Donna James

Applications of Instructional Technology

Understanding by Design
Unit Plan

Fall, 2010
 Title of Life Cycles Grade Second
Unit Level

Content Standards:
S2L1. Students will investigate the life cycles of different living
organisms.

a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your

area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such
as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a
butterfly.

b. Relate seasonal changes to observations of how a tree changes

throughout a school year.

c. Investigate the life cycle of a plant by growing a plant from a seed

and by recording changes over a period of time.

d. Identify fungi (mushroom) as living organisms.

Students will understand that:

1. All living things have a life cycle.

2. Seasonal changes occur and affect living things, the appearance of

living things, and their surroundings.

3. The offspring of some organisms look much like their parents when they
are born and as they grow, other organisms go through a sequence of
distinct stages in a process called metamorphosis.

4. Plants can make their own food using air, water, materials in the soil,
and light energy from the sun.

5. Living things are interdependent with their living and nonliving

surroundings.

6. Almost all living things need water, food, and air.

Related Misconceptions:

1. Only some organisms, such as insects with complete metamorphosis,

have a life cycle.
2. Plants that shed their leaves are dead, but come to life again in spring.

3. Roots obtain food for the plant from the soil

Essential Questions
Overarching Questions: Topical Questions:

1. What are life cycles of living 1. How does an animal grow and
things? change throughout a life cycle?

2. How do seasons affect the life 2. How do the seasons affect trees
cycles of living things? and other plants?

3. How are life cycles different between 3. How does a plant develop from a
organisms? small seed?

Performance Task(s)
The Woodville State Park is holding a contest. They are looking for new life
cycle displays for their visitor center. Your entry into the contest will be a
display to explain the life cycles of plants and animals in our area.
(Understanding 1). The entry should also show how the seasons affect the life
cycles of living things, how the offspring look as they grow and their needs,
how plants make their own food, and how life cycles are different between
organisms. (Understandings 2-6). To complete this assignment, you will need
to use many resources. I have included tasks and resources to help you
achieve this goal.

Goal: Your goal is to design a display to help visitors understand the life cycles of plants
and animals in our area.

Role: You are a contest participant in the Woodville State Park life cycle contest.

Audience: The Woodville State Park contest judges.

Situation: You need to effectively explain the life cycles of plants and animals to the
judges, show how the seasons affect the life cycles of living things and how life cycles are
different between organisms.

Product Performance and Purpose: You need to design a display with photographs,
drawings, models, or technology and explanations about each item in your display to
inform the judges.

Standards and Criteria for Success:

Your entry should…

*Have at least one animal life cycle and one plant life cycle to inform visitors. (Facet 1-
Explain).

*Provide a persuasive essay to the judges as why your entry should be chosen. (Facet 2-
Interpret) In your narrative, you should compare and contrast how the animal life cycle is
similar or different from the plant life cycle. (Facet 4-Perspective)

*Be a presentation that includes pictures and words to explain the life cycle of an animal
and a plant. You will choose your method of the presentation. You may use internet
resources/tools and print materials to construct your entry. (Facet 3-Application)

*Include a story where you choose to be the plant or animal you are researching and
describe your life cycle and how you feel as that plant/animal. (Facet 5-Empathy)

In addition to your entry, you will keep a daily journal of your research findings. Each day
you will enter a “one minute essay” and answer these two questions: (Facet 6-Self
Knowledge)

1. What is the big point you learned in class today?

2. What is the one question you have that was not answered today?

The task will be assessed by a rubric. You will use the rubric to evaluate your own work
before submitting to the judges.

Performance Task(s) Rubric(s)

