Nicole WillisTowson University

SCED 460 Using Reading and Writing in the Secondary SchoolDirected Reading Lesson Plan: Ecology

Introductory material Class Description:

This is a tenth grade biology classroom that contains 2 independent readers, 10 instructional readers, and 5 frustrational readers. This unit in the course is taught during the fourth quarter of the year. Therefore, the class has already been given the information on cells and heredity, bacteria to plants, animals, and human biology. Now they will be exploring Ecology and the different dependencies throughout the biosphere.

Unit Title: Ecology: Population and Communities

Topic of this Lesson: The Environment

Type of Lesson: Initiatory- This lesson is the beginning of a series of lessons on the environment. It gives the students background knowledge and basic concepts regarding the environment so that in later lessons they can apply this knowledge to other scenarios.

Common Core Learning Goal(s)/State Curriculum- INDICATOR 3.5.1 The student will analyze the relationships between biotic diversity and abiotic factors in environments and the resulting influence on ecosystems.

Unit Goal: The unit goal that I will work toward in this lesson is for student understanding that in order to survive; organisms must interact with both living and non-living things in their environment.

Lesson Objectives-1. Students will be able to define an ecosystem and what is meant by biotic and

abiotic factors. 2. Students will be able to list and define all parts that make up an ecosystem. 3. Students will be able illustrate how the terminology of an ecosystem come through their own “make-believe” ecosystem.

Assessment--1. Letter to Home (collected and graded)2. Graphic Organizer (checked for accuracy)3. Group Presentations of their own Ecosystems (Verbal)

Macrostructure Thinking Skill(s)- Definition

Materials-Motivational Picture: http://alaska.fws.gov/fire/role/unit3/ecosystem.cfmWhiteboard/MarkersVideo of Ecosystems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdKhQVHc3AoDiagram which I will draw on the boardReading “Living Things and the Environment”During Reading Organizer 1: For Struggling ReadersDuring Reading Organizer 2: For Standard ReadersDuring Reading Organizer 3: For Advanced ReadersDuring Reading Organizer 4: Completed OrganizerRubric for letter: https://mrsbeej.wikispaces.com/file/view/Friendly_Letter_Rubric.jpg/42235807/Friendly_Letter_Rubric.jpgPoster BoardMarkersConstruction PaperScissorsGlueWorksheet: “Ecosystem at School”: http://science-class.net/Magnifying glassStringPlastic BagRuler

Lesson Procedure

Motivation-

I am going to start by pulling a picture up onto the projector. It is a cartoon of an ecosystem, but the students do not know what we are “looking at yet”. The only information they have is the picture. I am going to ask them to tell me everything that they see in the picture, and we will do a whip-around. This is when I start with one student and he/she will start by naming one object he/she sees in the picture, and then we will circulate around the room (each student saying a different word then what was previously said).

When we finish, I am going to explain how everything that they named is a part of an ecosystem. All of the living and non-living things in a particular area make up an ecosystem: from the soil all the way to the animals. This will hopefully motivate my students because instead of a bulk of information, I am presenting the information to them with a fun and inviting cartoon animation of an ecosystem.

Background of Experience- “Now that you have seen what an ecosystem is like, and know the

definition of an ecosystem, who can give me an example of a specific ecosystems that they have visited before?”

Expected Student Responses: A dessert, marsh, wetland, forest, etc.

“Ok great job! So from the ecosystems we have listed we are just going to choose one to illustrate. How about the desert?” I will then write desert up on the board. “Now I would like every student to come up and name one thing, either living or non-living that you would find in a desert ecosystem.” Students will come up by table and write their responses on the board. I will re-iterate the point that ecosystems are just a specific area where living and non-living things interact with one another. I will give examples like, the cactus relies on the sun, or the

hawk relies on the mouse, and so on.

Transition: Okay so know that we have an idea of what an ecosystem is, and some examples of an ecosystem, we need to delve into some further terminology before we begin the reading.

