4th Grade Living Environment Unit—Helpful Teacher Tips

Once the terrariums are constructed and animals are delivered, plan to complete approximately one experiment per week.

Sample Week:
Monday: Complete/discuss Terrarium Journal
Tuesday: Conduct pre-lab discussion about Isopods & Temperature lab and run experiment
Wednesday: Create class histogram and discuss experiment results
Thursday: Discuss student-completed lab sheets & complete Brainteaser
Friday: Complete/discuss Terrarium Journal

Note:

• On the days experiments are performed, anticipate using 45 to 60 minutes. The time required can be reduced if the lab is previewed with students the prior day.
• For several experiments, Wednesday and Thursday can be combined into 1 day of instruction; however, it would require extended time in science.
• The entire unit must be completed by Spring Break.

Section 1, Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Reviewing Populations

(Section 1: Environmental Factors, Pages 7 - 18 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Refer to pages 7-13 in Teacher's Guide
• Laminate student and classroom Everglades posters
• Use Vis-à-Vis markers for identifying organism & populations on posters

Session I
(Allow approximately 2 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 1-6 (See pages 14-17 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Continue food chain using Kidspiration on computer
• Video-The Food Chain Mystery
  

• Supplementary Resources: Food Chains and Food Webs by Holly Wallace. The book explores multiple food chains and also addresses different kinds of consumers (example: carnivore). The book has been added to the kit. Who Eats What by Patricia Lauber is a light-hearted read-aloud about food chains and webs. The book is available through the library (on loan from HP). The library also has several books on food chains and webs.

Session II
(Allow approximately 2 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Step 7—A Survival Problem worksheet (See page 17 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Application and Extension on page 18 in Teacher's Guide—select either Creating food chains with pictures or Population picture activity

Section 1, Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Environmental Factors

(Section 1: Environmental Factors, Pages 29-33 in Teachers' Guide)

Procedures

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 2-5 (omit #1)
  (See pages 29-32 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Teaching Procedures Step 6—Environmental Factors worksheet (See page 32 in Teacher's Guide.)

Section 1, Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Responses of Organisms (Only part of chapter)

(Section 1: Environmental Factors, Pages 41-42 in Teachers' Guide)

Procedures:

• Read and discuss Story Page "The Story of San Joaquin Valley" (See page 41 in Teacher's Guide.)

• Supplementary Resources: The library has books on different biomes. Many of the books contain a few pages on how animals and/or plants are well suited for living in that particular environment. Sections from How Plants Survive by Kathleen Kudlinski and Amazing Nature: Super Survivors by Tim Knight could be used as read-alouds. Both books give great examples that reinforce the following benchmark:

  5D(3-5)#1: For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

  The Sea, the Storm, and the Mangrove by Lynne Cherry is a wonderful picture book that addresses a unique ecosystem that is always susceptible to change. Gail Gibbons has written several books on different ecosystems. They would make wonderful read-alouds, especially if the different environments addressed within the books are compared. Below are three titles available through the library (on loan from HP).

  • Deserts
  • Nature's Green Umbrella--Tropical Rain Forests
  • Marshes & Swamps

Books on migration are also appropriate for discussing environmental change and the following benchmark:

5D(3-5)#4: Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful.

Flute's Journey, The Life of a Wood Thrush by Lynne Cherry is an outstanding book that not only addresses seasonal changes but changes to the environment due to humans. The Journey, Stories of Migration by Cynthia Rylant contains riveting, factual stories on six different animals and their migration journeys. A Caribou Journey and Flight of the Golden Plover by Debbie Miller are two wonderful migration books. Disappearing Lake--Nature's Magic in Denali National Park is an engaging book about change throughout the year in Alaska. It describes how yearly changes affect animals. Debbie Miller was a visiting author in our district. Teachers should have at least one copy of each book in their classroom libraries. The school library also has copies. Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument by Sharlene and Ted Nelson is an interesting book that describes the changes that occurred within the surrounding environment due to the volcano. It would be an appropriate read-aloud and helps illustrate how even catastrophic events can be beneficial to some organisms. Fire! The Renewal of a Forest by Cilia Godkin is another good read-aloud option that discusses changes to an environment and the impact on plants and animals.

The library also has several videos/DVDs on different habitats. With a focused discussion on the characteristics of habits and the plants and animals that live there, the videos can be valuable instructional tools to reinforce benchmark 5D(3-5)#1.

Throughout the unit, the above benchmark needs to be repeatedly revisited.

Section 1 Assessment Activity

(Section 1: Environmental Factors, Page 43 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Read pages 43 & 44 in Teacher's Guide

• Copy of assessment is located in Assessment section of Teacher's Guide

• Only use first page (Environmental Factors for Animals--see page for 43 for clarification)

Section 4, Chapter 12

Chapter 12: A Place to Live

(Section 4: Animal Responses to Environmental Factors, Page 124-137 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Read pages 125-131 in Teacher's Guide

• Supplementary Resources: Hermit Crabs: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual and Is This a House for Hermit Crab? by Megan McDonald.
  McDonald's fiction book provides a nice introduction to hermit crabs, especially for students who are not familiar with hermit crabs. The books have been added to the kit. The library also has several books on hermit crabs and pill bugs.

