Running head: UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Grade One Science: What is an Arctic Environment?

Lesson #1: What Does Healthy Arctic Environment Look Like?
(About 60 minutes total)
Rationale:
Kids will enjoy and connect to this lesson for a number of reasons. First of all, it engages them
in a variety of activities. Not only do they have the opportunity to relax and sit still while they
observe colourful paintings presented to them by the teacher, which many kids will enjoy, but
they also have the chance to do individual reading themselves as they conduct research. If
certain kids do not enjoy reading books, they are also given the opportunity to look online for
information, which allows many different types of learners to become engaged in the activity.
After the research is complete, the kids will be given an opportunity to engage in a type of
object play as they use many different art materials to create a picture of a healthy arctic
environment, which many kids will enjoy doing. Furthermore, for those students who do not
excel at expressing their thoughts and ideas through words, this is a great chance for them to
contribute to the activity and demonstrate to both their peers and to the teacher that they
understand what makes up a healthy arctic environment. Finally, throughout the entire activity,
all the kids will be provided with the opportunity to express their understandings through both
large and small group discussions. Those students who enjoy speaking in front of the class can
speak up during carpet time, while others who are quite shy can speak while the students are in
small groups.
Learner Understandings
By the end of this lesson, students will
understand the following concepts:
The type of weather that exists in a
healthy arctic environment (Cold
weather, snow, ice)
What the landscape looks like in a
healthy arctic environment (Eg. Snow,
ice, glaciers, icebergs, water, very little
plant life, etc.)
What lifeforms exist in an arctic
environment other than the animals they
learned about in a previous lesson.
Where all of the animals and other
lifeforms live in the arctic (On land or in
the water?)
How an animals basic needs are met in
the environment (Eg. Sources of food
[fish, plants, etc.], water, and shelter
[caves, snow burrows, the ocean, etc.]

Plan for Diversity

Many of the activities in this lesson
incorporate a wide variety of learners. For
example, all students, including ELL learners
and students with learning disabilities such as
ADHD, will be able to express their ideas
through the drawing activity without having to
use oral expressions. ELL learners will also be
given the opportunity to buddy up with
another student in the class to conduct
research on the arctic environment. This way
their buddy can help them to read aloud some
of the text that they come across in their
research and they can study the pictures
together. They will also be strongly
encouraged to share their ideas of what the
Ted Harrison paintings portray with the rest of
the class, even if they only say a word or two.
ADHD students will engage in this lesson
because of the many changes that happen
throughout the hour. They will not have to sit
still for long periods of time and will be
constantly moving from one activity to the
next. The material in this lesson will be
challenging to all types of student learners and

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Prerequisite Knowledge, Skills, Strategies

and Attitudes
Prior to this lesson, students will already have
learned about the basic needs that all animals
need to survive (food, water, and shelter). They
will also have already learned what types of
animals exist in the arctic. For this set of
lessons, we will be focusing on whales, seals,
polar bears, walruses, snowy owls, arctic fox,
and caribou.

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will allow them to work in a variety of ways,
including individually during their research,
and in both small and large groups during
discussions.
Preliminary Matters (Announcements, etc.)
Before we begin this lesson, several pictures
will be put up on the SMART Board of
different environments around the world, such
as the rainforest, the arctic, the desert, and the
ocean. Students will vote on which
environment they would like to focus on. For
this particular set of lessons, the students have
selected the arctic.

Introduction (10 minutes):

Teacher Activity
1. Teacher will introduce book called A
Brush Full of Colour: The World of
Ted Harrison by Margriet Ruurs and
Katherine Gibson by explaining that
Ted Harrison is a famous Canadian
artist who paints pictures of Northern
Canada, which is a part of the arctic
environment that they are studying.
2. Teacher will ask students to pay close
attention to Harrisons paintings. For
each painting that they study, they
should come up with some ideas about
what they think Harrison is trying to
portray, and what parts of the painting
they think would be a big part of the
arctic environment in real life. They
will be sharing their ideas with the rest
of the class.
3. Teacher will go through the book and
show the kids two or three Ted
Harrison paintings. They will ask
questions to prompt the kids thoughts
on the painting, such as: What do we
see in this painting? Is that important
to the arctic environment? Would that
particular object be all over the arctic,
or only in some places?

Student Activity
1. Students will listen to teachers
introduction to the Ted Harrison
paintings and picture book and listen
carefully to the instructions that they
are being given on what they should be
doing while looking at the pictures in
the book (2-3 minutes).
2. After they have time to examine each
painting, they will share their ideas
with the class in large group discussion
about what they think Harrison is
trying to portray in his paintings and
how they think those objects, living
things, or pieces of landscape are
important to the arctic. They will also
consider whether or not the objects that
they see would be spread all across the
arctic, or if they would only be in
certain areas (Discussion on each
painting about 2-3 minutes each.
Total time of class discussion will be
5-10 minutes).