Concept Development- I am going to build on the concept of Ecology through an introductory

video of ecosystems. This video is very basic, slow-paced, and simple to get the basic concepts and terminology across to the students. The link to the video is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdKhQVHc3Ao

After the video I will ask if students have any questions, and take a poll (thumbs-up as in they are getting the hang of ecosystems, and thumbs-down if they are still unsure). Next I am going to reinforce these concepts through a diagram on the whiteboard of ecosystems and all of the words surrounding it. I will draw a diagram on the board with clouds, rain, an umbrella, and the stalk of the umbrella cut into three sections. I will then list the words, ecosystem, habitat, population, biotic, abiotic, community, and ecology on the board. I will then have a discussion with the students of where they think each term should fit into the diagram.

Expected Student Responses: Cloud (Ecology), Rain (Biotic and Abiotic), Umbrella (Ecosystem), Stalk (habitat, community, population).

“I would like everyone to copy this diagram in their notebooks. We can see that ecology is the overall study of ecosystems. We can then see that the rain (or abiotic and biotic factors) is affecting the ecosystems. Lastly, we can see that within ecosystems we have habitats which are made up of communities, which are made up of populations of organisms.”

Transition: Now that we have some foundation of ecosystems and what they are composed of, we are going to begin our reading of “Living Things in the Environment”.

Purpose-for-Reading-“Today you will be reading to be informed. While reading, you are going

to take in depth and detailed notes of new vocabulary terms, especially ones that we have already covered. Before you read, look over the graphic organizer. You can see that it contains three columns: terminology, definitions, and examples.”

I have three different organizers for each level of students. One with more boxes filled in for the frustrated readers, an organizer with just terms for the standard reader, and a completely blank organizer for the more advanced reader.

“So as you read, pay close attention to important terminology and note definitions and examples of these terms.”

Silent Reading- Students will begin to read silently and fill out their graphic organizers. I

will give them about twenty minutes to read the article and fill out their graphic organizers. I will circulate the room and help struggling students.

Discussion-Before discussing the graphic organizers, I will go around and check to

make sure all students have made an effort and attempt to fill out the organizer. Because the organizer is direct information from the reading, I will then place a filled out graphic organizer on the projector. I will ask the students to check their organizers and make sure their responses are correct. I will walk around the room and make sure each student is correcting his/her work. After all students have corrected their organizers, we will discuss what we have learned through examples of each of the terms they identified in the readings. I will say one of the terms out loud and call on four or five students to give their own examples of these terms. Terms will include: habitat, abiotic/biotic factors, and population.

Expected Student Responses: Habitat (tree, swamp, hive, ant hill, forest floor), Abiotic factors (water, sun, wind), Biotic Factors (animals, grass, plants), Population (pigeons in NYC)

Transition: Now that we have read to be informed, and have gathered the bulk of the information from this passage, we are going to re-read the text in order to apply the information.

Re-reading- I will have students count off by numbers 1-6. They will then get into their

groups and I will explain the assignment. “You will skim over the reading for a second time to help you with the following assignment. You are going to take a second look at all of the components that make up an ecosystem, and then using the reading and the graphic organizers that you have filled out, your group will create their own ecosystem. You can have real or imaginary animals. They can live off of the moon instead of the sun, or eat tootsie rolls for food. Be very creative! You just need to make sure that at least 5 of the 7 terms from your graphic organizer are in this depiction of your ecosystem. Write a paragraph explaining your ecosystem and then come up with some visual representation of the ecosystem.”

I will give students about 30 minutes to re-read, plan, outline, write, and draw their ecosystems. When finished, I will have each group give a quick presentation of the ecosystem they created and how they used the terminology.

