Subject
Objective
Description/What to do in the classroom
Things to consider/science behind it
Number of TryScience.org features used
Titles of TryScience.org features
Materials Used
Results of student feedback and teacher assessment of activity
Attachments

Subject
Life Science - Living Things and Their Environments

Objective
1. The students will explore several different types of ecosystems and habitats through virtual exploration of these systems through the internet.
2. The students will use their internet explorations of living things to identify and describe real life plants and animals around them (via the schoolyard and at home).
3. The students will apply their knowledge of environments to create an environment for a plant, an earthworm, or a fish.
4. The students will present his or her habitat to the class and explain what the habitat is made of, what the living thing needs to survive in the habitat, and how the organism and other things in the habitat co-depend on each other.

Science Standards: (List as applicable)
National Standards -
National Science Education Standards: Kindergarten - 4th Grade
Content Standard A: Science As Inquiry
As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop and understanding for: - Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- Understandings about scientific inquiry
Content Standard C: Life Science
As a result of activties in grades K-4, all students should develop and understanding for:
- The characteristics of organisms
- Life cycles of organisms
- Organisms and environments
Content Standard C: Life Science
As a result of activties in grades K-4, all students should develop and understanding for:
Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
- Types of resources
- Changes in environments

State Standards -
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS): 2nd Grade
2.1   The student conducts classroom and field investigations following home and school safety procedures. The student is expected to:
A.   demonstrate safe practices during classroom and field investigations.
B.   learn how to use and conserve resources and dispose of materials.
2.2   The student develops abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry in the field and the classroom. The student is expected to:
A.   ask questions about organisms, objects, and events.
B.   plan and conduct simple descriptive investigations.
C.   compare results of investigations with what students and scientists know about the world.
D.   gather information using simple equipment and tools to extend the senses.
E.   construct reasonable explanations and draw conclusions using information and prior knowledge.
F.  communicate explanations about investigations. 2.3   The student knows that information and critical thinking are used in making decisions. The student is expected to:
A.   make decisions using information.
B.   discuss and justify merits of decisions.
2.4   The student uses age-appropriate tools and models to verify that organisms and objects and parts of organisms and objects can be observed, described, and measured. The student is expected to:
B.   measure and compare organisms and objects and parts of organisms and objects, using standard and non-standard units.
2.5   The student knows that organisms, objects, and events have properties and patterns. The student is expected to:
A.   classify and sequence organisms, objects, and events based on properties and patterns.
2.6   The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects. The student is expected to:
C.   observe and record the functions of plant parts.
D.   observe and record the functions of animal parts.
2.7    The student distinguishes between living and nonliving objects. The student is expected to:
A.   identify characteristics of living organisms.
B.nbsp;  identify characteristics of nonliving organisms.
2.9   The student knows that living organisms have basic needs.
A.   identify the external characteristics of different kinds of plants and animals that allow their needs to be met.
B.   compare and give examples of the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments.

Description/What to do in the classroom
1.  An understanding of environments and habitats for all living things will be introduced through the book "Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun" [Tharp P, Cutler P, Moreno N., Tillena's Day in the Sun. Burlington, NC: Carolina Biological Supply Company; 2003 (From the Living Things and Their Needs unit of Baylor College of Medicine's My World and Me® educational series.)].
2. Students will then do a simple TryScience.org "scavenger hunt" in which they will locate different pictures of plants and animals in their natural environment through different field trips and science center live cameras.
3. Students will then engage in various TryScience activties to enhance their knowledge of various habitats. Students will explore why some organisms live better or adapt better to different environments.
4. Students will then pair up with a partner and research a specific type of organism by looking at trade books on each organism. Students will draw a picture of what the habitat is supposed to look like in their science journal. Students will also make a list of materials they need for their habitat.
5. Students will answer 3 questions about their habitat (as described in the objectives) and present their answers to the class.

Things to consider/science behind it
- Students will be doing virtual investigations of habitats through TryScience.org. They need to make sure that they are investigating how the organisms interact in the environment. Here are some of the guiding key questions or concepts students should be answering as they go through their investigation:
1. How are living organisms different from nonliving organisms?
2. What do living organisms need to survive?
3. What helps living things best live in their habitat?
4. How do living things depend on thier environment?
5. How do living things change in their environment?
6. What are the functions of plants and/or animals?
7. What nonliving things help the organism to thrive in their environment?

Curriculum topics
Several curriculum topics are addressed in this unit. While the unit is designed around learning about life science and how living organisms function in their environment, the unit also touches on the nature of science and scientific inquiry. Students are investigating the charactistics and surrounding of organisms.

Also, differentiating the curriculum by giving students the choice to research organisms of interest and design their habitat around either a fish, earthworm, or plant helps to enhance student learning. Discovery or a constructivist method of teaching is also conveyed with the students doing most of their learning with the teacher as the guider or facilitator. Only a tiny bit of the lesson is direct instruction. The unit is build around student inquiry.

Integration of TryScience.org features
This unit utilized 5 TryScience.org activites to help foster student understanding of the national and state standards being addressed.

The TryScience.org activities were used as a way students students to further understand plants, animals, and their surroundings. Through these activties students are able to answer and understand several of the key questions and concepts guiding the unit.

Number of TryScience.org features used
0-5

Titles of TryScience.org features
TryScience.org Field Trips

"What Grabs You at Science North" - In this activity students will be able to explore specific animals that dwell in northern ecosystems (Ontario, Canada). Through the simulated activity "What's My Part" students will be able to identify certain animals and learn about their characteristics by choosing questions to ask Bluecoat.

"Explore @ Bristol" - Through the video camera at Bristol students will be able to discover all the various plants and animals that live in the Wildwalk in and around Bristol, England. Here students will be able to explore a variety of organisms that are different from the ones from Science North which live in Canada.

"Can You Dig It" - Here students will specifically look at the mole-rats and how they create their environment by digging niches. This is an excellent activity to compare with earthworms (which is an organism they may choose to make a habitat for if they would like). Through the simulated activity, students will explore the traits and doings of the mole-rat.

TryScience.org Experiments

"Animal Attraction (Online)" - Here students will be able to identify some of the ways in which living organisms co-depend on other living organisms. By matching up the pollinators with the flowers students will experience this hands-on. This is great for students discovering that plants need animals and vice versa.

"Salt, Soil & Seeds (Home)" - Also having the students experiment with variables to see how plants react to certain nonliving things is essential for construction of an organisms' needs and survival. By doing this experiment students will also be exposed to experimental inquiry and design while studying the characteristics of plants.

Materials Used
1. Book - "Tillena Lou's Day in the Sun. 
> 2. Computer with Internet Access for TryScience.org activties
3. Materials for "My Habitat" Construction
- Fish habitat
  - 2 liter bottle
  - guppies
  - aquarium rocks
  - aquarium plants
- Earthworm habitat
  - 2 liter bottle
  - sand
  - soil
  - oatmeal
  - coffee grinds
  - water
  - earthworms
  - crushed leaves
- Plant habitat
  - 20 oz bottle
  - different types of plants
  - soil

Results of student feedback and teacher assessment of activity
The unit was excellent, and the students really learned about the essential life science objectives. Students also learned about animal safety and the treatment of living organisms (which was something that was not aniticipated).

The TryScience.org really helped the students to be exposed to other animals and plants in other ecosystems. In Houston, Texas it is usually a warm climate so we are not privy to see the other animals and plants that survive in extremely cold temperatures.

The students overall loved the project of having to make their own habitat. It was great!