Assignment #2
Biomes
Objective: To engage the students in thinking about different conditions around the world and the adaptations life has made to best suit itself to these conditions.
Procedure:
1. Lead the Class in a discussion about what makes two places different. If you were to describe the conditions of the NON-LIVING elements of this area, how would you?
2. On the board, list on the board several of the important features the students generate. Explain that these different conditions make up separate biomes.
3. Ask the class to name off as many different types of biomes as they can think of and record on board. Help them think of them all.
4. Go through the list of biomes one by one on the board. Have the students break into work groups and discuss the living organisms which live in a specific biome and the adaptations they have made which allow them to thrive in that particular biome. Have a representative from a few of the groups stand and present why they think their animals are suited for life in this biome. Lead discussion on organisms presented.
5. It might also be very educational while discussing the different biomes, or at the end of class to discuss the different people who live in the different biomes and the adaptations they have made to be better suited for that area.
I thought that the lesson definitely had room to improve, but it had some good points as well. I enjoyed the amount of class participation that I received, everyone in the class seemed ready to get into the discussion and answer my questions. I also think that it is important that they work in groups in their discussions, more than mere scientific facts need to be learned in the class room. At the same time, there were, and always will be some quiet students in the class who will be a bit left out of the discussion and might not get as much as others. And of course one always has the goof off’s that love group time because it is a great time for them to get attention.
I was glad that we had the students themselves stand up and present their ideas, this gives them a feeling of importance and helps them want to do well. I also liked this because then it becomes the class itself who presents the information instead of me sitting up there pouring info over them. Of course time didn’t permit every student to have a chance to present, but we came as close to that as possible by having all of the groups present.
I think the biggest problem that I ran into was that this process of breaking up into groups and presenting got old at the end of the class and the students, and myself, were getting bored and sick of it. I think it would have been good to have something else to switch to right here, an ideal situation would have the students change modes here from simply discussing topics to an in depth inquiry project on a question they had. Students might wonder if a camels hump was really a place to store water, or why Aberiginies are all short and dark skinned. They could then take these questions and go find responses to be presented at a later date.
Objective: To engage the students in thinking about different conditions around the world and the adaptations life has made to best suit itself to these conditions.
Procedure:
1. Lead the Class in a discussion about what makes two places different. If you were to describe the conditions of the NON-LIVING elements of this area, how would you?
2. On the board, list on the board several of the important features the students generate. Explain that these different conditions make up separate biomes.
3. Ask the class to name off as many different types of biomes as they can think of and record on board. Help them think of them all.
4. Go through the list of biomes one by one on the board. Have the students break into work groups and discuss the living organisms which live in a specific biome and the adaptations they have made which allow them to thrive in that particular biome. Have a representative from a few of the groups stand and present why they think their animals are suited for life in this biome. Lead discussion on organisms presented.
5. It might also be very educational while discussing the different biomes, or at the end of class to discuss the different people who live in the different biomes and the adaptations they have made to be better suited for that area.
I thought that the lesson definitely had room to improve, but it had some good points as well. I enjoyed the amount of class participation that I received, everyone in the class seemed ready to get into the discussion and answer my questions. I also think that it is important that they work in groups in their discussions, more than mere scientific facts need to be learned in the class room. At the same time, there were, and always will be some quiet students in the class who will be a bit left out of the discussion and might not get as much as others. And of course one always has the goof off’s that love group time because it is a great time for them to get attention.
I was glad that we had the students themselves stand up and present their ideas, this gives them a feeling of importance and helps them want to do well. I also liked this because then it becomes the class itself who presents the information instead of me sitting up there pouring info over them. Of course time didn’t permit every student to have a chance to present, but we came as close to that as possible by having all of the groups present.
I think the biggest problem that I ran into was that this process of breaking up into groups and presenting got old at the end of the class and the students, and myself, were getting bored and sick of it. I think it would have been good to have something else to switch to right here, an ideal situation would have the students change modes here from simply discussing topics to an in depth inquiry project on a question they had. Students might wonder if a camels hump was really a place to store water, or why Aberiginies are all short and dark skinned. They could then take these questions and go find responses to be presented at a later date.
posted by Tom | 3:27 PM
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