Name(s): ______________________________
GRADE 11 UNIVERSITY BIOLOGY
“TREEHOUSE PROJECT”
~DIVERSITY UNIT ASSIGNMENT~
Part I: Organism Research
In your group, or as an individual, you are responsible for researching two organisms per
group member, each from a different Kingdom, and create a half page “leaf” for the Tree of
Life. Instead of using the University of Arizona site, we will create a 3U tree of life, though
you will be expected to use the U of A TofL website to format your “leaves”.
Treehouse Organism Research Criteria
This is a research project, not an essay, which means that you should write it with specific
headings to make it easier to organize your information. You MUST use proper scientific
referencing.
Inquiry/Thinking: ________/22
For each organism, you must include the following information:
• Scientific name and common name (2)
• General description of the organism including its important characteristics (4)
• Diagram or picture of the organism (2)
• Specific Habitat (2)
• Specific adaptations to the environment (3)
• Reproductive characteristics or life cycle and how those characteristics suit the organism’s
habitat (3)
• Explain how the organism is classified. (Kingdom - Species) (2)
• What is the importance of this organism to the ecosystem? (2)
• Is this species common or endangered? Explain why. (2)
Communication: __________/13
• Information communicated with a high degree of clarity and precision (4)
• Follows the conventions of punctuation, spelling and grammar (2)
• Scientific references are properly formatted (2)
• “Leaves” have been cut and coloured to look as such (5)
Name(s): ______________________________
Part 2: Creating Your Leaves
You are now ready to prepare your leaves. Even though we are not using the University of
Arizona project, you must make sure your work fulfills their criteria.
“Treehouse” Building Instructions:
1. Visit the treehouses that were created last year to give you some ideas of what you can do.
Go to: http://tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=3468
2. Choose what type of organism you want to create and discuss with your partner what you
want to include. Remember that your two choices should be in two different Kingdoms of
life. If you don’t have a partner, you can decide this for yourself.
3. Create a plan to help you keep track of the information and media sources you will use in
your research. I would suggest using Research Trailblazers for each source you use.
4. Write a draft of your work in Microsoft Word and edit it for spelling and grammar. You
should think about where you would want to insert media (images) into your page. You can
leave a “placeholder” and write a note about what type of image you will add.
For Design and Content Requirements, go to:
http://www.tolweb.org/tree/learn/TreebuilderTools/BuildingGuide/PageDesign.html
5. Preview your leaves and correct any errors. Check if you have added references and Internet
links for information you have used in your page. If not, you must add references before you
publish!
6. Finally, design your leaves so that they look like leaves! You may use scissors, glue, colour,
etc. to put the finishing touches on your work. However, your art should not overtake or
compete with the science. Ensure that all text and images are easy to read.
Evaluation Criteria for the Treehouse project
This evaluation checklist must be completed and handed in to your teacher who will compare
your assessment to the samples on the web site. Use this self-assessment to ensure that your
project is acceptable. If you have information missing, your work should be corrected before
submitting it and the self-assessment changed accordingly. The following list explains the
criteria for evaluation:
[see next page]
Name(s): ______________________________
1. Text and Layout
 Spelling and grammar are perfect
 The layout complements and goes extremely well with the information that is
presented
 Design elements (colour etc) help communicate the information clearly and
consistently and help to add to the learning experience
 Text and images are well placed and work together to communicate the information.
2. Media images
 There is at least one image, computer-generated or hand-drawn, of high quality and
of the proper size (not too large)
 The images explain the content without needing to read the text.
 Online images are properly referenced beneath them.
3. Information
 The information is presented in a clear manner and grouped into sections
 The information works well with the media sources presented (e.g. images)
 The information is from a variety of sources and combines student ideas, experiences
and thought with factual information gained from scientific observations, the
Internet, books and other sources.
4. References (book/magazines etc)
 Minimum of three book, journal, magazine, documentary film etc. type references
are included
 The references are relevant to the content
 The references are written in proper bibliographic (APA) format.
5. Information on the Internet
 There are quality links, relevant to content
 For each link, there is a written explanation of what you can learn/view on
each site.
6. Taxonomy
 Organism names: the organisms’ names (scientific and common names) are
entered in the proper field and formatted correctly
 Organism names are also featured in the treehouse
 The treehouse is attached to the appropriate group(s) or organisms.