Environmentalist introduced problem to the mayor
Need to Know
How high are the record high temperatures?
What are the average lows?
What are the average highs?
How long do the high temperatures last?
How long do the low temperatures last?
What type of soil will be in the habitat?
What is the average rainfall per year?
What kind of plants can be used in this climate?
What types of animals is indigenousness to Florida?
What type of animals do we want to attract?
How many hours of sunlight will the habitat receive each day?
What is the budget?
How much space will be used to create the habitat?
How much space will be needed?
Possible Resources
Course material- Science Textbook
Phone Interview- Nora Underwood, Ecologist with FSU, 850-644-4167
Dr. Alice Winn, Ecologist with FSU, 850-644-9833
Magazine articles- Horticultural Magazine
The Ecologist
Meet the Problem Document- Letter from Mayor
Letter from local environmental group
Web research- www.epa.gov
www.iwrc-online.org
www.floridasmart.com
www.qacps.k12.md.us
Capstone Performance
Title: Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Teacher: Summer Himes
Primary Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
SC.G.1.2.1: Knows ways that plants, animals, and protists interact.
LO #1: After researching the web and interviewing (by phone) an ecologist and local nursery
worker, student groups will accurately choose three types of plants that will survive in Florida
and attract at least 2 different types of animals.
SC.G.1.2.3: Knows that green plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight energy to turn
minerals and nutrients into food for growth, maintenance, and reproduction.
LO#2: After reading and discussing the magazine article and Meet the Problem document,
student groups will generate 3 accurate facts to add to the Know/Need to Know board related to
the survival of plants.
Outside Subject Area Sunshine State Standards with Learning Outcomes:
LA.A.2.2.5: Reads and organizes information for a variety of purposes, including making a
report, conducting interviews, taking a test, and performing an authentic task.
LO#3: After reading related articles, course materials, and problem materials, students will
organize the material to separate facts from inferences and knowns from unknowns, creating an
accurate Know/Need to Know board with 5 items in each category.
Capstone Performance Description
The PBL Problem: How can we as ecologists, develop a plan for an appropriate outdoor
habitat for presentation to the City Council and citizens of Panama City Beach by October 20,
2007?
How Students Will Share the Solution to the Problem: Students will play the roles of either
a plant ecologist or animal ecologist with Growing Green Industries. In character they will
present their plan of creating an appropriate habitat as well as introduce two other possible
solutions to the problem. The students must decide the best way to present their solutions.
Components must be oral and visual. Components may include sketches or pictures of plants or
perceived final product, charts or graphs comparing costs of different solutions, power point
listing pros and cons of each solution, etc. Students will be given two weeks to put together a ten
to fifteen minute, per group, presentation.
Individual grades will be based on individual assignments given within the group, oral
presentation, appropriateness of dress, and a documentation notebook each student will be
required to maintain. The presentation must include at least three types of plants to be included
in the group’s habitat and an explanation of why they chose the plants they did and of what types
of animals the plants will attract. Students will also be required to state at least five known facts
and expose five unknown facts they have gathered from their resources. The presentation must
also include students presenting two alternate solutions to creating a habitat and then provide
four justifications for choosing one alternate solution over the other.
The audience will include the other fourth grade class and they will be invited to act as
the city council and citizens of Panama City Beach. The roles of Mayor Gayle Oberst and Edgar
Treestump have a few spoken lines in order to start the meeting. The roles may be played by
students or adult volunteers.
The classroom will be set-up to resemble the room where the Panama City Beach Council
conducts their meetings. A table will be placed in the front of the room seating the mayor and
five council members. The table will be covered with a solid colored table cloth that reaches the
floor. Microphones will be placed in front of the mayor and each council member. Directly in
front of the table space will be left for students to carry out their presentations. Beyond the
presentation space, facing the table, chairs will be placed to seat the citizens. Chairs will be
placed in two sections, leaving a walkway down the middle. At the beginning of the walkway a
podium with microphone will be placed. When presenting their solutions to the mayor, council,
and citizens of Panama City Beach, students will be required to dress in a professional manner.
Based on the economic status of the school casual business attire will be accepted (dress pants or
skirt, polo or button-up shirt or blouse).
Rubric for Assessing the Capstone Performance
Criteria
Superior
Adequate
Unacceptable
Documentation
Notebook
50
Student records 3 types
of plants that will
survive in Florida and
lists at least two types
of animals the plants
will attract.
35
Student records only 2
types of plants that will
survive in Florida or lists
only 1 type of animal the
plants will attract.
