2. What You Should Know After
This Presentation
• This presentation will inform you about our upcoming
science unit.
• This unit is based of the Alabama State Standard:
Describe the interdependence of plants and animals
(SC.4.5).
• This unit will last approximately two weeks.
• During this unit, your children will gain more knowledge
about characteristics of plants and animals.
3. Learning Objectives for Our 4th
Grade Science Unit
Standard:
• Describe the interdependence of plants and animals (SC.4.5).
Objectives:
• Students will be required to describe behaviors and body
structures that help animals survive in particular habitats.
• Students will be required to describe life cycles of various
animals to include incomplete and complete metamorphosis.
• Students will model the flow of energy through a food chain.
• Students will be required to identify characteristics of
organisms, including growth
development, reproduction, acquisition and use of energy, and
response to the environment.
4. What the Students Will Be Doing
Students will be required to identify and model the interdependence of plants
& animals.
• Students will learn about different animal behaviors such
as, migration, hibernation, etc. and different body structures such
as, scales, quills, etc. They will demonstrate their knowledge of the topic by
doing a project that involves making a poster about a particular animal
behavior or animal body structure. They will research their information for
the poster on the internet.
• Students will learn about life cycles of various animals. Each student will
receive his/her own caterpillar. The students will be required to take data
throughout the caterpillars’ transformation from a caterpillar to a
butterfly.
• Students will be asked to model the flow of energy through a food chain by
creating their own food chains. They will learn more about the flow of
energy through playing a game called “Food Chained” on an iPad.
• Students will learn about different characteristics of plants and animals.
The students will be asked to create graphs that involve comparing and
contrasting different charatistics of plants and animals such as growth
development, reproduction, acquisition and use of energy, and response to
the environment.
5. Role of the Teacher
The teacher will:
• model each activity thoroughly before
allowing the students to independently
work on it
• help the students with collaboration
skills throughout the project
• provide accommodations and
modifications when needed
• observe the students and take data to
monitor progress throughout the unit
6. What is Project Based Learning (PBL)?
• Throughout this unit your student will be involved in using
Project Based Learning (PBL).
• PBL provides students with more hands on opportunities.
• This is a much more enjoyable learning experience for
children.
• PBL components:
– personal and social responsibility
– planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity
– strong communication skills, both for interpersonal and
presentation needs
– cross-cultural understanding
– visualizing and decision making
– knowing how and when to use technology and choosing the
most appropriate tool for the task
7. Thank You Parents!
We have thoroughly enjoyed having your
children in our class this year. Their
enthusiasm and thirst for learning is so
refreshing. I hope that our newsletter
has provided you with some perspective
of the activities that we will be
conducting in our upcoming science unit.
If you have any questions feel free to
contact us by email or phone.
8. Contact Information
If you have any further questions about this
unit, or about the classroom, feel free to
contact us at:
Miller Wood:
Email: dmwood1@crimson.ua.edu
Cell Phone: 205-317-6794
Katie Beth Doss:
Email: kedoss@crimson.ua.edu
Cell Phone: 256-267-8907
