Students take field notes during a
virtual field trip and then transform the classroom
into a wetland estuary as pairs of students make three-dimensional
organisms based on a Wetland Information Card they
are assigned.
 Download a Wetland illustration for student note-taking ( 171K, pdf)
|
|
Students learn about wetlands and estuaries
as they listen and delve into the lyrics of the song
Estuary Life by the Banana Slug String Band. They participate
in a jigsaw activity using Estuary Life Content Cards
containing additional information about the lyrics,
relating especially to new vocabulary or content. Students
then participate as contestants in a Game Show to check
for understanding. |
|
This activity uses a content-rich approach
to increasing literacy skills. Students in small groups
make observations about oyster shells and communicate
their observations to other students with words or
drawings. The activity concludes with students writing
collaborative and individual poetry using the word
walls filled with new and descriptive vocabulary gleaned
from throughout the entire activity. |
|
Students learn about the structure,
biology, and natural history of clams by coloring,
cutting out, and constructing a 6-page clam “Bivalve
Booklet”. Students then dissect a real clam to
find the parts they learned about with their Bivalve
Booklet. |
|
| Students are guided through a full open-ended
inquiry in five sessions. Students are first introduced
to an Inquiry Journal and focus on making observations,
sketching and asking questions about crayfish and categorize
them as investigable or not. Small groups of students
choose their question and plan their investigation. |
|
Students, in small cooperative
groups, make observations and participate in discussions
about two bottles of water–one salty and one
fresh. Students then design and carry out an investigation
to determine which is which, using only the limited
materials given to them on a tray. |
|
Students role-play species
of birds with beaks of different shapes and sizes.
They gather different food items with their beaks,
graph the results and compare their feeding success.
|
|
|