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Central Activity (45 minutes):

Teacher Activity
1. After the large group discussion on Ted Harrison,
the teacher will divide the kids into groups of four
and assign each of them to an area of the room
(see class diagram on page 23).
2. In each area, there will be several iPads and nonfiction books for the kids to read and explore.
Possible websites that the kids can look at will be
written on the SMART Board. There will also be
several computers in the corner of the classroom
that will be available to the students to take turns
on for their research (See list of possible nonfiction books or websites to use in this activity in
list below under Materials/Resources).
3. Instruct the students to look through the resources
in front of them and gather information about the
arctic to understand what it looks like and what
exists within it. Explain to the students that this is
a process that scientists in the real world also
undertake in order to find out more about the
arctic and better understand it so that they can
study it and help it flourish. The students should
not only look at animals, but at ALL parts of the
arctic, including any plant-life or the landscape.
4. While the students are exploring the resources, the
teacher should go around the room and distribute
a piece of poster paper and some markers to each
group.
5. After they have looked through the resources for a
few minutes, turn the kids attentions to the poster
paper in the middle of their area. Using the
knowledge that they have gained both from the
Ted Harrison paintings and the non-fiction
resources they just studied, they will draw a
picture of what they think the arctic looks like in
real life in any season that they choose. The
teacher will emphasize to the students that
everyone should participate and try to draw
something on the poster. It should include both
living and non-living things.
6. The teacher will spend 2-3 minutes with each
group, asking them questions about what they are
drawing, making suggestions, or giving

Student Activity
1. Kids will go into groups of
four and each go to the
assigned area that the
teacher directs them
towards (2-3 minutes).
2. Students will listen to the
teachers instructions on
what to do with the iPads
and books in front of them
(1-2 minutes).
3. Students will use
technology to act like real
scientists and engage in
their worldly discipline by
exploring the resources
available to them. They will
read portions of the text,
encounter statistics, as well
as study the pictures of the
arctic available to them.
They will take turns using
the iPad and the books.
They should examine not
only arctic animals, but also
any plant-life, people, or the
landscape of the arctic. As
they are researching, they
will discuss among their
small group what they are
discovering or what they
think is interesting about the
arctic (5-10 minutes).
4. Students will listen to
teachers instructions on
what to do with their poster
paper and markers (1-2
minutes).
5. Students will work together
to draw a picture of a
healthy arctic environment
in a specific season. All
students should be included

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

constructive feedback. For example, they could
say comments such as, You guys have lots of
animals, but do you have any plants? What kind
of plants did you see in the arctic in your
research? I think that plants would make your
picture even better than it is now!
7. After about 15 minutes, the teacher will instruct
the kids to grab their poster and return to the
carpet with it, sitting in their groups.
8. The teacher will call up one group at a time to the
front, where they will present their poster. The
teacher will instruct the presenting kids to state
what season they drew the arctic in, to point out
two objects that they drew on their poster that
exist in that season, and to also point out how at
least one of their objects provides arctic animals
with one of their basic needs of food, water, or
shelter. If the kids are struggling to find an answer
to this question, the teacher may provide them
with a prompt such as, I noticed you drew a fish
in the water. Do you think that any of the other
arctic animals would eat the fish?, or I see that
you have lots of snow in your picture. Do you
think that the animals could use the snow as
shelter to protect or hide themselves from the
animals that might want to eat them?. After each
presentation, the teacher will ask the other
students to say what the group put on their poster
that they didnt, or what they have on their poster
that the presenting group didnt. The teacher will
select one or two students to give this type of
feedback after each presentation. Throughout the
entire presentation period, the teacher will
constantly ensure that the other kids are being
respectful to the presenters, give the presenters
constructive feedback on what they drew, and will
encourage everyone to contribute to the large
group discussion.
9. Teacher will instruct students to help clean up the
poster materials and resources.
10. Teacher will put posters up on the wall for the
students to look at.

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in the process of both
drawing on the poster paper
and contributing ideas from
their research of what to
draw (15 minutes).
6. After about 15 minutes,
students will rejoin all of
their classmates on the
carpet with their poster.
7. Each group will do a 2-3
minute presentation of their
poster. During their
presentation they will
announce what season they
chose to draw the arctic in
and will point out one or
two things that they put on
their poster that exist in the
arctic at that time of year.
They will also explain to the
class how one or two of the
objects on their poster
provides one of the basic
needs to the animals (food,
water, or shelter). After each
presentation, the presenters
classmates will respond by
pointing out something that
their group had on their
poster that their group
didnt or vice versa. Each
group will listen to the other
presentations respectfully
and be encouraged to
contribute equally to their
own presentations and give
constructive feedback on
others (15 minutes).
8. Students will help teacher to
clean up the poster materials
and put away the resources
(2-3 minutes).

Closure (5 minutes):

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Teacher Activity
1. The teacher will hand out index cards and
pencils to the students.
2. They will instruct each student to write one
thing that exists in a healthy arctic
environment that they didnt know about
before today on their card and put their name
at the top.
3. The teacher will walk among the students,
making sure everyone writes something
down.
4. The teacher will collect the index cards for
formative assessment.
5. After the cards are collected, the teacher will
give a tiny preview of what is to follow in the
next lesson by saying something such as,
Now we know what exists in a healthy arctic
environment, which is really important.
However, do you guys think all arctic
environments are healthy all the time? Think
about that question tonight and we will learn
all about it tomorrow.

Student Activity
1. The students will each receive
an index card (1 minute).
2. They will listen to the teachers
instructions to write one arctic
object (either living or nonliving) that they didnt know
about before the lesson on their
card (1 minute).
3. They will write their one object
on their card, as well as their
name (2-3 minutes).
4. The students will hand in their
index cards to the teacher (1
minute).
5. Students will consider the final
question posed to them by the
teacher about unhealthy arctic
environments in preparation for
the next days lesson (1
minute).

