Spring is here!
New life abounds.
Fresh scents, and many shades of green.
Rain, frost, and sun.
Introducing biology basics.
Life cycles.
Activity Steps for Students
1. Sequence cards of the life cycle of an animal / insect / amphibian / plant. (I used http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sequencingcards/)
2. Research the life life cycle on-line. Create a simple handout.
3. Find a youtube video that shows the complete life cycle.
4. Present the information from the handout and show the video.
Ant
Student selected video:
Butterfly
Student selected video:
Student selected video:
Frog
Student selected video:
Mosquito
Student selected video:
The addition of the youtube videos added a greater dimension to the presentations. During the videos, I heard students say the following: "Wow!, I didn't know that!, Two tongues?!, Whoa!, So many eggs! Where do all the eggs come from?!".
Furthermore, during the research part of it, some students read and understood a lot more information. Students had many questions about each life cycle, and some students were able to answer the extra questions. Another student actually researched the answer on-line during class so she could share the information with the class.
Follow-up
1. Students can write questions about their handout for their peers to answer.
2. Make a class booklet.
This unit includes the following key approaches and strategies for Literacy learners:
work collaboratively, plan time to complete the project within the deadline, ask for help when needed, use technology, use pictures and format to understand text, follow directions, identify the main idea and supporting details of a text, plan a presentation, and copy information.
Additional Resources
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/living/life-cycles.html#.UXm9iMrm86r
