Internet Lesson Plan 

 

Teacher Name, Site      Nancy G. Byrd

Date                               October 5, 2000 

Grade Level                  4       

Title of Lesson              A Group Whale Report

http://trackstar.hprtec.org/main/track_frames.php3?track_id=32549&nocache=1912927489

A Group Whale Report

Track Star

 

 

Arizona Standards for Science:

          Students will:

1SC-E6. Analyze scientific reports from magazines, television or other media

4SC-E1. Construct classification systems based on the structure of organisms

4SC-E7. Explain and model the interaction and interdependence of living and non-living components within ecosystems, including the adaptation of plants and animals to their environment

 

Arizona Standards for Language Arts:

          Students will:

          W-E1.Use correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar and

usage, along with varied sentence structure and paragraph organization, to complete effectively a variety of writing tasks

          W-E3.Write a summary that presents information clearly and accurately, contains the most significant details and preserves the position of the author

          PO 3. Provide support through facts, details, examples or descriptions that are appropriate, directly related to the topic and from a variety of cited sources

          PO 1. Implement a research strategy that includes

·        selecting appropriate source for a specific purpose

·        utilizing reference materials (e.g., dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, informational trade books, multimedia sources, Internet)

·        writing a paraphrase of information from a source

·        recording relevant information (e.g., notes, graphs, tables) taken from a research source

·        organizing notes and integrating notes into a finished product

·        incorporating notes into a finished product

 

 

 

Arizona Standards for Technology:

T-E2. Exhibit legal and ethical behaviors when using technology and information and discuss consequences of misuse

PO 1. Follow the rules for deciding when permission is needed for using the work of others, (e.g., some sites specify whether permission is required or not, some work is in public domain)

PO 2. Obtain permission to use the work of others

PO 3. Provide complete citations from electronic media (e.g., use age-level appropriate, district developed standardized reference formats for citing source of information)

3T-E1. Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and illustrating

PO 1. Use word processing editing tools to revise a document (e.g., cut and paste, tabs and margins, font size, font style, delete and undo, selecting, spell check, click and drag)

5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources

5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources

 

Objectives

·        Academic:

Together with their group students will create a word processed research paper on a type of whale. In order to do this they will:

·        Find and read appropriate information on their whale

·        Distinguish information meaningful to their topic questions.

·        Use manual or Word note taking skills.

·        Paraphrase a source.

·        Incorporate notes into a finished product.

 

·        Technological:

Students will:

·        Use formatting capabilities of technology tools

·        Provide complete citations from electronic media

·        Use word processing editing tools to revise a document

 

Pre-Requisite Technology Skills

            Students have been working on “Voyage of the Mimi” in their science classes.  They have found out some information about whales in general, and after a laser disc lesson on the Great Whales know that there are two groups of whales, toothed and baleen.  Students have completed Track Star lessons in the past.

Materials

·        Computer        

·        Internet access

·        Pencil

·        Paper or note cards

·        More sources (ie: books, films, videos) on types of whales

·        A list of questions to be answered about their whale (suggest: what the look like, what and how they eat, where they live, who their enemies are, and interesting facts or differences)

 

Procedures

          Students are divided into groups of 4 or 5 and asked to choose a whale to research. The teacher may wish to have the students have a brief overview of the Track Star lesson on the Aver Key to help them decide on their whale.

Each student in the group chooses a part of the report to research, ie:
what their whale looks like or what their whale eats, etc. They then look for that information and take notes. Students are taught how to copy and paste using Word to print out parts of articles they may wish to take notes from later.    

Copy writing laws and plagiarism must be discussed and students are taught to write down the URL and page name from which they get their information

 Students write a single paragraph to answer the question they have chosen. After the paragraphs are written groups put them in order and together write and introduction and conclusion.

 

Assessment

            The teacher may use the 6 Traits of Writing to grade the individual paragraphs for language arts. A science grade will be obtained from the completion of their paragraph, which will include at least four facts about their whale.