Follow-up-To reinforce the concept of ecosystems, students will then apply what

they have learned and observe their own ecosystem. They will be given a worksheet and look over the procedures before we begin.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, now that you know about ecosystems and what they are, we are going to observe our own ecosystems. Everyone come and get a magnifying glass, piece of string, baggie, and worksheet from the front of the room”. I will then give them time to review the worksheet before we head outside. “Once we get to the field, you are going to take your string and place it in a circle. This will be your ecosystem. Then you will use your magnifying glass to observe and record data, observations, and a picture of your ecosystem. When we come back we will discuss what we have seen.” We will then go outside and complete the activity. Once we come back we will fill out the second half of the worksheet and discuss what we have observed.

Summary-Students will use think-pair-share to discuss what they have learned through

this lesson. After discussing with a partner, they will write a letter to home discussing what they have learned. A rubric for the letter is contained in this lesson.

Differentiation- I have differentiated this lesson to accommodate for struggling, standard

and advanced readers. I have done this through the multiple organizers that I have provided for the different levels of readers. I made a completely blank organizer for advanced readers, an organizer with just terms for standard readers, and a more detailed organizer for struggling readers. Hopefully through this differentiation of organizers I can accommodate to all of my students and they will be able to read and comprehend this passage.

Along with differentiating the reading instruction, I have also differentiated activities throughout the lesson to assist all types of learners. I use a lot of visuals throughout the lesson and then have students use drawings to represent their own ecosystem. For visual learners, my instruction is both lecture and then I use a diagram on the white-board to support my lecture and a video to also re-iterate what I am teaching. Then for students who like to write, they will be writing a letter to home describing what they have learned. Lastly, to get students up and moving, they get to observe their own ecosystem outside. My hopes with this lesson are to sufficiently differentiate the information so that all students can have access to and learn the information.

Materials:Besides the worksheets and diagrams provided in this folder, these are the other materials I will need to ob-tain before giving this lesson:

Whiteboard/Markers Video of Ecosystems:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdKhQVHc3Ao

PosterBoard Markers Construction Paper Scissors Glue Magnifying Glass String Plastic Baggies Rulers

Name:_________________________________ Date:________________________

DRL WORKSHEET ONE

Directions: While reading, pay close attention to the following terminology. Note the definition and examples that they give in the reading and record them in the second and third columns.

Term Definition Example

Ecosysytem

Habitat

Biotic Factors

Abiotic Factors

Population

Community

Ecology

Name:_________________________________ Date:________________________

DRL WORKSHEET TWO

Directions: While reading, record terminology that you find to be important and include the

definiitons and examples of this term in the preceding columns.

Term Definition Example

Name:_________________________________ Date:________________________

DRL WORKSHEET THREE

Directions: While reading, pay close attention to the following terminology. Note the definition and examples that they give in the reading and record them in the second and third columns.

Term Definition Example

EcosysytemAll of the living and non-living that

interact in a particular area.

HabitatDamp soil, Forest floor, Fallen tree

trunks

Biotic Factors

Abiotic FactorsWater, Sunlight, Oxygen,

Temperature, Soil

Population

CommunityAll of the different populations that

live together in one area.

EcologyThe study of how living things interact

with one another and with their environment.

Name:_________________________________ Date:________________________

DRL WORKSHEET FOUR

Directions: While reading, pay close attention to the following terminology. Note the definition and examples that they give in the reading and record them in the second and third columns.

Term Definition Example

EcosystemAll of the living and non-living that

interact in a particular area. Prairie, Mountain Streams, Deep

Oceans, Forests, Deserts

HabitatThe place where an organism lives

and that provides the things that the organism needs

Damp soil, Forest floor, Fallen tree trunks

Biotic Factors Living parts of the ecosystemGrass, plants, animals, worms, fungi,

bacteria

Abiotic FactorsNon-living parts of an ecosystem Water, Sunlight, Oxygen,

Temperature, Soil

PopulationAll of the members of one species in a

particular area. Prairie dogs in Texas town, Pigeons in New York City, daises in a field,

pine trees in the forest

CommunityAll of the different populations that

live together in one area. Prairie dogs along with hawks,

grasses, badgers, and snake make up a community.

EcologyThe study of how living things interact

with one another and with their environment.

Scientists study Ecology