Assessment
This activity uses the formative assessment technique referred to as Exit Cards to complete
individual assessment. As described above, each student will write one new thing that they
learned about that exists in the arctic on the index card that is given to them. The teacher will
read through their answers to assess whether the students are reaching new understandings
about the healthy arctic environment through the various activities that they are participating in.
More specifically, this method of formative assessment will assess the students understanding
of what living and non-living things make up a healthy arctic environment.
Materials/Resources
A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison by Margriet Ruurs and Katherine
Gibson
Planet Arctic: Life at the Top of the World by Wayne Lynch
Polar Obsession by Paul Nicklen
Arctic Migrants/Arctic Villagers: The Transformation of Inuit Settlement in the Central
Arctic by David Damas
Arctic Autumn: A Journey to Seasons Edge by Pete Dunne and Linda Dunne
A is for Arctic by Wayne Lynch
The Arctic by Tony Soper
The Arctic by Catherine Guigon
Arctic by Wayne Lynch
Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Discovery Kids Website: http://discoverykids.com/category/animals/

Kids Biology Website: http://www.kidsbiology.com/animals-for-children.php

National Geographic for Kids Website: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/
Poster Paper
Pencils
Erasers
Markers
Pencil Crayons
iPads

Lesson #2: What Does An Unhealthy Arctic Environment Look Like?

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

(About 60-70 minutes total)

Rationale
Students will enjoy this lesson because of the great amount of variation that exists within it and
all of its activities. The opening activity, which involves the kids creating their own arctic
environments using only water, will be fun for the kids for several reasons. Not only does it
allow the children to engage in a type of play as they get to directly interact with water, but it
also encourages all types of learners to become engaged in their learning and understanding of
the arctic environment as they become excited to see what will happen to their arctic
environments when they freeze the water in them. This same anticipatory fun will be generated
among the students in the closure activity when the kids get to go outside and see what
happened to the ice in their arctic environments when it was placed in the sun. They will
compare their melted homemade environments to the real arctic and feel as though they saw
exactly what happens in the real world when everything becomes hotter and harms the arctic
environment. Students will also enjoy this activity as they are given the opportunity to directly
play with their homemade ice and water environments and small plastic animals. This will also
give them the opportunity to interact with one another through their play as one homemade ice
environment must be shared among several students. The students will also enjoy getting to
watch a video on YouTube about the arctic and the polar bears. Finally, they will feel authentic
and connected to the scientific discipline as they get the opportunity to study a picture of the
arctic taken from space, just like real scientists do, and, through both small and large group
discussion, discover methods that both scientists and everyday people like themselves use
regularly to help save the arctic from global warming.

Learner Understandings
By the end of this lesson, students will
understand the following concepts:
What happens when we freeze water
and when we melt ice and the fact that
these processes occur in the arctic on a
daily basis
What the term global warming means
and the fact that our arctic is shrinking
every day
How global warming affects the arctic
environment, including the animals, in a
negative way and does not allow them to
access all of their basic needs (Eg. Some
of the animals cannot hunt because there
is no more ice to stand on, polar bears
are drowning, animals are losing their
shelters in the snow as it all melts, etc.)
What scientists are doing to try to
prevent global warming

Plan for Diversity

As the class undergoes the process of creating
their own arctic environments, all students will
be able to participate to help create the ice
needed, as well as to melt the ice. ELL
students will not need to use any oral
expressions during this portion of the lesson,
and will enjoy playing with the plastic animals
in the water and ice along with all of the other
children. ADHD kids will also be satisfied
with this lesson as they are constantly
switching between activities and moving
around the classroom and school to freeze the
ice and melt it again. All of the students will
be strongly encouraged to take part in the large
classroom discussion surrounding global
warming, how it is affecting the arctic, and
what people can do to prevent it. During the
Think-Pair-Share portions of the lesson,
both ELL and ADHD students will buddy up

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

What we as citizens can do to prevent

global warming

Prerequisite Knowledge, Skills, Strategies

and Attitudes
Based on the previous lesson, students will
now understand what types of living and nonliving things make up a typical, healthy arctic
environment, and how these environmental
objects allow the animals in the arctic to access
all of their basic needs. These understandings
will allow them to better understand and
critically think about this new lesson on what an
unhealthy arctic environment looks like, and
how its failing health affects the animals and
their daily access to their everyday needs.

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with other typical students in the class in order
to directly discuss both their own and their
buddys ideas that developed from the video
they watched and the photo of the arctic they
observed closely. This will allow those
students to receive help and feedback from
their peers on the ideas that they came up with
so that they can be clarified and further
developed. The material in this lesson will be
very challenging to all of the different learners
in the class, especially the concept of global
warming, and the students will be able to work
in both small and large groups to tackle
problems and solve world issues.
Preliminary Matters (Announcements, etc.)
N/A

Introduction (15 minutes):

Teacher Activity
1. 1. The teacher will place both a medium-sized container
and a small container on each table around the room, as
well as rocks that will be used to weigh down the smaller
container when it is in the water. Bring up the following
link on the SMART Board for the class to look at:
2. http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/01/arctic-icesensory-play.html
3. Have all the students sit at the carpet area to listen to the
instructions for the activity.
4. Introduce the activity by tying in the last lesson the
students completed into this new one. The teacher can say
something along the following lines: Remember how
yesterday we learned all about what a healthy arctic
environment looks like? Well, today, just like I promised at
the end of last class, we are going to learn about what

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

Student Activity
1. Sit at the carpet,
observe the picture of
their completed arctic
environment, and
listen to the teacher
introduction and
instructions on how to
create their arctic
environment (5
minutes).
2. Go with their assigned
group back to one of
the tables and wait for
their turn to go to the
sink.