Resubmit
Student records only
one type of plant that
will survive in Florida or
does not list any type of
animal the plants will
attract or information
OR
Source is not recorded
or valid.
OR
Know/Need to Know
board has 3 or fewer
items listed per
category.
OR
Summary of unit focus
is not included.
Student identifies at
least 3 valid sources of
information.
Know/Need to Know
board has at least 5
items in the Know
category and at least 5
items in the Need to
Know category.
Summary of the unit
focus is written and
includes: ways plants,
animals, and protists
interact; a description
of how plants grow,
what they need for
maintenance, and how
they reproduce.
Oral Presentation
25
Presentation includes
student role being
played; a description of
the role being played; a
clear solution to the
problem which includes
the cost of the solution,
3 types of plants to be
included in the habitat
and why they were
chosen, 2 total types of
animals the plants will
attract; and provides 2
Student identifies only 2
valid sources of
information.
Know/Need to Know
Board has only 4 items
per category.
Summary of unit focus
does not include a
description of the ways
plants, animals, and
protist interact or does
not include a description
of how plants grow,
what they need for
maintenance, and how
they reproduce.
15
Role being played by
student is identified but
the description of the
role is unclear and the
solution to the problem
is unclear.
The solution of the
problem does not
include the cost.
The solution contains
only 2 types of plants or
0
Presentation does not
include the part student
is playing or a solution
for the problem.
OR
The solution contains
less than 2 types of
plants or does not
include any type of
animal.
OR
No alternative solutions
are presented.
alternate solutions with
4 justifications of
choosing one solution
over the other.
Speech is clear (not to
soft or fast) and free of
grammatical errors.
Student looks at the
audience through 85%
of the presentation.
Visual Aids
15
Student creates a
visually appealing
(colorful, easy to read),
relevant visual aids that
do not become the
main focus of the
presentation.
Visual aids are
introduced at the
appropriate time in the
presentation.
Visual aids include
pictures of the plants to
be included in the
habitat and a drawing
of the perceived final
product.
Appearance
*Students needing required
clothing for the
presentation must inform
the teacher at least two
weeks in advance so that
10
Student is dressed for
part in casual business
attire (polo or buttonup shirt or blouse and
dress pants or skirt).
1 type of animal.
Only 1 alternative
solution or less than 4
justifications are
presented.
Speech is clear in
portions of the
presentation and 1-3
grammatical errors are
made.
Student looks at the
audience through 8469% of the presentation.
8
Visual aids are not
visually appealing, do
not relate to the
presentation or are the
main focus of the
presentation.
Visual aids are presented
at inappropriate times
during the presentation
(before it is needed or
after the student has
already covered the
material in which the
visual aid is used to
reinforce).
OR
Speech is unclear.
OR
More than 3
grammatical errors are
made during the
presentation.
OR
Student looks at
audience less than 69%
of the presentation.
Resubmit
Visual aids are not used
during the presentation.
OR
Visual aids are not
legible.
OR
Visual aids do not
include pictures of the
plants to be included in
the habitat or a drawing
of the perceived final
product.
Visual aids include either
pictures of the plants to
be included in the
habitat or a drawing of
the perceived final
product but not both.
7
Student is lacking either
required top or required
bottoms.
0
Student is not wearing
required top or
bottoms.
the teacher can arrange
getting the required
through the school’s parent
advocate.
Score Conversion
100-81
A
80-61
B
60-41
C
40-21
D
20-0
F
Two Alternative Solutions and “Best” Solution Analysis
Title: Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Teacher: Summer Himes
Problem Statement:
How can we, as Ecologist, create a habitat in such a way that
-The habitat can survive the high temperatures in Florida.
-Several different types of animals are attracted to the habitat.
-The habitat is safe and natural, no chemicals are used.
-We stay within our budget.
Alternative Solutions
One possible solution is land that has not been built on be used as the natural habitat.
Growing Green Industries would then transport animals to the designated land.
Pros
Plants on the designated land survive the
Florida heat.
Cons
Plants may not be attractive to animals.
Land will not need a lot of landscaping.
Because the land has not been utilized, the land
and plants will have no residual chemicals to
harm the animals.
Money will be saved because few plants will
need to be bought and planted.
Land has to be available.
It will be a time consuming task to locate and
transport animals to a new location.
There is no way to ensure the animals will stay
on the designated land.
Consequences:
If land is not donated, the project will be way over budget.
Since there is no way to ensure the animals stay on the designated land there is no way to
know if the solution will feasible or make things any safer for the animals or people.
