Teacher's+Lesson+Plan



__**Digital Story Telling on Food Webs**__ __**Grade Level**__ - 4th Grade **__Curriculum Area__** - Science (Biology) __ **Related NETS-S Standards: ** __
 * **2.** || **Communication and Collaboration** ||
 * || Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students: ||
 * a. || interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. ||||  ||
 * b. || communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. ||


 * **3.** || **Research and Information Fluency** ||
 * || Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information. Students: ||
 * a. || plan strategies to guide inquiry. ||||  ||
 * b. || locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media. ||
 * c. || evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks. ||


 * **4.** || **Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making** ||
 * || Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. Students: ||
 * a. || identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. ||||  ||
 * b. || plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. ||
 * c. || collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions. ||

**__Florida State Standards:__**


 * //Students will://**

**SC.4.L.17.2**
 * recognize that all living things need energy to survive.
 * recall that plants make their own food (photosynthesis) and are called producers.
 * explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and are called consumers.
 * explain that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them.


 * //Students will://**


 * SC.4.L.17.3**
 * trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers (sun --> grass --> rabbit --> fox).
 * classify consumers as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores.


 * //Vocabulary to be learned://**
 * 1) carnivore
 * 2) consumers
 * 3) flow of energy
 * 4) food chain
 * 5) herbivore
 * 6) omnivore
 * 7) producers

__**Lesson Description:**__ The students will spend 2 weeks making connections and learning about the food web and the importance of it for all living creatures. Students will add upon their knowledge of plant reproduction as they review photosynthesis from the 3rd grade curriculum. Students will also make connections to animal life cycles that was previously taught. Students will learn that the sun's energy is transferred through all living things. Students will study the different roles or jobs (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) in the food chain that keep the ecosystem balanced and healthy.

Students will learn the importance of technology as a tool for learning as they use it to conduct their research. They will use iPad to research food webs using the teacher provided curriculum page with links. Facts that are gathered will be recorded on note cards for later use in their digital stories that will demonstrate their learning. Students will be given a mini-lesson on creative commons laws at their level so that they understand the difference between free to use and copyrighted material on the internet. Students will be provided with free use photos and other materials based on creative commons licensing laws. Photos, videos, music etc will be placed in a folder on our class Edmodo where students will have the freedom to access it and choose what they need. Students will then create the previously mentioned digital story that will outline from beginning to end the food chain of the animal that they choose. Their stories will highlight the struggle to survive and thrive and for their animal. After their digital stories are created, student will present their product to the class. All finished products will be scored using the teacher created rubric attached to this lesson.

__**Technology Integration:**__ Students will use iPads to complete research on Food Webs using Apple's Safari Browser. Students will be guided by a teacher created webquest hosted on a wiki. Students will record information that they have collected to use in digital stories that will summarize their learning. Students will adhere to Creative Commons and use photos, video, and audio from such sources using desktop computers to surf the internet. Students will also create original content using web cams and mics to record reports as well as cellphone cameras and video of the school's butterfly garden (as much as is possible). They will create their digital stories in either in Power Point (hosted on Slide Share) or in Prezi.

__**Research Component**__**:** Harris, Wendy (April 3, 2012). Lessons from Teachers - Learning Through Digital Stories, Small Moments. Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://bit.ly/HjsQlY

Robin, B. (2011) The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. Retrieved April 18, 2012, from http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/

Laundry, Matt (April 15, 2010). Digital Stories in Education. Retrieved April 18, 2012 from http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx

Irish, Sharon (2011). Digital Storytelling in the Classroom. Retrieved April 18, 2012 from http://bit.ly/HTUfKX


 * //To Print the Lesson Plan://**