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

happens when a healthy arctic environment becomes
unhealthy. I hope you guys thought up some ideas about
what you think would happen in an unhealthy arctic
environment! But first, we need to make a healthy arctic
for our animals to live in so that we can watch what
happens when things begin to change and go bad for
them.
5. Using the above link, show the children a picture of what
their completed arctic environment will look like:

6. Explain to the children the first couple of steps involved in

creating the above picture. First they will be divided into
small groups. Then, one at a time, each group will take
their medium-sized container to the sink in the corner of
the room and fill it up about one third of the way with
water, making sure not to spill it on the way back. Once
they are back at their table, they will place their small
container anywhere they choose in the water in their
medium container. They will take the rocks given to them
and carefully place them in their small container to weigh
it down so that it touches the bottom of their medium
container. Once they are finished, they will wait for the
other groups to be done and wait for the next set of
instructions from the teacher. While they wait, they may
put their hands in the water, but they may NOT splash, or
their container will be taken away until the other groups
are ready to move on with the activity.
7. Divide the children into groups of five and send each of the
four groups to a different table.
8. Supervise the activities at the sink, making sure that the
students do not fill it up too high. Be sure to also keep eyes
and ears open for splashing noises from the other tables.
9. Once all of the students are finished, instruct them all to
follow you to the staff room. Here, you will carefully place
the four containers into the freezer.
10. Go back to the classroom and sit at the carpet. Ask the kids
what they think will happen to all of their water.

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

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3. Complete the
beginning steps of
their arctic
environment by filling
up their medium
containers with water,
placing the smaller
containers in their
water, and weighing it
down with their rocks
(5-7 minutes).
4. Quietly and carefully
play with their water
as they are waiting for
the other students to
be finished.
5. Listen to the teachers
instructions to follow
them into the staff
room.
6. Place their water
environments in the
freezer in the staff
room (2 minutes).
7. Go back to the room,
sit at the carpet, and
make some
predictions in a large
group discussion
about what will
happen to all of their
water as it sits in the
freezer (1-2 minutes).
8. Move on to another
lesson as they wait to
retrieve their water
from the freezer
(About 1 hour).

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

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11. Move on to another lesson in a different subject to fill up

the time that it will take for the water to freeze. Leave the
water in the freezer for about one hour.

Central Activity (45-50 minutes):

Teacher Activity
1. Place assorted plastic arctic animal toys at each
table around the room.
2. Inform the kids that they can now go back to the
staff room to retrieve their water.
3. Have the students follow you to the staff room,
get their containers, and return to the classroom
where they will sit on the carpet in their groups
with their containers
4. Ask the kids if they thought their water would
turn into ice, or if they thought it would remain
water.
5. Instruct the kids to carefully remove the smaller
container with the rocks in it from the ice. Help
those students who cant get their containers free
from the ice.
6. Tell the kids that they are now going to get a
chance to play with the environments that they
created using the plastic animals that are at their
tables. They must share the toys and make sure
that everyone gets a chance to use all of the
different animals. Inform the students that each
group will be called up one at a time to the sink
to fill the hole that was left behind in their ice
when they removed their smaller containers.
This way, all of their environments will have ice
and water in them, just like in the real arctic.
7. Have the students return to their tables in their
groups. Allow each group to come to the sink
one at a time again to fill up their holes.
8. Allow all the students to play in their arctic
environments in their small groups.
9. The teacher should walk around the room and
observe the types of play that the students are
performing. Make sure that everyone is being
included and has a chance with the toys.
10. After about ten minutes of play, tell the students
to place all of their animals in their

Student Activity
1. Kids will listen to teacher
instructions and go back to the
staff room to retrieve their
environments (2-3 minutes).
2. They will return to the carpet
and sit in their groups with their
ice.
3. Kids will respond to the
teachers question about whether
or not they thought the water
would turn to ice when it was
placed in the freezer (1 minute).
4. The kids will listen to the
teachers instructions and
remove the smaller container
from their ice, which should
leave a sizeable hole in their
arctic environment (1 minute).
5. Listen to the teachers
instructions on what to do with
their new environments (1-2
minutes).
6. Return to their tables in their
small groups and wait their turn
to go to the sink. Once it is their
turn, they will go up together
and fill their small hole with a
little bit of luke-warm water and
return to their seats. They will
have the chance to play with
their new arctic environments
and their plastic animals, making
sure that everyone is included in
the activity, that they are sharing
their toys, and that they are
interacting with one another
through their play (10 minutes).

