Shortly before our winter break began, we started our science unit on animals. It is a big one. It takes quite a bit of time as there is much to cover. And there was no possible way for us to finish everything before our break started. However, we did (surprisingly) accomplish quite a lot. After looking at different types of habitats and changes that might occur to those habitats, we spent a few days learning about food chains. I must admit, this is one of my favorite learning sequences. If you've read any of my previous posts, you will know that I have a strong belief that students, especially elementary students, still need art and creativity to complement the subject matter (not to mention it fosters imagination and small motor skills). It's a bit of a "soap box" topic for me if I get started, but I think there's been a real departure from art in learning. So I do everything I can in my little corner of the world to correct that.
I digress. Back to food chains. Have you read the book Who Eats What? by Patricia Lauber?
 |
| Click on the picture of the book to see more. |
It's a great introduction to food chains. I like this book because this topic is new for most of my students, and the text is straightforward and easy to understand.
I also shared a few poems from this book.
 |
| Click on the picture of the book to see more. |
We had some good laughs with some of these. After reading, the class came up with several examples of food chains, and then the kids did some research about an animal of their choice.
Enter the artwork. This is not an original idea by me. Hello Pinterest. Here's the original post I saw from A Faithful Attempt. I like how she gave step by step directions for how to make this happen and showed several examples. I created my own example and demonstrated for the kids. Then everyone got to work. I love the learning that took place as kids shared with one another as they worked. They learned more from each other in the time we worked than I could have ever squeezed in during the same amount of time. Their final projects are now hanging proudly in the room. Take a look at how some of our food chains turned out.
And even better than the artwork? Just today we were having a discussion about why animals live in groups. I showed the class a picture of a herd of gazelles with a cheetah looming in the background, and we talked about how animals use the group for protection. Right away, several of the kids pointed to the food chain of the cheetah and gazelle. I love how the kids are putting the pieces together and making the the connections! I could feast on that kind of learning for days!
Now it's your turn--show me what you're doing! I'd really love to see everyone's creative ideas for teaching all about animals through NGSS. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!!