CATEGORY High Achiever
Life Cycle *Presentation thoroughly
Presentation explains the life cycle process
of 1 plant and 1 animal from
our area.
*Details are completely
accurate, including how
seasons affect the life cycle,
appearance of offspring and
how plants make food.
*Writing/Print is very legible
and easy to read.
Persuasive *Evidence clearly supports
Essay the position; there are 3 or
more pieces of factual
evidence. *Contains only
complete sentences.
*All punctuation and
capitalization are correct.
Compare/Con *Similarities and differences
trast chosen are exceptionally
clear; easy to follow.
Life Cycle *Clearly focuses and
Story describes the life cycle
including the feelings of the
plant or animal.
*Consistently writes in
complete sentences with only
a few grammatical errors.
Achiever Improver Beginner
*Presentation explains *Presentation is *Presentation shows a
the life cycle process incomplete. misunderstanding of the
of 1 plant and 1 animal *Details are life cycle.
from our area. inaccurate. *Details have significant
*Details are generally *Writing/Print is errors.
accurate including how difficult to read *Writing/Print is not
seasons affect the life due to legibility. legible; unable to read.
cycle, appearance of
offspring and how
plants make food.
*Writing/Print is
legible and readable.
*Evidence clearly *Writing has 2 *Writing has only 1 piece
supports the position; pieces of factual of factual information or
there are 3 pieces of information. evidence is unrelated to
factual evidence. *Writing the writing.
*Sentence structure is contains 3-4 *Writing pays little
generally correct with grammatical attention to sentence
1 fragmented sentence. errors. structure and grammar.
*1-2 errors in *Writing has *4 or more errors in
punctuation and more than 3 capitalization
capitalization. fragmented /punctuation
sentences.
*Similarities and *Similarities and *Similarities and
differences are differences are differences are not
generally clear; able to not clear; included or unclear.
follow. difficult to
follow.
*Focuses on and *Story is *Story is not about the
describes the life cycle inconsistent and life cycle of the plant or
including the feelings includes few animal. *Contains
of the plant or animal. details about the few complete sentences
*Writes in complete life cycle and and has many
sentences with some does not include grammatical errors.
errors in grammar. the feelings of
the plant or
animal.
*Contains some
complete
sentences and
several errors in
grammar.
Daily Journal *Complete and accurate notes *Accurate notes on *Notes are *Notes are incomplete or
on research. research. partially no notes at all
*Well organized *Organized accurate. *No organization
*Consistently answers daily 1 *Answers daily 1 *Organization is *Never answers daily 1
minute essay questions. minute essay questions difficult to minute essay questions.
with only 1-2 understand.
omissions. *Occasionally
answers daily 1
minute essay
questions.

Other Evidence
(e.g. tests, quizzes, work samples, observations)

1. Conference with students to monitor progress and answer questions related to the
project.

2. Vocabulary quiz to cover terms related to the unit.

3. Review journal entries made daily by students and respond to their questions.

4. Teacher observation of student participation and on task time.

5. Prompt-Draw/Label the life cycle of one of your researched plants or animals.

 Student Self-Assessment and Reflection

1. Self-assess through journal entry each day answering the questions:

a. What is the big point you learned in class today?

b. What is the one question you have that was not answered today?

2. Reflection at the culmination of the project of what new understandings the student
has gained by doing this project.

3. Self-assess using the rubric for the project. Students will use the rubric throughout
the project to make sure they’re on track.

4. Self-assess by using a life cycle assessment with such statements as:

a. The most interesting thing I learned was…

b. Something that helped me learn about life cycles…
c. The skills I learned or improved on were….
d. Two things I still need to work on are…
e. I’d like to know more about…..
f. These are the people that I’m going to share my new knowledge with….
g. I’m still confused about…..
 Learning Experiences
Week 1

1. Begin lesson by showing video of turtle eggs being removed from the
beaches of the gulf coast because of the oil spill and ask the question-How
does the oil spill impact the life cycle of animals there? (H)
2. After video, introduce and post the essential questions and discuss the
performance task with the students. (W)
3. Students will be given a pretest to determine prior knowledge of life cycles
and begin a KWL chart. (W)
4. Model the procedure for entries in their science journal and the one-
minute essay questions. (E2, R, E)
5. Key vocabulary terms are introduced by asking students to write their own
definition of the term, discuss their definition with a partner, share with the
class, and then teacher gives the definition of the term to be written in their
science journal. (E)
6.Students will complete their drawings of the seasonal changes of the tree
(this activity was begun at the beginning of the school year to track changes
in a tree over the seasons) they selected. Students will write how the tree has
changed from the beginning of the school year and what questions do they
still have about how the tree has changed. Student responses will be
evaluated on their level of writing. (R, T)
7. Read aloud-Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert. After discussion of read-aloud,
students will be introduced to the pathfinder for the life cycle unit. There are
six computer stations in our room and a mobile cart will provide the rest of
the computers needed. The pathfinder has resources on various levels to
accommodate/differentiate instruction. (T) Students will begin to research life
cycles of plants and animals. (E)

