This unit plan aims to teach third grade students about animal adaptations and how different organisms survive in different ecosystems. Over six weeks, students will research information, design presentations, and play interactive SmartBoard games to learn how animals are suited to their environments. Their understanding will be assessed through graded reports, presentation proposals, and a summative video presentation for the whole third grade. The daily lessons will cover what animals need to survive, habitats, food chains, endangered species, and culminate in the final presentation. Technology used includes the SmartBoard, internet, Elmo projector, and markers.

1. ANIMAL
ENVIRONMENTS
AND RELATIONSHIPSUnit Plan By Kalie McIntosh

2. Analyze Learners
◦ This is a third grade class. It consists of 7 girls and 8 boys. Two kids in the class have mild
autism and use a behavioral color block system. The entire class is English Speaking and
for the most part they all have about the same amount of scientific content
knowledge, though there are some slight variations.

3. Main Objective
◦ My students will investigate animal adaptions and be able to recognize that different
organisms survive in different ways in different ecosystems. After researching
information, designing a presentation, and working on interactive SmartBoard games.
By the end of the six week unit with 80 % accuracy.
◦ Assessment: I will be assessing their work throughout the unit. They will have a report
outline graded with a rubric. Their report will be graded. Their presentation proposal will
be graded. The summative assessment will be the video presentation they will present
to the entire third grade at the end of the unit.

4. Day by Day Breakdown
◦ Day 1: Discuss what living things need to survive, and work on a SmartBoard Activity/Game
that has students decide what certain animals need and what they can live without.
◦ Day 2: Introduce students to the term habitat. Define this and show examples and have
students come up with examples in small groups. Each group will be given a large sticky
note and they will write down different characteristics of habitats, these notes will then be
displayed on the white board for the groups to compare and contrast.
◦ Day 3: Read the students the book Weird Friends by Jose Arguego and Ariane Dewey and
have them write a paragraph about two animals that help each other survive. Then bring up
a diagram of a food chain on the Elmo to show them how a food chain works.
◦ Day 4: Introduce students to the terms endangered and extinct. Have each group research
a certain endangered species and develop an informal presentation to share with the rest
of the class.
◦ Day 5: Start working on video presentation that will be presented to the entire third grade at
the end of the unit.

5. Technology
◦ SmartBoard
◦ Internet
◦ Elmo projector
◦ Markers

6. Works Cited
◦ http://nextgenscience.org/search-standards
◦ Weird Friends by Jose Arguego and Ariane Dewey