Name of Teacher: Sara Rust Class: English as a Second Language

Grade: 9 Duration of Unit: 6 class days

No. of Students: 12 Unit Title: Biomes

Topic/Aim: How can I use technology to learn more about a particular biome and to share what I
have learned with my other classmates?

Standards:
ESL Standard 1: Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for
information and understanding
ESL Standard 4: Students will read, speak, listen, and write in English for classroom and
social interaction
Living Environment Standard 7: Students will understand the impact that humans have
had on the environment

Objectives: SWBAT—
-Correctly define and use the term “biome”;
-Use the internet and guiding questions to research their chosen biome;
-Compile their research and present it in the form of a power point presentation to
the rest of the class

Instructional Materials/Resources Needed: LCD projector/screen, speakers, laptop computers

(1 for each pair of students = 6), internet access, power point accessibility, pencils/pens, paper

Teaching Procedures:

Pre-Activity: Students will review what they learned in class the day previous to this unit, when
the term “biome” was first introduced to them. Students will have access, through the classroom
blog, to the power point presentation that was created for this introduction to biomes.

Activities 1 and 2/Motivating Activity (Day 1): Students will watch a video in class that briefly
describes and shows images of different types of biomes. By learning about the biomes and by
seeing images of it, students will be able to decide which biome they would like to research with
their partner. Students will then complete the first two parts of a KWL chart, where they will
explain what they know about their chosen biome and where they will share what they want to
learn. They will share their KWL charts with the class by posting them on the blog as a response
to the post that explains the KWL. Students will also be invited to share what they have learned
with the class.

Activity 3 (Days 2 and 3): Students will use the internet to research their chosen biome. They
will have guiding questions to facilitate their search so that they know what information to look
for among all the information provided on the internet. They will use various suggested websites
as well as other sites that they find to search for the answers. They can also use videos, such as
the ones from “How Stuff Works” that is suggested on the blog. They will type their answers and
submit them to the blog so that they can be reviewed by other classmates. This way, students can
learn from each other’s work and exemplary work can be displayed as an example for others.

Activity 4 (Days 4 and 5): Students will prepare their power point presentations using the laptops
with their partners. They should present all the information that they found; however, they will
be given examples for how best to create a power point slide. They will learn, for example, not to
put too much information on to a single slide, and that images are important. There will be a
brief discussion at the beginning about good tactics for using power points and why these are
good ideas. Students will have time in class to work on their presentations, using the blog to
guide them in their work. During this time, students should also rehearse and edit their
presentation.

Activity 5 (Day 6): Students will present their work to their classmates. Students will be
reminded about good presentation etiquette (ex: talking loudly enough to be heard, making eye
contact, asking and responding to questions, etc.). Students who are the in audience will also be
reminded to be respectful and that it is their responsibility to take notes so that they can prepare
for the cumulative test at the end of the unit.

Summary/Closure: Students will be asked to evaluate each other’s work, providing

compliments and constructive criticism.

Assessment and Evaluation: Assessment will take place both informally and formally. Students
will be evaluated on their posted responses on the blog, on the quality and consistency of their
work in class, on their research, on their power point, and on their delivery. They will also be
required to take a test at the end which will assess both what they know about biomes and how
well they listened to their classmates as they presented and took notes. An extra credit
opportunity will be available throughout the unit which will ask students to read one of the
current events articles pertaining to the environment which is listed on the left hand side of the
blog, and to post a 250 word response to the article.

Follow-up: As a follow-up to this lesson, students will watch selected episodes of “Planet
Earth,” which cover different biomes such as the desert or the grasslands. Students will be asked
to volunteer to help the teacher create a video similar to the one we watched in the beginning of
the unit about biomes, using the research that they compiled and that they learned from the
presentations. This video will be posted on YouTube.