Activities for Unit

Here is a rough draft with just a few resources. I still have to create rubrics and some graphic organizers as well as complete the Power Point, animal cards, etc.

The first learning activity for the Wet and Wonderful: Dive into Ponds and Swamps unit will be an introduction lesson. I will read Marshes and Swamps by Gail Gibbons. We will take a true-false pre-test with questions drawn from the essential understandings of my unit. I will briefly describe the activities in the unit. I will send a note home with an outline of the unit and information about how to get to the unit links on our class website.

The second lesson will be an introduction to the performance task. The students will watch a Power Point presentation that I have prepared that shows animals of the swamps and wetlands. I will explain how to use the Power Point presentation as I show it because the students will have access to it in order to create their food chain projects. I will show the students the rubric for the project. I will introduce procedures for gathering and storing materials for the project. I will explain the schedule for doing research.
To conclude the session, I will give students one minute to write a question they would like to have answered during the unit. All questions will be compiled on chart paper for reference during subsequent sessions.

The third lesson will start with a look at the chart of questions submitted by the students. We will discuss ways to get information to answer the questions: books, videos, Internet, observations, etc.
I will pass out cards with pictures of animals on them. Students should watch for their animal and raise up their card when they see it during the ponds section of the Eyewitness video Ponds and Rivers. After the video, see if the information answered any questions on the chart.
Give students time to look in books and review the Power Point presentation for the food chain project.

The fourth lesson will be a demonstration of how wetlands work. First, we will talk about the compound word “wetlands” to brainstorm what that might mean.
I will tell them wetlands absorb excess water to prevent flooding. We will work with dry and wet sponges to see which absorbs more water as the water flows over them. See if the conclusions answer any questions on the chart.
Give students time to look in books and review the Power Point presentation for the food chain project.

In the fifth lesson, we will visit Green Swamp on the Internet during computer lab time. I will demonstrate what students are to do with the site before we go to the computer lab. Students will use the animal cards again to identify the animals found in the “Natural” section of the site. Students will have time to go on Kids Click! to search for more wetlands information. See if the information answered any questions on the chart.

In the sixth lesson, we will talk about what kinds of plants live in wetlands. We will read the care instructions for an aquatic plant and for a cactus. Then we will submerge both in water and begin an observation chart. Make predictions about what will happen to both plants. Plan to have students record observations daily.
Give students time to look in books and review the Power Point presentation for the food chain project.


In celebration of Earth Day, on April 21 we will view the online book Earth Day for Kids. Then we will have a discussion about the effect that people can have on the environment and specifically on the animals in the swamps and ponds. I will observe the discussion closely for misunderstandings of the way the living organisms interact in the habitats. As a group, we will write a pledge to take care of the local ponds and wetlands. I will enlarge this to poster size and use as the center of our bulletin board.

In the eighth lesson, students will begin sharing their completed food chains. They will be given a rubric and description of the poster they are to complete as part of the bulletin board project. If available, we will use a drawing program on the computer to create the posters. Otherwise, students will draw and label a wetlands plant or animal. Then they will add facts they have found about it as details in the drawing and in sentences on the poster. Early finishers will help cut out and prepare the background for the bulletin board as well as assist other students with research.

In the ninth lesson, we will begin a series of worksheets describing the life cycles of wetlands animals. For the frog, we will read Tadpole to Frog by Oliver Owen. Then we will complete a cut and paste worksheet putting the stages in the correct order. We will complete the same type of worksheet for the dragonfly and the otter. At the end of each of these sessions, time will be given to complete projects and present finished projects. We will consult the chart daily to see how many questions we have answered and brainstorm how to find the remaining answers.

In the twelfth and culminating lesson, we will review the chart for answers. In groups, students will create question cards for a review game. They will take the pre-test which has been modified to allow students to restate false statements to make them true.