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

environments and follow the teacher outside.
11. Instruct the students to place their environments
in a sunny place outside. Make sure that all of
the groups place some of their animals on the ice
and others in the water. Ask the kids what they
think will happen to their ice if it sits in the sun.
12. Return to the carpet for a large group discussion.
Introduce the concept of an unhealthy arctic
environment by asking the following sample
questions: How many of you think that your ice
will turn to water again when it sits in the sun?
Do you think that this happens in the arctic in
real life?
13. Show the students the picture of what the arctic
looked like from space almost 40 years ago and
what it looked like a few years ago:

This photo can be found at the following URL:

http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/arctic-iceloss-27032013/
Ask the kids some questions to prompt
responses on this unhealthy arctic environment,
such as: Do you think there is less ice in the
picture on the right than on the left? That means
that our arctic is slowly melting. This is called
global warming. Do you think that this is
healthy for our arctic environment? Write the
term of global warming up on the SMART
Board for the students to study. Continue this
large group discussion by informing students
that scientists use pictures such as these in real
life to find out what is happening to the arctic
and to figure out what they can do to save it.
14. Inform the students that it is now Think, Pair,
Share time. They should turn to the person next
to them and buddy up. They will work together
to answer the following questions: What do you
think global warming does to the animals that
live in the arctic? Will they still be able to access
food, water, and shelter to survive properly?

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7. Listen to teachers instructions
and place all of their plastic
animals inside their medium
containers. Follow the teacher
outside and place their
environments in a sunny spot,
making sure to put some of their
animals on the ice and some in
the water (5 minutes).
8. Students will return to the carpet
for the large group discussion.
First they will brainstorm ideas
about their own healthy arctic
environments by making guesses
as to whether or not they think
their environments will turn
back into water again when they
are in the sun. They will also
make educated guesses about
whether or not they think the ice
freezes and melts in the real
arctic too. They will share their
responses with the class (2-3
minutes).
9. Students will examine the photo
of the arctic taken from space.
They will answer the teachers
questions about it in a large
group discussion by putting
forth answers about whether or
not the think the arctic is
shrinking and why they think
that is. They will pay close
attention to the term global
warming and ensure that they
understand that it means that the
earth is becoming hotter and
melting our arctic environments.
They will share their ideas with
the class about whether or not
they think this is healthy for the
arctic environments in the world.
Consider the fact that they are
acting like expert scientists by
examining pictures of the arctic
and trying to determine what is

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

Tell the students that they and their buddy can
move anywhere in the room to brainstorm some
ideas about these questions. This will also serve
as a body break for the kids so that they dont
have to sit still for so long.
15. Walk around the room and spend some time with
several of the groups to hear the students
thoughts and to assess their understanding of
what global warming exactly is and how it
affects the arctic environment and animals.
16. Come back together and ask a few pairs to share
their thoughts. Provide feedback on their ideas
and encourage the students to respond to what
they said with their own ideas.
17. Introduce the following video by explaining to
the kids that an expert from the World Wildlife
Fund, which is an organization that works to
save animals and environments that are in
danger, is going to show them exactly what is
happening to the arctic and its animals. Tell them
that it is important to pay close attention to what
he says, as he will list a few ways that scientists
and other experts work to protect the arctic, in
particular the polar bears, and ways that we can
work to protect it too. Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=X5gCnE1Ohlk (Less than 2 minute video)
18. After the video, instruct the kids to pick a
different partner for another think-pair-share
time. This time, they will be brainstorming ideas
about the following questions: What do
scientists and other experts do to help save the
arctic? What can we do to help save the arctic?
This will also serve as another body break.
19. Once again walk among the groups and assess
their understanding of what experts do to save
the arctic and what they themselves can do to
help. Try to spend time with groups that didnt
receive the teachers attention during the last
think-pair-share time.
20. Bring the students back together and ask a few
different pairs from last time to share their ideas.
Once again, be sure to give them feedback on
their ideas and to encourage everyone to
participate in the discussion by responding to
others ideas and contributing their own.

12
happening to it (5-10 minutes).
10. Students will listen to teachers
instructions for the first Think,
Pair, Share time and turn to a
person near them. They and their
partner will find a spot in the
room to brainstorm ideas about
what happens to the arctic
animals when the arctic melts
and if they would still be able to
access all of their basic needs
when global warming occurs (23 minutes).
11. Come back together as a large
group and share their ideas with
the rest of the class. Be sure to
listen to their peers responses
and provide them with new
thoughts and ideas to develop
their own (2-3 minutes).
12. Students will listen to the
teachers description of the
video they are going to watch (1
minute).
13. Students will watch the video,
paying attention to what
scientists and regular citizens are
doing to save the arctic and
specifically polar bears (2
minutes).
14. Listen to the teachers
instructions for the second
Think, Pair, Share time.
Students will find a different
partner, find a spot in the room,
and brainstorm thoughts together
about what scientists and regular
people like themselves can do to
save the arctic (2-3 minutes).
15. Come back together as a large
group and share their ideas. If
they didnt share last time, try to
respond this time or to say
something constructive to
another pair about their response
(2-3 minutes).

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

13

21. Move on to another lesson to allow the ice some

time to melt in the sun outside. Allow one or two
hours.

16. Move on to another lesson as

they wait for their ice to melt
outside (1-2 hours; This is an
estimated time. This time will
vary depending on the weather
outside and how fast the ice
melts.)

Closure (5 minutes):
Teacher Activity
1. Tell the kids that it is time to
go check on their arctic
environments once more.
2. Bring the students outside to
their environments.
3. Ask them what happened to
all of their ice. Also ask them
what happened to the animals
that were living on the ice.
Do they think that this is
what happens in real life
when the arctic melts? It
creates an unhealthy
environment and does not
allow the animals to access
all of their basic needs.
4. Instruct the students to bring
their animals and containers
inside. Once they are back on
the carpet, inform them that
tomorrow they will be putting
all of their arctic knowledge
to the test as they pretend to
be scientists and go on an
expedition to the arctic!
5. Instruct the students to clean
up their arctic environment
materials.