Session I

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 1 & 2 (See pages 131 & 132 in Teacher's Guide.)
  Note: This must be completed 2 weeks prior to live material arriving. Students will continue to observe and water terrariums every 2-3 days. Therefore, anticipate using some science time for other curricular areas.
• A rubric for assessing the terrarium journal entries is available on the electronic curriculum. The rubric is a valuable tool for helping students understand the qualities of a good drawing and written observations. The rubric can be used to provide formative feedback to students. Students can also use it to assess their own work. Discussing and assessing student work samples placed on the overhead is also an effective technique for promoting growth in this area.

Session II

• Break Session II up into two days of instruction
  • Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 3 & 4 (See pages 133-135 in Teacher's Guide & page 23 in Student Booklet.)
  • Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 5 & 6 (See pages 134 & 135 in Teacher's Guide.)

Session III

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 7 & 8 (See pages 135 & 136 in Teacher's Guide.)

Terrarium Observations

• The purpose of keeping a journal of the terrarium is to help students improve their observational skills and to record and observe changes over time.
• Below are some strategies to use with the journals:
  • Have students critique anonymous journal entries from the previous year or from another class
  • Have students self-reflect on the quality of their journal entries
  • After several weeks of observation, make a Venn diagram comparing the terrariums before the isopods were introduced to the terrariums and a few weeks after the isopods have been in the terrariums
  • Make a graph of the number of plants over time
  • Make class charts of "How have our terrariums changed?"

Section 4, Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Temperature and Isopods 

(Section 4: Animal Responses to Environmental Factors, Pages 139 - 146 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Scroll to top of "Tips" sheet for general pacing suggestions
• Read pages 139-141 in Teacher's Guide
• Laminate hermit crab and isopod histogram posters
• Teachers should assemble troughs (not students)—use 2 per heat source, not 3 as shown in guide
• Consider using digital thermometers
• 3-4 ice cubes per cup is sufficient

Session I

(Allow approximately an hour for this session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 1-3 (See pages 141-143 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Use teacher-generated Temperature and Isopods Experimentlab sheet in place of one provided by the publisher

Session II

(Allow 2-3 days to complete)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 4-8 (See pages 143-145 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Brain Teaser's worksheet and teacher-generated Explain Your Choice(s) sheet (See page 145 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Science and Math Application and Extension, "Mean, Median, Mode." This can be completed in math or science. (See page 146 in Teacher's Guide.)

Section 4, Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Best Environment for Isopods  

(Section 4: Animal Responses to Environmental Factors, Pages 147 - 155 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Read pages 147-149 in Teacher's Guide
• Use isopod histogram poster
• Teacher Note:  Students need to use a uniform labeling system with the troughs (suggest 4 equal sections)

Session I   (Light Test)

(Allow 2 to 3 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 1-3 (See pages 149-150 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Teaching Procedures Step 4 (See pages 150-151 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Use teacher-generated Light Test for Isopods lab sheet in place of one provided by the publisher

Session II  (Water Test)

(Allow approximately 3 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 5-7 (See pages 152-153 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Use teacher-generated Water Test for Isopods lab sheet in place of one provided by the publisher
• Complete Brain Teaser's worksheet and teacher-generated Explain Your Choice(s) sheet (See page 154 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Science and Language Arts Application and Extension, "Similes." This can be complete during science or LA time. (See page 155 in Teacher's Guide.)

Section 4, Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Environment of Hermit Crabs 

(Section 4: Animal Responses to Environmental Factors, Pages 157 - 168 in Teacher's Guide)

Teacher Background / Preparation:

• Read pages 157-159 in Teacher's Guide
• Use Vis-à-Vis markers instead of crayons
• 3-4 ice cubes per cup is sufficient
• Use hermit crab histogram
• To provide students with a larger pool of data to analyze, dynamic charts and graphs have been placed on the Staff Drop Server in a folder named "Hermit Crabs." Each class should enter its data on the charts and graphs for each hermit crab experiment. A rich discussion can be facilitated about sharing data across classrooms. For example, the importance of each class following the directions becomes very evident.

Session I   (Light Test)

(Allow 2 to 3 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 1-8 (See pages 159-163 in Teacher's Guide.)

Session II  (Temperature Test)

(Allow 2 to 3 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 9-11 (See pages 163-165 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Use teacher-generated Temperature Test for Hermit Crabslab sheet in place of one provided by the publisher

Session III (Water Test)

(Allow approximately 3 days to complete session)

• Complete Teaching Procedures Steps 12-16 (See pages 165-166 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Brain Teaser's worksheet and teacher-generated Explain Your Choice(s) sheet (See page 166 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Quick Check(See page 176 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Complete Application and Extensions (See page 168 in Teacher's Guide.)
• Science Challenges-Hermit crab/colored light- students design this extension
• Science and Math- Measuring in 3-D
• To provide students with a larger pool of data to analyze, dynamic charts and graphs have been placed on the Staff Drop Server in a folder named "Hermit Crabs." Each class should enter their data on the charts and graphs for each hermit crab experiment. A rich discuss can be facilitated about sharing data across classrooms. For example, the importance of each class following the directions becomes very evident.

End of Unit Assessments

Environmental Factors for Snails (Page 203 in Teacher's Guide)

• The dotted sections on the diagram represent shade. Make sure to inform students of this.