Stephanie Forbes
ED 421
Final Lesson- Instructional Unit Outline
Grade Level: 2nd
Content Area: Animal Research
Title of Unit: My Favorite Animal
Learning Goal: Students will pick one animal to research on and then give a
presentation. Presentations will include information on their animal like where it is found,
what it likes to eat, behaviors, etc. Students will get the chance to learn about a favorite
animal of theirs as well as other animals that other students research in the class.
Technology Standards:
#3: Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
#5: Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and
practice legal and ethical behavior.
#6: Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and
operations.
Technology Integrated:
1.) I will use PowerPoint to show students my favorite animal and how they will be using
PowerPoint to show the class their animal.
2.) Students will conduct research online finding information on their animal.
3.) Students will evaluate the information that they find on their animal and organize it to
prepare it for PowerPoint.
4.) Students will present their findings using PowerPoint and including at least three
pictures and one sound effect.
5.) After all the students have given their presentations I will create a website that
includes one slide from each PowerPoint so that others can have information on a variety
of animals.
Resources:
 http://animal.discovery.com/
 http://www.kidsplanet.org
 http://www.flickr.com
 http://pets.webshots.com
 http://www.junglewalk.com
 I will also bring in assorted children’s books from the library and magazines that
include or are about animals for the students to look through to get ideas.
Unit Outline:
(Day 1) I will start off the activity by creating a PowerPoint presentation on an
animal that I choose. My PowerPoint will include just 5 slides and I will ask the students
to include 5 slides in their PowerPoint’s. I will discuss what the activity is going to be
and what they will be doing. I will give the students a list of websites and have books and
magazines available for them to look through so they can pick their animal and do a little
research on it. This will take approximately 30-45 minutes.
After the students have their animal picked out we will go to the computer
lab and begin to do research on the animals. I will ask each student to include information
like what animal they have, where the animal can be found (forest, house pet, desert, etc.)
what sounds their animal makes, and behaviors that their animal has. I will give the
students about a 30-60 minutes to do this. (This will be the end of day one… students will
print information that they have found and make sure to keep it safe for the next day.)
(Day 2) The next day I will have students look over the information that they
found the day before and I will ask them to organize it on paper. Their will be 5 pages
and I will ask the students to make each piece of paper include the information that each
slide will include. Page one will be a title page that will have the students name and any
personal information that they want to include. Page two will be the name of their animal
and a picture. Page three will include where their animal is found or from and another
picture. Page four will include behaviors that the animal has (cats meow and hiss, dogs
bark, monkeys climb etc.) and another picture. Page five will include a sound effect that
their animal makes found online and another picture. (Pictures and sound effects will be
added when we actually put the presentations together, not on the paper, the students will
just right “picture” so they can understand how the presentation will be put together.) The
students will have about an hour to put together the paper form of their presentations.
(Day 2 and 3)After the students have finished their paper outlines, we will go
back to the computer lab and begin putting the presentations together. I will help the
students get their PowerPoint’s started and show them how to do the rest. I will help each
student with their pictures and sounds. After letting the students do as much work on the
PowerPoint’s on their own as possible, I will check what they have done and help with
anything else they need help with. We will most likely spend 60 minutes or so for two
days on this project.
(Day 4 and 5) After we have all finished our PowerPoint’s we will go back to the
class and set up each PowerPoint so that each student can share theirs with the class. I
will give a few hours to do this. After all the presentations are done I will ask each
student to pick their favorite slide from their own PowerPoint to put on the website that I
will create on my own at home. The next day after I have finished the website I will show
the students what they have created.