Centennial Museum Lesson Plan

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Angela McCarthy
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Centennial Museum Lessn Plan UTEP Curse: MSED 4311- Teaching Science in Intermediate and Middle Grades Designers: Jsephine Talamantes, Gabriel Brunda, Mayra Cruz 1.

1 Centennial Museum Lessn Plan UTEP Curse: MSED Teaching Science in Intermediate and Middle Grades Designers: Jsephine Talamantes, Gabriel Brunda, Mayra Cruz 1. Lessn Title: El Pas Ecsystem & Fd Chain 2. Grade: 8th 3. Time: 40 minutes 4. Learning Objectives: (1) Learner will be able t describe prducer/cnsumer, predatr/prey, as they ccur in fd webs within the Chihuauan desert. (2) Learners will be able t investigate hw rganisms and ppulatins in an ecsystem depend n and may cmpete fr bitic and abitic factrs such as quantity f light, water, range f temperatures, r sil cmpsitin. 5. TEKS Alignment: -TEKS 8.11A: Ecsystem Rles -TEKS 8.11B: Bitic and Abitic Factrs* 6. Cncept Map 7. Materials in the Centennial Museum (Lists and Pictures) 1

2 -El Pas Bilgy Sectin 8. Self-Created Materials (Lists and Pictures) (1) Chart (2) Cut-uts (3) Pencils (4) Markers (5) Masks (6) Rcks (7) Sand 2

3 9. Safety Cnsideratin (1) Masks might nt be fitted prprtinately, we will make sure they d nt fit t tight. 3

4 (2) Rcks & Sand can be thrwn arund 10. Scientific Tpics (1) Ecsystem: Everything in the natural wrld is cnnected. An ecsystem is a cmmunity f living and nn-living things that wrk tgether. Ecsystems have n particular size. An ecsystem can be as large as a desert r a lake r as small as a tree r a puddle. If yu have a terrarium, that is an artificial ecsystem. The water, water temperature, plants, animals, air, light and sil all wrk tgether. If there isn't enugh light r water r if the sil desn't have the right nutrients, the plants will die. If the plants die, animals that depend n them will die. If the animals that depend n the plants die, any animals that depends n thse animals will die. Ecsystems in nature wrk the same way. All the parts wrk tgether t make a balanced system. (2)The Chihuahuan Desert: The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest desert in Nrth America, extends frm Mexic int sectins f Texas, New Mexic and Arizna. This diverse desert regin ranges frm sparse scrub desert and dunes t grasslands and wdy hills. Animals in the Chihuahuan Desert adapt t sparse vegetatin and little water. 1. Mammals: The Chihuahuan Desert ffers habitat fr bighrn sheep, mule deer and prnghrn antelpe. Predatrs including bears, muntain lins, cytes and wlves travel thrugh the desert hills. 2. Grund-dwellers Chaparral, cactus and grasses prvide fd and shelter fr small animals including the Chihuahua pcket muse, desert jackrabbit, kangar rat and grund squirrel. Endangered species like the Mexican prairie dg make their hmes here. 3. Herpetfauna Native lizards, gecks and whiptails thrive in this desert. Snakes slithering thrugh the Chihuahuan landscape include sidewinders, rattlesnakes, the Trans-Pecs rat snake and cat-eyed snake. Sun-seeking sft-shelled turtles burrw t hide. Birds 4

5 Over 300 bird species live in the Chihuahuan regin. Migratry birds mve in and ut with the seasns. Ntable birds include the radrunner, which prefers running t flying, and the small elf wl that plays dead when in danger. Bats Bats, flying mammals f the desert, cnsume thusands f insects. Diverse bats perch in trees, shrubs, rck crevices and caves. Vracius eaters like the pallid bat climb and crawl t get grasshppers, scrpins and large crickets. (3) Descriptin f Abitic Factrs: The Chihuahuan desert cntains abitic factrs such as sand and rcks. Examples f rcks wuld be as limestne and calcareus sils. There is very little water which is mstly undergrund. (4) Bitic Factrs: 5

11. Opening Activity (hk) The students will be shwn rcks (limestne et.) and sand fund in the El Pas area. They will respnd t these bjects using their prir knwledge whether they have seen them befre.

6 11. Opening Activity (hk) The students will be shwn rcks (limestne et.) and sand fund in the El Pas area. They will respnd t these bjects using their prir knwledge whether they have seen them befre. We will then explain that they are abitic factrs that cntribute t the Chihuahuan ecsystem in El Pas thrugh an interactive pster we have created nline. Prezi Interactive Pster Link: Next the students will be shwn a vide n why the desert is really ht and at times really cld at night including the abitic factrs Practice fr the targeted audience/lder audience The students will be given a graphic rganizer in which they will be filling ut accrding t the new terms being taught. The students will be prvided a chart that will have the definitins t the graphic rganizer fr mre supprt. 6

7 13. Practice fr the targeted/yunger audience/lder audience The students will have t rganize the animals as a grup activity based n the terms and sequence f the fd chain n a chart. Cut-uts f animals and plants fund in the 7

8 Chihuahuan Desert will be prvided, alng with wacky tacky fr the children t arrange n the chart f the levels f the fd chain. 15. Assessment fr the targeted audience/yunger audience/lder audience The Students will have masks, in which they wuld participate in a game f trying t figure ut what they withut lking at their wn mask, but at each ther s. Once they have fund ut what they are they will then be guided in a discussin f which animal eats wh. They will then arrange themselves based n the fd chain rder f prducer, 1 st level cnsumer etc. 18. Reference (at least five references, tw frm the curse and three frm external surces) YuTube secure.humanesciety.rg Prezi.cm Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu Ggle.cm (images) 8

Lesson Plan. Grade Level

Lesson Plan. Grade Level Lessn Plan Lessn Title Eclgy f Msquites Grade Level 5 th grade Tpic Msquites Lessn time 45-55 minutes Materials Required Digital micrscpe Eclgy f Msquites PwerPint (available here) Msquit Life Cycle Kit