Component One: Organizational Information

Student
Teacher Grade
Name Sarah Lumley and Liam MacLean Level 6

Subject
Area
Science Unit Ecosystems and biomes

Component Two: Description and Rationale

Description/summary
of what is being
What are ecosystems and the different types, and how to use Google Earth to
taught?
enhance a lesson about ecosystems.

We live in an ecosystem and the interaction between us (biotic organisms),

and our ecosystem is important to the every day. Understanding what an
Rationale: ecosystem is and how to identify them is imperative to living on this planet,
as each one is different and therefore should be treated as such.

Component Three: Learner Outcomes

Organizing
Idea
Guiding
Question • Students investigate the characteristics and components of and interactions within
Learning
Outcome
ecosystems.

• Knowledge
• Biotic components of an ecosystem include plants, animals, and micro-
organisms.
• There are many different types of ecosystems, such as
- Desert
- Arctic
- Grassland
Specific K, or - Wetland
U, or S/P. - Forest
- Freshwater
- Salt water
• Understanding
• The components and characters of an ecosystem affect the diversity of the
organisms that live in it.

• Skills and Procedures

• Compare the characteristics of two ecosystems.

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 • Examine the diversity of animals and plants in various ecosystems in relation to
abiotic components.

Component Four: Learning Objective(s) and Assessment Evidence

Learning 1. Students will understand what an ecosystem is, and what their key qualities are.
Objective(s) 2. Students will demonstrate this understanding by identifying and locating
different ecosystems on Google Earth.

Component Five: Pre-Lesson Preparations

Curriculum Resources Materials and Equipment
https://earth.google.com/web/ Make sure there are enough laptops available for all
students OR that a computer lab is free during class
time.
Have a worksheet available for students that
provides guidance for topics to research.

Teacher Tasks
Make worksheets and print them off a head of time to scaffold research.
Have slides ready and up on the board.
Have laptops ready and standing by or ensure the computer lab is booked.

Component Six: Body (introduction, activities, closure)

Introduction Time
Allotment
Attention Today we will be showing you both the student side of this as well as the teacher
Grabber side. It is a mash up of what to teach, how we would teach it (in a very condensed
way), and why we would teach it.
Advanced
Organizer If I was to introduce this to a class of grade 6ers, I would start with calling on
previous knowledge about ecosystems and asking them if they knew what Google
Earth is/how to use it.

Description
We are biotic, we live in biomes, and we interact with ecosystems every day.
and
Rationale
Time
Activities Allotment
Learning
Activity #1 Students will understand what an ecosystem is, and what their key qualities are.
• Copy/Paste
specific Students will demonstrate this understanding by identifying and locating different
learning ecosystems on Google Earth.
objective(s)
here that
pertain most
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 directly to this Define vocabulary as you go, go through the slides (which would be much more
activity
detailed and long if it was for a real grade 6 science class), ask formative
assessment questions as you go to ensure students know the vocab and key ideas.

Briefly introduce the activity.

Show how to get to Google Earth. Use Google Earth on the smart board before you
let the students go on the project and show the class how to use it and give them
rough guidelines on how to find the biomes and ecosystems.

Go through the activity again, and then let the students go on the computers.

Transition Take it back to the teacher side of things and go through the survey and discussion
questions.
Closure/Cliffhanger Time
Allotment
Assessment
of Learning:
Scavenger hunt/research project
Transition: For the next lesson we will continue to learn about biomes. Another set of slides
provided by the teacher will describe the important and distinguish differences
between the different biomes offered for research. This activity provides students
with a basic introduction to the different types of biomes.

Individual reflection:
Using Google Earth to Research Ecosystems: Liam MacLean and Sarah Lumley
Our focus was Grade 6 science outcomes, with an emphasis on ecosystems and their differences,
as well as their unique characteristics. The activity, which was also the summative assessment, has the
students use Google Earth to find some interesting ecosystems, and record information about where on
the globe they found them. Then they have to research more about their ecosystems and compare their
characteristics.
Google Earth is a very versatile, and free, technology that is easy to use and can connect to several
different curricular outcomes. It is also simple enough that students from any grade level can navigate it
and find it interesting. Used right, and for the right reasons, Google Earth can be very effective at
enhancing lessons and piquing student interest. This technology is unique, and for the purposes of our
lesson, I do not feel that there is a more effective tool that would do what we want the students to do with
Google Earth.
I was happy with how lesson delivery went in class. It was difficult to differentiate between the
teacher and student side of things, as for this assignment they were highly interconnected. However, I am
pleased with how things were delivered and received. It did feel a bit rushed, unfortunately. If I was to
redo it, I would slow down and do a Google Earth demo, just as I would for a class of grade 6 students.
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The group collaboration portion of this assignment went very well, as the slide show and lesson plan
came together fairly seamlessly.
In a real classroom with grade 6 students, I must prepare the worksheets a head of time, and I must
ensure that every student will have the proper access to computers when it is time for the activity, be this
in the form of individual laptops or booking a computer lab. This may be a hard activity to supervise, but
if students are engaged and interested in their projects, minimal classroom management will be needed.
There is the potential for distractions as Google Earth is vast and has a lot of information, but simply
circulating the classroom while students work will help keep them on task. For the instructional portion,
however, it is imperative that I have the full attention of the students, so they are aware of what is being
asked of them.