The teacher will be starting a new unit on the Earth and ecosystems. As part of this unit, students will create terrariums in groups to learn about ecosystems. Over 6 weeks, students will design, build, maintain, and present on their terrarium projects. The goal is for students to gain hands-on experience understanding how ecosystems are created and sustained through observing their own miniature ecosystems in their terrariums. Parents will be invited to assist with building the initial terrariums and to see the student presentations at the end of the project.

1. WHAT’S NEW IN OUR
CLASSROOM
Our Exciting New Project

2. The Earth and Ecosystems Unit
 We will be starting a unit this week on how the
Earth supports life, including how ecosystems
are created and how they are sustained.
 The objections for this unit are as followed:
 From the Alabama Course of Study Science
Catalog, 2005
 Describe ways energy from the sun is used
 Describe the life cycle of plants
 Determine habitat conditions that support plant
growth and survival

3. The Earth and Ecosystems Unit
These are  How does the earth support life?
the  What specific things are required in
questions
that the our air and soil that allow for life?
students  What effect could pollution have on a
will be able
to answer
plant or animal’s quality of life?
once the  How do plants use light, water and
unit has soil to grow?
been
completed:  What is photosynthesis?
 What makes up an ecosystem?

4. The Project Based Approach
 For this unit, I will be employing what is called
the Project Based Approach.
 This means that instead of standardized tests,
students will be learning in a hands-on way
and will be assessed based on observation by
the teacher.
 The goal with Project Based learning is to
have students become committed to and
involved in a project so that they will learn and
retain the material better and longer.

5. The Terrarium Project
 The project that
students will be
making along with
this unit is making
their own terrariums!
 A terrarium is an
entire ecosystem in
one container. It can
contain plants
and/or animals.

6. The Terrarium Project
 Students will be placed in groups of four to
design, build, and maintain their terrarium.
 We will be devoting approximately 30-45 minutes
each day for the first two weeks to this project.
 After the initial work of setting up the terrariums,
groups will be monitoring how their terrarium is
growing once a week.
 This project will take about 6 weeks from start to
finish.
 Each group will also be responsible for creating a
presentation explaining what this project taught
them about ecosystems.

7. The Terrarium Project
 Parent volunteers will be needed for the first
two days of creating the terrariums.
 Parents will be welcome to come watch the
student presentations at the conclusion of the
project.
 For parents who cannot make it to school to
watch the presentations, I will be recording all
of the groups’ presentations and uploading
them to our class wiki so you will be able to
see your child’s hard work.

8. The Earth and Ecosystems Unit
 I will be assisting students all along the
project.
 I will be grading the students based on the
quality of their terrariums, their participation in
their group, their group presentation, and
group conferences with me at certain points
during the project.

9. The Earth and Ecosystems Unit
 I am very excited to start this project and so
are the students! This should be a very
memorable project and the children will learn a
lot about ecosystems in a hands-on way.
 Should you have any questions, you can
contact me at:
 Email: kdschwarz@crimson.ua.edu