Taylor Carswell

ELED 3221--002
10/26/2017

INDIRECT INSTRUCTION

Ecology Lesson and Life Science Review

Elementary Science
_____________________________________________________________________________

Big Idea:
Ecology

Grade Level:
4th

Rationale:
Understanding ecology is important for students to because it explains the connections between
plants and animals, including humans, and the world around.

NC Essential Standard(s):
4.L.1 Understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations and behaviors that enable
animals (including humans) to survive in changing habitats.
4.L.2 Understand food and the benefits of vitamins, minerals and exercise.

Next Generation Science Standard(s):

3-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive
well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Instructional Objective:
Students will be able to independently complete the review game earning at least 21 out of 26
points.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills:

Students should know the terms: Ecology and adaptation.
Students should be able to recall the information they learned in the previous lessons about
vitamins, minerals, and nutrition as a whole for the evaluation activity.

Materials/Resources:
Cards with animal name & picture
Cards with animal facts
Document camera
Smartboard
Chromebook for each student (They all have their own Chromebook)

Source of your lesson:

My cooperating teacher had the Kahoot game already planned out for me to play with the
students.

Estimated Time:
One hour

Accommodation for Special Needs/different learning styles:

ESL: For ESL students, I will have the questions and answers written in English and whatever
other languages are necessary.
Struggling readers: I will read the entire problem and answer out loud to support students who
are struggling readers.

Safety considerations: How will you make sure students are safe in your lesson?
N/A
Taylor Carswell
ELED 3221--002
10/26/2017
______________________________________________________________________________

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

Engage: 10 minutes
T: Okay, each set of partners will get a bag with cards in them. With your partner, you are going
to play a matching game. Half of the cards will have a picture and name of an animal. The other
half of the cards will have a description or fact of that animal. Your job is to match up the animal
with the correct fact. You need to take turns matching these cards up. If you dont agree with an
answer your partner came up with, you need to tell them and then explain why you dont agree!
T: Walk around the room as students are working, monitoring student progress. Ask questions.
Questions:
T: Why do you think those 2 cards match?
S: I know camels live in the desert and I know there isnt much food and water in the
desert for camels to eat and drink, so they have to be able to store a lot of it until they
have a chance to go get more.
S: I know bears sleep all winter. I know they sleep for a reason and not just because they
are sleepy. This card talked about how this animal sleeps all winter to save energy
because food is hard to find during the winter. It sounds like it could match up to the
bear.
If students are struggling to match up the cards correctly, be sure to continue asking guiding
questions. Not all cards have to be correctly matched, but students should be able to correctly
identify some matches.

Explore: 15 minutes
Students will keep the cards they were given with an animal name and picture on each card.
Students must group these animals into categories based on the adaptation that animal has.
Students will work in small groups. Migration, camouflage, hibernation, resource conservation
are the 4 different categories but students do not know this during this stage.

T: I need everyone to gather up all the cards with a picture and name. You are going to work
together with your partner to all place these cards in 4 different categories based on your
knowledge or educated guesses that you can make on what the adaptations for those animals
might be. Think about your matching game that you just played, what did some of those
description cards have in common with others?
S: Work on sorting.
T: Walk around and question students to guide their learning.
Questions:
T: What do these animals have in common?
S: I know a chameleon and octopus both can change colors.
T: Why do these animals change colors?
S: To blend in with what their surroundings.
To protect themselves.
Explanation: 10 minutes
T: I walked around and saw some really good thinking and team work happening. Can I have
one person volunteer to come up to the document camera and share with us how your group
sorted your animal cards.
S: Sorts the cards under the document camera.
T: ask questions while student is sorting to make sure everyone is following this students
thought process.
Questions:
T: What do these animals have in common?
S: I know a chameleon and octopus both can change colors.
S: Bears and bats hibernate.
S: Birds, fish, deer, moose, and snakes all travel different places during specific times of
year.
S: Camels and squirrels both have to save nutrients and food for later.
T: Why do those animals change colors?
S: To blend in with what their surroundings.
To protect themselves.
T: Why do those animals hibernate?
S: To save food and energy.
T: Why do those animals travel different places at specific times of the year?
S: Animals travel for different reasons like for food, shelter, and to find a temperature
that is good for them.
T: Why do those animals save food for later?
S: Camels have fat in their humps that help them survive in the desert without food and
water for a long time and squirrels hide their nuts so that they can eat them in the winter.

Elaborate: 5 minutes
T: Did you guys notice how there werent any specific categories that you had to place these
animals in?
S: yes
T: Well now I want to see if you can place the correct category title with the correct group of
animals! You may work together to find these titles. The 4 titles are migration, resource
conservation, camouflage, and hibernation

Evaluate: 15 minutes
Formative assessment: Student knowledge and understanding will be monitored throughout the
lesson through questioning and observation.
Summative assessment: Students will be able to independently complete the review kahoot game
earning at least 21 out of 26 points.

Closure: 5 minutes
Teacher: What is one thing you learned from today about adaptations? What is one thing we
should all remember for our test? Now we have completed the review for our test that will be
tomorrow.