Student Activity
1. Listen to teachers instructions to line up to go
outside so that they can get their environments
and see what happened to their ice (2-3
minutes).
2. Once they are outside, they will look carefully at
their environments and make some observations
about what happened to all of their ice. They will
also make some observations about what
happened to the animals that were living on the
ice. Because all of the ice melted, the animals no
longer have something to stand on and they all
fell into the water. The students will respond to
the teacher and one another about whether this
melted environment represents a healthy arctic
environment still, or if it is unhealthy now. They
will also question if this is what happens to the
arctic and its animals in real life, and how it
affected their animals and changed their access
to their basic needs (2-3 minutes).
3. Go back inside with their containers and sit at
the carpet. Listen to the teachers description of
tomorrows activity and consider some of the
things that they have learned over the past two
days that may be useful to them tomorrow for
their expedition (1 minute).
4. Help the teacher clean up by putting away the
arctic toys and throwing out the water from their
arctic environments in the sink (2-3 minutes).

Assessment
Teachers will assess this lesson through small group assessment using the strategy of Think,
Pair, Share. As described above, this formative assessment technique will be employed twice
throughout the activity so that multiple groups may share their thoughts with the teacher and the
rest of the class. Students will select different partners for their second session in order to

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

14

further develop their own ideas and to hear new ideas from other classmates. This will also
allow the teacher to assess how students work with others, and how much knowledge each
student contributes when they are working with different people. Does only one student
contribute all of the ideas, or are they equal partners in the discussion. Specifically, the teacher
will be assessing the students understanding of how animals are affected by global warming
and how this changes how they access their basic needs of food, water, and shelter. They will
also be specifically assessing students understanding of experts in the field of arctic
conservation and what they are doing to prevent global warming, as well as what the students
themselves can do to prevent global warming.
Materials/Resources
Instructions and helpful pictures for building the arctic environment found at:

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/01/arctic-ice-sensory-play.html
Photo of the arctic taken from space found at:
http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/arctic-ice-loss-27032013/
YouTube video of expert explaining what is happening to the arctic found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5gCnE1Ohlk
Four medium sized containers
Four small containers
Small rocks or stones
An assortment of plastic arctic animal toys

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

15

Lesson #3: Expedition to the Arctic

(About 70-75 minutes total)
Rationale
This culminating lesson employs many types of play and learning explorations that the kids will
enjoy doing both individually and in small groups. They will have the opportunity to dress-up
as scientists going to the arctic and feel authentic in the scientific discipline, engage in roleplaying games as they pretend to be the different arctic animals and interact with their fellow
classmates in a social situation, work to save the arctic by creating posters to put up around the
city and feel as though they are making a difference in the world in the process, act as expert
scientists to make sure that all of the arctic animals have access to all of their basic needs, decide
which animals are suited to the arctic and which ones are not and feel like they are the
authorities on the subject, and use their creativity to create snow and snowflakes to transform
their classroom into the artic. The students will also enjoy this culminating activity because they
will be using all of the knowledge that they have gained over the past two days to prove that
they have become experts on the arctic and are qualified to engage in the scientific discipline,
which involves completing experimentation, conservation, and exploration.
Learner Understandings
After the completion of this culminating lesson,
students will reinforce, and perhaps clarify for
themselves and others, the following learner
outcomes:
What does a healthy arctic environment
look like
What does an unhealthy arctic
environment look like
What the weather in the arctic is like
How the arctic provides the basic needs
of food, water, and shelter to its various
inhabitants
How experts in the scientific field work
to save the arctic and its animals
How the students themselves can work to
save the arctic and its animals
What animals are able to survive in the
arctic environment
What the term global warming means
and how it affects the animals living in
the arctic
How global warming prevents the
animals from accessing all of their basic
needs of food, water, and shelter

Plan for Diversity

ELL students will be easily included in the
vast majority of this culminating activity as it
involves mainly forms of play and very little
oral discussion or writing. The ELL kids will
be able to play with all of their classmates and
ask the other members of their group for help
in cases where they need to write down some
information about the arctic, or if they need
clarification on the instructions for the station.
ADHD students will also be easily
incorporated into this activity as there are very
few times when they have to sit still for a
significant period. They will constantly be
switching from one activity to another and will
continually be stimulated by the types of play.
Just like the ELL students, they will also travel
with other kids in their small group so that
they can become engaged with their
classmates learning and receive clarification
on aspects of their learning that they are
struggling with. All of the activities in this
lesson will test the wide variety of student
learners understandings and challenge their
ways of thinking. They will have a big
opportunity in this activity to work together in
small groups.

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

16

Prerequisite Knowledge, Skills, Strategies and Preliminary Matters (Announcements, etc.)

