GEMS project

Terrarium Habitats

Sara Gagliardi and Christy Insogna

Description

Concept Map

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5E Lesson Plan

AUTHOR'S’ NAME: Sara Gagliardi

TITLE OF THE LESSON: Terrarium Habitats

TECHNOLOGY LESSON (circle one): No

DATE OF LESSON: 6-12-08

LENGTH OF LESSON: 70 minutes

NAME OF COURSE: 3^rd grade science

SOURCE OF THE LESSON: GEMS guide

TEKS ADDRESSED:

(3.1) (A)  demonstrate safe practices during field and

laboratory investigations; and (B) make wise choices in the use and conservation

of resources and the disposal or recycling of

materials.

(3.2) (A) plan and implement descriptive investigations

including asking well-defined questions,

formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting

and using equipment and technology;

(B) collect information by observing and

measuring;

reasonable explanations from direct and

indirect evidence;

(D) communicate valid conclusions; and

(3.8)  (A)  observe and describe the habitats of organisms

             within an ecosystem;

(3.9)(A)  observe and identify characteristics among

             species that allow each to survive and

             reproduce; and

         (B)  analyze how adaptive characteristics help

             individuals within a species to survive and

             reproduce.

CONCEPT STATEMENT: Decomposition takes place continuously in soil and this process is important to both plants and animals. The decomposers in the soil recycle the nutrients of once living things and return them to the soil. Students will identify that earthworms are decomposers and they work with other organisms to keep the process of decomposition going.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES:

Students will be able to identify the internal structures of an earthworm.

Students will explain how earthworms play a role in decomposition.

Students will illustrate how earthworms react to light.

RESOURCES: Terrarium Habitat GEMS guide

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS: Care and handling of earthworms, wash hands after handling the earthworms.

SUPLEMENTARY MATERIALS, HANDOUTS: journal to make observations

Engagement		Time: ___10_____
What the Teacher Will Do	Probing Questions	Student Responses Potential Misconceptions
Tell them that they will be observing earthworms more closely today. Show students a cup with earthworms inside of it. Shine a light on the earthworm so students can see the internal organ and see its response to light.	Ask students what small animals spend most of their time underground. Ask students what they think earthworms would do if we put them in our terrarium habitats. Ask students what they think would happen if we shined a light on the earthworms.	Bugs, rodents, worms Misconceptions: worms are not animals

Exploration		Time: ____15____
What the Teacher Will Do	Probing Questions	Student Responses Potential Misconceptions
Emphasize that the earthworms are living animals and we need to treat them with kindness and respect. Give each group of students a cup with their earthworms and have them shine a flashlight over them. Students will need to draw a picture of what they see when they shine the light on the earthworm in their journals. After the students observe the earthworms in the cup they can place them in their trays with a few leaves to see how the earthworms respond to the leaves.	Students will need to discuss what they saw happen and why they think it happened. Ask students why earthworms live underground. Ask students what the worm feels like, what happens when you touch it. As you walk around the room ask students to point out the head and tail. Have the students place the earthworms in their terrariums and make observations in their journals. Ask students to come up with a way to stimulate nighttime and fool the earthworms to come to the surface of their terrarium.	The worms will move, curl up Misconceptions: worms like light They want to stay cool. They feel slimy. Cover the terrarium.

Explanation		Time: ____10____
What the Teacher Will Do	Probing Questions	Student Responses Potential Misconceptions
The teacher will explain that earthworms are very important parts of a habitat because their job is to recycle materials in the soil by eating dead plants and breaking them down so the nutrients that were in the plants are put back into the soil so that they can be used by new plants. Introduce the concept of decomposition and adaptation.	What happened when you shined the light on the worms? Why? What happened when you touched it? Why? Ask students what they think would happen in there were no more earthworms.	They moved away from the light. They don’t want to be hot. They curled up when we touched them because we scared them. Everything would die.

Elaboration		Time: __20______
What the Teacher Will Do	Probing Questions	Student Responses Potential Misconceptions
Now the students will create a story from an earthworm’s perspective. The stories can be about their life underground or even how they escaped being eaten by a bird.	What would it be like to live underground? What other animals would you see underground? What animals would you want to stay away from both under and above ground?	Cold, dark, scary Bugs, moles Birds, fish

Evaluation		Time: _20_______
What the Teacher Will Do	Probing Questions	Student Responses Potential Misconceptions
You will need to draw a picture that explains how earthworms are important for a plant’s ability to survive. You will write three sentences that explains what happens when light in shined on an earthworm.	Draw a picture showing how an earthworm is important for a plant’s ability to survive. Write three sentences that explains what happens when light is shined on an earthworm.	Earthworms move away from the light when it is shined on them. Earthworms will move underground when it is light outside.