Week 2

8. Begin the week by revisiting the performance task, expectations, and

reviewing the rubric. (W)
9. Conferences will be held with students to evaluate their progress and
address any questions.
10. Students will have a choice to pair up or read alone from selected
passages and books on plant and animal life cycles from the Harcourt Science
Series. Selections can be heard online and the reading levels are
differentiated with the same content. (T)
11. Whole group discussion on the life cycle of a plant. Students will be able
to discuss the concept with the information they have gained from their
research. Each student will plant a seed in a clear cup to see the progress
and life cycle of their plant. They will record their observations in their
science journals each day. (T, E)
12. Discuss in groups of 4, how seasons affect trees and other plants. Each
group will read, “How do seasons change plants” and relate it to their
observations of the tree they selected and drew throughout the school year.
The group will present their explanations either orally or by a poster/drawing.
(E, R, T)
13. In a “Think, Pair, Share” activity, students will discuss how life cycles are
different between organisms such as frogs and cats. (T, E2)
14. Continue research on selected plant and animal life cycle using the
pathfinder. (E)
15. End of week, conference with students again to address any questions or
issues about the expectations of the project and review the scoring rubric and
vocabulary quiz. (R, E2, T)

Week 3

16. Begin the week by revisiting the performance task, expectations, and
reviewing the rubric. (W)
17. Begin persuasive writing essay to the judges as why the student’s entry
should be chosen. (E)
18. Conclude research on selected plant and animal life cycle. (E) Begin
presentation method of project. (T, E)
19. Begin story (during Writer’s Workshop) of a plant or animal describing
the life cycle and how you feel as the plant or animal. (R) Story will be
completed by the end of the week.
20. Conferences with students to evaluate their project by the rubric (R) and
make any changes necessary. By the end of the week, students should have
completed the persuasive essay, story and presentation model.
21. Students present their projects to the class and meet with the teacher to
evaluate their work with the scoring rubric. Each student will fill out a life
cycle self assessment answering such questions as…The most interesting
thing I learned was; The skills I learned or improved on were; I’d like to know
more about; and I’m still confused about. (R, E2)
22. Complete the KWL chart. (R)

Resources:

Life Cycle Pathfinder: http://lifecylespathfinder.pbworks.com/Life-Cycles-

Pathfinder

Gulf Oil Spill-Turtle Rescue: http://youtu.be/94hOd6WxfY0;

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/cradling-life-rescue-mission-save-turtle-
eggs-11058908

Harcourt School Publishers Georgia Science Textbook

Harcourt School Publishers Georgia Science Leveled Readers
Woodville School Media Center Print Materials

Notes to the Instructor

Beginning with day one, students will be give the one minute essay-“What is
the big point you learned in class today and What is the one question you
have that was not answered today?” This information will be in their science
journal. (E2) This will be a daily reflection (R) and will help drive instruction.
Each day, students will be reminded of the essential questions of the unit. (W)
Each class period will begin with revisiting a question that wasn’t answered
from the day’s previous lesson. Students will review each other’s essays and
discuss the unanswered question. I will be circulating during this time to
listen in to conversations and provide information. (E, T) The pathfinder I’ve
developed for the resources contains several webquests for inquiry learning
and many other resources that allows for student choice in obtaining the
information and the students have a choice in how they present their project.
(E, H, T) The material is presented in a method where students uncover the
information instead of the teacher covering the material. (O)

Because this unit allows students to work at their level, differentiation is

provided. Materials and resources are provided at different levels to
accommodate individual learners and their learning styles. (T)

With the use of the persuasive essay and story, I feel that I have used
Gardner’s entry point of narrational entry point and with students growing
their own plants, experiential entry point would apply here.

With this unit, I’ve tried to provide less direct instruction and more student
inquiry learning. I, as a learner, understand more when I’m able to do rather
than just listen and remember. It is hard as an educator to let go of the need
for direct instruction to make sure my students get what they need, but with
this course, my thinking has changed. I’m excited to teach this unit in the
upcoming year and see the outcome!