Attitudes
N/A
The knowledge and understandings that the kids
gained in the last two lessons in this series (see
learner understandings in each lesson plan for
the specifics) will be essential to their
understanding of the different stations or centers
that they are to take part in in this final
culminating activity. They will use this expert
knowledge in this activity to both explore and
solve the various scenarios presented to them at
each center.
Introduction (5-10 minutes):
Teacher Activity
1. Prior to the class coming in to the room in the morning,
the teacher will set up all of the materials needed for the
six stations of the Arctic Expedition that is to take
place when the kids come in
2. Once the kids have entered the room, the teacher will
instruct them to sit on the carpet to listen to the
instructions for their Expedition to the Arctic.
3. The teacher will introduce the activity to the kids. They
may say something like, I hope you guys are all ready to
go on an expedition to the arctic today! Today, you guys
are all going to be arctic experts, and youre going to
need all of your expert arctic knowledge to solve different
tasks around the room so that we can complete our
expedition, help the arctic, and create an arctic right here
in our classroom at the same time!
4. The teacher will carefully explain each of the six centers
around the room. They will show the kids the materials
that are available at each center, as well as clearly set out
what it is that the kids will be doing at every station. Each
of the stations are described below:
Snow Station: Students will use their knowledge of the arctic
weather and what is in a healthy arctic environment to create
snowballs and snowflakes for the classroom and make it into an
arctic environment where animals can easily find shelter. After
they have put together some snowballs and snowflakes out of
scrap paper, scissors, and tape, they will put them around the
classroom by taping them to the walls or putting the snowballs
on the ground. NOTE: If the students have not made snowflakes
before, the teacher can do a quick one minute demonstration of

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

Student Activity
1. Students will enter the
room and sit at the
carpet. They will listen
to the teachers
introduction and pay
extremely close
attention to the
instructions for each
center (5-8 minutes).
2. The students will ask
any questions that they
have about the various
stations or what they
are meant to do at a
center (1-2 minutes).
3. Students will form their
groups of four and wait
to be assigned to a
station by the teacher
before beginning the
culminating activity.
They will listen to the
teachers last-minute
instructions (1-2
minutes).

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

how to fold the paper and cut out the shapes to form one.
Dress-up Station: Students will pretend to be scientists going on
an arctic exploration. However, before they can travel north, they
will have to choose an appropriate outfit for the occasion. There
will be a wide variety of dress-up clothes available, including
parkas, mittens, toques, dresses, Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses, and
more. The students will take turns with the various articles of
clothes, and should use their knowledge of the arctic weather to
explain to one another what they think would be the best outfit to
wear. NOTE: As this station will take up the most space, it
should be set up on the carpet.
Animal Station: Students will act like expert scientists to
determine which animals are well-suited to the arctic
environment and could access all of their basic needs there to
survive, and which ones could not. There will be two bins and a
large assortment of small plastic animals. To sort the animals into
the bins, depending on whether or not they think they could
survive in the arctic, the kids will use their knowledge of arctic
animals and their knowledge of how those animals access food,
water, and shelter in the arctic to survive. There should be a wide
variety of animals available to the kids including polar bears,
seals, whales, caribou, giraffes, elephants, tigers, and lions.
Food and Water Station: As part of their arctic expedition,
students will act like expert scientists by making sure that all the
animals have access to food and water in the arctic so that they
can survive. The kids will use construction paper, scissors, tape,
pencil crayons, pencils, and markers to create sources of food
and water for the arctic environment that they are building in the
classroom. The students will have to use their knowledge from
the previous lessons to determine what sources of food are
available in the arctic. Once they have made some, they will tape
them to the walls of the classroom to keep making their arctic
bigger and better equipped for their animals. (Eg. Students could
make fish, ocean waves, various plants, small animals, etc.)
Expert Station: As another part of their scientific expedition,
the kids will act as experts from the World Wildlife Fund and
create posters to put up around Calgary that will tell the public
what is happening to the arctic because of global warming and
what they can do to help save it. The students will use their
knowledge of global warming, as well as its effect on the arctic
animals, and their ideas of what citizens can do to prevent it to
create the posters. There will be paper, pencils, erasers, markers,
and pencil crayons available at the station.
Role-Playing Station: Students will engage in role-playing by
pretending to be various animals that live in the arctic. In order
to survive, they will have to travel around the classroom and find

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17

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

18

the sources of food, water, and shelter that the other students
have created at the different stations and put up around the
classroom. They can also create scenarios where they encounter
one another in the wild and role-play what would happen if, for
example, a seal met a polar bear. The kids will use their
knowledge of what animals live in the arctic, how they access
their basic needs, and what is in a healthy arctic environment to
complete this activity.
5. The teacher will answer any questions that the students
have about the different stations.
6. The teacher will divide the students into five groups of
four kids. They will assign each group to a different
station to start at. NOTE: Do not place one of the five
groups at the Role-Playing Station to start off with, as
there will not be any sources of food, water, or shelter for
them to explore because the other students have not had a
chance to make them for the classroom. This station will
remain empty during the first round of center activities.
7. The teacher tells students that when they hear a bell, they
must move to another station. They need to go to all six
stations. They cannot repeat one twice.
Central Activity (60 minutes):
Teacher Activity
1. The teacher will instruct the students to begin their first
task. The kids should spend about 8-10 minutes at each
station before the teacher rings a bell and instructs the
children to move to another station.
2. While the students are at the various stations in their
groups, the teacher will travel around the classroom and
use oral questioning to gather formative assessment about
the individual students. They will ask each student one or
two questions about the station that they are at and make
note of the students levels of understanding involving the
task or activity at hand. Some sample questions that the
teacher may ask are: I see that you put on a parka for
your expedition. Why did you choose that instead of this
nice Hawaiian shirt?, What about this giraffe? I think
he would love the arctic! Dont you? Would he have lots
of nice, green leaves to eat in the arctic?, What source
of food are you making for the arctic animals? Who do
you think would eat that in the arctic?, You made such
a beautiful snowflake! Do you think that snowflakes are
all over the arctic? What about when global warming is

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015

Student Activity
1. The students will travel
from station to station,
engaging themselves in
the task at hand and
making sure to involve
all of their group
members in the activity.
At the sound of the bell,
they will move to
another station (8-10
minutes at each
station).
2. The students will use
their knowledge of the
arctic to answer the
teachers questions
about the station that
they are playing at.

UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

19

happening?
3. The teacher will continually move around the room and
answer any of the students questions that may arise about
their activity or the arctic itself.
Closure (5-10 minutes):
Teacher Activity
1. The teacher will instruct the students to help
clean up the station that they were at by putting
away the various materials or toys. They will be
told to leave their various creations on the walls
of the classroom, but to pick up any snowballs
that they put on the ground and recycle them. All
of the posters that they created can be taken
home. The teacher will clean up the station that
was left empty during the last round of activities.
2. After the clean-up is complete, the students will
gather on the carpet and share their favourite
activity, as well as present new arctic facts that
they learned today as they talked with their
group members and completed the various
activities.

Student Activity
1. The students will listen to the
teachers instructions for cleanup and help to put away the
materials that are at their current
station (5 minutes).
2. The students will have a
discussion about what their
favourite activities were and
what new facts they learned
about the arctic as they
performed the different activities
and played with their group
members (5 minutes).

Assessment
In this activity, students will be assessed individually through the formative assessment
technique of Oral Questioning. As described above, the teacher will go to each student at
some point during the center time and ask them a couple of questions about the activity that they
are currently performing to assess their understanding of the task at hand (see some sample oral
questions above). Specifically, at the snow station, the teacher will assess the students
understanding of what the weather is like in the arctic, what a healthy arctic environment looks
like, and how the snow provides basic needs to the animals living there. At the dress-up station,
the students will also be assessed on their understanding of the arctic weather and what a
healthy arctic environment looks like. At the animal station, the kids will be assessed on their
understanding of what animals live in the arctic and how they all access their basic needs of
food, water, and shelter. At the food and water station, the students will be assessed on their
understanding of how the arctic provides the basic needs of food and water to its inhabitants and
what a healthy arctic environment looks like. At the expert station, the kids will be assessed on
their understanding of what global warming is, how it affects the arctic and its inhabitants, and
what both scientists and citizens can do to prevent global warming. Finally, at the role-playing
station, the students will be assessed on their understanding of how the different animals access
their basic needs in the environment, what a healthy arctic environment looks like, and what an
unhealthy arctic environment looks like. At the end of this activity, students will also be
individually assessed using summative assessment. The teacher will take into consideration all
of the data that they have collected on each student over the past few days, including large class

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

20

discussions, think-pair-share talks, their index cards, and the oral questioning answers to give
each child an overall mark out of ten to assess their overall understanding of the arctic unit.
Teachers should take into consideration not simply whether the students were always right or
wrong, but if their understandings developed overtime and became stronger or weaker by the
end of the unit.
Materials/Resources
Scrap paper
Scissors
Tape
Assortment of dress-up clothes (Eg. Parkas, toques, mittens, dresses, baseball caps, etc.)
Assortment of small plastic animals
Two bins for sorting the animals
Construction paper
Pencils
Erasers
Pencil crayons
Markers
Blank paper

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

21
References

Coca Cola. (2014, September 8). Polar bears and melting ice-arctic home 2014 [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5gCnE1Ohlk
Damas, D. (2002). Arctic migrants/arctic villagers: The transformation of Inuit
settlement in the central arctic. Montreal: McGill-Queens Press.
Discovery Communications. (2015). Animals. In Discovery kids. Retrieved from
http://discoverykids.com/category/animals/
Dunne, P. (2011). Arctic autumn: A journey to seasons edge. Boston, MA: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt.
Guigon, C. (2007). The arctic. New York, NY: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Kids Biology. (2015). Animal database. Retrieved from
http://www.kidsbiology.com/animals-for-children.php
Lynch, W. (1996). A is for arctic. Willowdale, ON: Firefly Books.
Lynch, W. (2007). Arctic. Minnetonka: NorthWord.
Lynch, W. (2012). Planet arctic: Life at the top of the world. Richmond Hill, ON: Firefly
Books.
National Geographic Society. (2015). Animals. In National geographic kids. Retrieved
from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/
Nicklen, P. (2009). Polar obsession. Washington, DC: Focal Point.
No Time For Flash Cards. (2013). Arctic ice sensory play. Retrieved from
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2013/01/arctic-ice-sensory-play.html
Ruurs, M. & Gibson, K. (2014). A brush full of colour: The world of Ted Harrison.
Toronto: Pajama Press.

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UNIT PLAN JULIE DEGNER

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Soper, T. (2012). The arctic: A guide to coastal wildlife. Guilford, CN: Globe Pequot
Press.
ZME Science. (2013). Record arctic ice loss-or why spring isnt coming. Retrieved from
http://www.zmescience.com/ecology/climate/arctic-ice-loss-27032013/

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23

Classroom Diagram
(Based on the layout of my second practicum)

The computer area of the classroom will have two or three computers that the children can t

Table #3

Table #4

The computer area of the classroom will have two or three computers that the children can take turns using. There will a

Prepared for EDUC 535 class by Barbara Martin 2015