BSC 307 Culturally Responsive/5-E Model Lesson Plan Form
Title: Endangered Mexican Wildcats / Grade Level:9th
Objectives: SWBAT…
Describe how ecosystem will change if the Mexican Wildcat becomes extinct
Describe the importance of conservation organizations like Earthwatch
Read and record the most important parts of an article
Illinois Learning Standards:
12B
Apply scientific inquiries or technological design to explore the implications of change and stability in ecosystems, identifying evolutionary adaptations brought on by environmental changes, analyzing factors that influence the size and stability of populations (e.g., temperature, climate, soil conditions, predation, habitat), or contrasting energy use by organisms.
Apply scientific inquiries or technological design to examine species' demise or success within ecosystems identifying problems for species conservation and extinction, projecting population changes when habitats are altered or destroyed (deforestation, desertification, wetlands destruction, introduction of exotic species),or researching economic and scientific value implications for changes to genetic diversity.
Engagement:
For the engagement exercise the students will be going to the Scholastic website and completing an on-line food web. Once the students have completed the food web they will have to draw a picture or a flow chart to demonstrate the food web’s flow of energy. After this the students will have to complete a KWL chart. They will be instructed that the KWL chart is going to be about the Mexican Wildcat (Ocelot) and Ecosystems. In the “K” column the students are to place everything they know about these topics. Since our class has a large number of students that are Latino we will provoke the students’ previous knowledge by asking them questions about the terrain in Mexico, the climate, and types of wildlife that can be found in Mexico. We are hoping that their previous experiences will help the students to fill in the “K” column. For the students in our class that are not Latino we will provoke their previous knowledge by placing a picture of the Mexican Wildcat on the projection screen. The Mexican Wildcat looks like a little leopard so hopefully based off previous experiences with leopards they will be able to fill in the “K” column. We will also ask the students what are some characteristics of cats and wild cats (like lions, cheetahs, and tigers). Even if the students have no knowledge on the Mexican Wildcat or the habitats of Mexico hopefully their previous knowledge on other types of cats will allow them to complete the “K” column. After the “K” is completed the students will be instructed to complete the “W” column with information they will want to learn about the Mexican Wildcat and Ecosystems.
Exploration:
As a class we will popcorn read the article Mexican Wildcats: Field Sites on the Scholastic website. After every couple of paragraphs we will stop and as a class complete notes. Once the article is completed the students will have to fill in the “L” column on their KWL charts with the information they have learned from the article. This article goes into detail about the endangered Mexican Wildcat and what will occur if it becomes extinct. The article also explains the Wildcats natural habitat and environment.
Explanation:
Since our students need extra help in reading and writing we plan to complete the exploration together so the class can work on these skills. When we stop the reading we will ask the students what was the main point or idea out of those paragraphs. After the students have answered they will have to write in their note books the main ideas of the paragraph. We want to do this in order for the students to learn how to take better notes. Note taking skills are a good way to practice the students’ writing skills and their reading skills. In order to successfully take notes the students will have to be able to read the paragraph and understand/interrupt the information in the paragraph.
Extension:
During this part of the lesson the students will be broken up into groups of seven. Each group will have the responsibility to read the Field Reports on the Mexican Wildcat. Each group member is to read one report, take notes on it, and then present their findings back to their group. This again will allow the students to practice their note taking skills. Since not everyone is going to finish reading at the same time the students will have to take notes in order to remember and present their information back to the group. As they are reading their report the students are also to add to the “L” on their KWL charts. The students are also expected to add to the “L” column after the students in their group have explained their field report. In addition to the KWL charts, the notes that will be taken on the Mexican Wildcat give the students an opportunity to research an animal from their homeland. This will allow the students to take meaningful notes as a way to practice their note-taking strategies, instead of in a grueling and more demanding form.
Evaluation(Assessment Strategies):
Students will be evaluated on their KWL charts and the notes that we took as a class during the exploration. The KWL chart will have to be completely filled out and in order to gain full points must have at least 20 new facts in the “L” column. The notes must contain the information we covered as a class, their personal field report, and notes on their classmates’ field reports.
Rationale:
We choose this lesson because it coincides with the Illinois State Standard H 12 B. The standard states it wants students to understand the problems for species conservation. Our whole lesson is about conserving the Mexican Wildcat from extinction. It also discusses the challenges Earthwatch is faced with while trying to protect all of it’s animals. Students are also learning about ecosystem stability and the consequences that can occur if the Wildcat were to become extinct. Once again this is one of the goals of H12 B.
We also choose this lesson because it allows our students to practice their reading and writing skills. Our class contains a lot of students who do not speak or read English at home. We felt this was a good chance for the students to practice those skills. Another advantage to the lesson is that students have to read but not an overwhelming amount. Our description for our class stated that the students have short attention spans and that readings need to be broken down. Each Field Report the students have to read individually is only about a page. That should be short enough for the students to concentrate on. The other advantage to putting them into groups is that instead of reading seven Field Reports each student only has to read one. In addition, we like that with this lesson student’s are exposed to using a computer and researching information on the internet. This we believe creates an easier environment for students to read and take notes from, instead of looking at several pages of information on paper. The lesson also provides most of the student’s with more options of college outside of the U.S. and exposes them to research opportunities taking place in their home country. The final reason we choose this lesson was because of the demographic of our class room. Our class is 90% Latino and we thought learning about the Mexican Wildcat would interest the students since it may be something they have had previous experiences with.
Resources:
Scholastic Teachers. (2009). Endangered Ecosystems. Scholastic Retrieved from http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=492&FullBreadCrumb=%3Ca+href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.scholastic.com%2Fbrowse%2Fsearch%2F%3Fquery%3Dendangered%2Becosystems%26Ntt%3Dendangered%2Becosystems%26Ntk%3DSCHL30_SI%26Ntx%3Dmode%2Bmatchallpartial%26N%3D0%26_N%3Dfff%22+class%3D%22endecaAll%22%3EAll+Results%3C%2Fa%3E