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Title of Unit Habitats of

GeorgiaGrade Level 3rd

Standards for the 21st Century Learner:

-Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge: 1.16, 1.2.3, 1.3.4-Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to newsituations, and create new knowledge: 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.4-Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members ofour democratic society: 3.1.2, 3.1.3-Pursue personal and aesthetic growth: 4.1.1, 4.1.3, 4.1.8, 4.2.4

Georgia Performance Standards:

S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of

organisms on their habitat.

a. Differentiate between habitats of Georgia (mountains, marsh/swamp, coast, Piedmont, Atlantic

Ocean) and the organisms that live there.

b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.

c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed.

Understandings:

Different organisms live in different areas in Georgia (mountains, marsh/swamps, coast,

Piedmont, Atlantic Ocean).

Plants have features that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.

Animals have certain features that allow/help them to live and thrive in different regions.

Essential Questions:

What is a habitat?

How are regions in Georgia different?

How do the features of a plant help it survive in a certain region of Georgia?

How do an animals features and/or characteristics allow it to live and thrive in its habitat?

Why is it important to protect the habitats of plants and animals?

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Overarching Questions:

How do the plants and animals differ in

each region of Georgia?

How do the features of plants and

animals allow them to survive in a

certain Georgia region?

Topical Questions:

How are the plants and animals of the

Mountain region different from theplants and animals of the marsh/swampregion?

Why would a bear be unable to survive

in the Atlantic Ocean region of Georgia?

Stage 3: Plan Learning Experiences

Week 1

1. Begin with a quiz to assess student recollection of theinformation taught in this previous unit. W

2. Give students an entry question (How are regions in Georgiadifferent?) to hook students into thinking about the prominentaspects of the different parts of Georgia they have previouslystudied. H

3. Introduce the essential Questions and discuss the culminatingunit performance tasks (virtual Georgia habitat brochure). W

4. Review key vocabulary terms of the unit and have studentscreate their own definitions in their habitat folder (they will dothis throughout the unit when new terms are discussed). E

5. In cooperative groups, students will use numerous resources to research thedifferent plants and animals that live in one of the five habitats of Georgia. E, E-2

6. Students will use a graphic organizer to help narrow theirresearch and organize their information. E

7. Daily, students will answer the essential question and also thefollowing questions in their journal (a) what is the mostimportant thing that I learned today about my habitat? (b) whatis the most important unanswered question that I have about myhabitat? O, R

Week 2

1. In cooperative groups, students will continue to use numerous resources toresearch the different plants and animals that live in one of the five habitats of

Georgia. E, E-22. Students will view examples of created interactive brochures and a rubric to guide

their culminating activity. E

3. In cooperative groups, students will create a virtual brochure on their assignedhabitat. They will share their habitat brochure with the class. The brochures will be

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added to our habitat website. E, E-2

4. Students will collaborate with their group to revise and edit theirvirtual brochure. E, R

5. Daily, students will answer the essential question and also thefollowing questions in their journal (a) what is the most

important thing that I learned today about my habitat? (b) whatis the most important unanswered question that I have about myhabitat? O, R

6. Students will develop test questions on their habitat. The testquestions will be used to develop a post-test assessingknowledge gained from the activities and presentations. W

Reflection:

Finding the area of weakness related to information literacy based onresults from last years CRCT was a challenge at first. I finally was able toget on TestTrax and break down the data to determine which area wasour schools weakest. After determining that inquiry based research waswere most of our students struggled, I spent a lot of time determininghow I could create a student friendly lesson. I wanted to create a lessonthat would make students feel comfortable and confident during theresearch process. After collaborating with a 3rd grade teacher, I realized

that most of her students had never researched a topic. I knew that apathfinder was key to help guide students during their Internet research.I had difficulty collaborating with the teacher due to time conflicts, and Isee how a media specialist has to work diligently and be creative inorder to collaborate with fellow staff members. We decided that focusingthe lesson on habitats would be beneficial, because this was a topic thatthe students were familiar with. The first day of the lesson proved thatthe students needed much more time than I had allotted in the lesson. Ihad anticipated research would only take a few days, but the studentsspent a week and a half on their research. I did not want to rush theresearch process, so I expanded my lesson based on student progress. I

could see the students become more comfortable each day, and theywere really finding some great information. Each day I had the studentswrite a reflection based on that day, and I found this to be very useful.The students were very open about their struggles and successes. Theteacher and myself would read the reflections, and these would helpguide our instruction for the upcoming day. By the end, the studentswere excited about the information that they had found, and were veryexcited about organizing the information in their brochures. Another

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challenge I faced was with my inability to use Glogster.com at ourschool. Instead of the students creating a glog to share theirinformation, I found a online brochure organizer that the students coulduse to input their information. They put in their information and thenpresented the brochure to their classmates. To further incorporate

technology into the lesson, I created the student-generated test withactivinspire software. This was a paperless test on the Prometheanboard that allowed students to answer test questions using theiractivotes. This lesson gave me a first hand look at the ways in whichmedia specialists are constantly having to adapt situations to meet theneeds of learners. My ideas changed drastically as I applied them in theclassroom, but that is what I had to do to make sure that I was meetingthe diverse needs of all learners.