A second possible solution is all new neighborhoods being built will need to reserve a
minimum of 15 acres within the development for the animals.
Pros
Cons
Developers will have to eat the cost of
People may disturb and frighten the animals
maintaining the animal habitats.
because they are living so close together.
Growing Green Industries will be the company Chemical residue will abound where houses
developers hire for creating and maintaining
are being built, cars are driving, and people are
the required habitat.
spraying there yards for bugs and weeds.
The undeveloped land will already have plants Developers may not have an extra 15 acres of
on it that will survive in the Florida heat.
land to spare within the neighborhood.
The undeveloped land will already be attractive Having the developers pay for the habitat
to different types of animals.
themselves will keep them from building
needed housing
Consequences:
Developers will not want to use their land for animal habitats so they will not build the needed
housing.
Neither animals nor people will be any safer using this solution. People will frighten the animals
and they will run into the streets or backyards and frightening the people.
Of the two solutions I feel that designating land that has not been built on is the better
solution. Chances are good that land will be donated for the habitat in exchange for a large tax
write off or other perk. Creating a large habitat for animals away from neighborhoods will keep
both the animals and people safer. The animals will have less chance of being frightened and
running out in front of a car or hurting themselves trying to escape people. People will feel safer
if their neighborhoods are free of nondomesticated animals. Not everyone loves nature and
wants to commune with it. If animals feel safe in their environment they will be unlikely to
leave it. Chances are good that the animals transported to the designated land will remain there.
If we continue to build neighborhoods and do not have a place for animals to live, what will
happen to the animals and how will that affect us?
Debriefing Plan and Coaching Questions
Title: Students Create an Appropriate Outdoor Habitat
Teacher: Summer Himes
Review of Student Generated Solutions:
Student groups will present their solutions orally to the city council and citizens of
Panama City Beach (roles played by other fourth grade class) during a mock city council
meeting. Each group will present their presentations for everyone to hear.
Rating of Solutions:
Students will be asked to rate each presentation using a rating sheet. Groups can earn up
to two points per category. No points are given if the category is not covered, one point is given
if the category covered is unclear, and two points will be awarded if the category topic is clearly
understood. Students will then have a chance to rate the solutions presented. For instance, if
there are five groups the student will award a five to the solution they feel is best, a four to the
solution they feel is the next best and down to one point for the solution they feel will work the
least. The rating sheets will be tallied and the group with the highest score will have the “best”
solution. See example rating sheet below.
Rating Sheet
Group 1
Give a score of 0, 1, or 2 for each category.
0- category was not explained in presentation
1- category was not explained well
2- category was explained well
1. Student group explains roles being played.
2. Student group explains problem.
3. Solution is clearly presented.
4. Solution includes reasons for presented plan.
5. Cons of the plan are presented.
6. Consequences of the plan are described.
______
______
______
______
______
______
Compare this solution to all the other solutions presented. Rank the solutions by which you feel
is the best solution to the problem with 1 being the best, 2 the second best, and so on. Each
solution should be given a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. ______
Coaching:
Throughout the presentations the teacher has been in the background grading
presentations based on the assessment rubric. Before students rank the solutions the teacher will
ask student groups coaching-type questions to ensure all learning outcomes have been covered.
The coaching questions will not be new to students. They will be questions the teacher has
covered throughout the PBL experience. Questions will include specific budget issues, why
specific plants were chosen, how can students be sure the plants will survive the Florida heat,
what conditions do the plants and animals need for survival (water, soil, ect.), why they feel
animals will want to live in the habitat, how will you ensure the safety of the animals and
society, and how will your plan affect society in general.
Coaching Questions:
Key to Question Type: C= cognitive, M= metacognitive, E=epistemic cognitive
Meeting the Problem
C
According to the meet the problem document, what role are you playing in Growing
Green
Industries that will help solve the problem?
M
What kind of resources will you look to for locating information?
E
What will be the consequences of not developing a new habitat?
Know/Need to Know Board
C
What information do you already know about the problem?
M
How will you answer the Need to Know questions?
E
Is it necessary to find answers to all of the Need to Know questions?
Problem Statement
C
What is the problem?
M
What strategies could you use to solve the problem?
E
How will you use the Problem Statement to ensure proposing the best possible solution?
Research
C
How do you know which plants will survive the Florida heat?
M
What kind of resources will you use to determine the types of animals you want to
attract?
E
How will you know your solution will work?
Generating Possible Solutions
C
How much will your plan cost?
M
How will you adjust your plan if you go over budget?
E
To what degree of certainty are you that the budget you propose contains the best
possible pricing?