A unit in mythology and astronomy
by Jill Colburn Bernard
Subject: Social Studies and Science (Greek mythology and astronomy)
Grade Level: 5th
Unit Summary: This unit provides 5th grade O.W.L.S. students an introduction to Greek mythology and the correlation between mythological characters and stellar constellations. Students will conduct research in order to learn some of the stories surrounding various Greek gods, goddesses, and other miscellaneous characters. This research will ultimately lead the students in answering the essential question:
The ancient Greeks felt that the gods and goddesses that they believed in influenced their lives greatly. Because they believed so strongly in those beings, many of the constellations of stars are named after these gods or goddesses. These characters were placed in the heavens either as an honor or sometimes as punishment. Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heavens either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?
As a class, we will use Inspiration in order to create a concept web around the essential question. The students will then brainstorm a list of subsidiary questions that will need answering in order to ultimately answer the essential question. This web will be printed out as a guide for their research. To narrow the focus of their research a bit, I will provide the students with a list of 15-20 Greek mythological characters. Each student may choose 6-8 characters from that list to research. The students can conduct that research by using Internet websites as well as text sources. The websites will consist of some pre-selected sites and sites found during the students’ own searches. Information gathered during the research can be recorded on the Inspiration web. The final project will be a HyperStudio presentation. Each student will create a short stack of cards illustrating their answer to the essential question. All the cards will then be compiled into one “Reach for the Stars” presentation.
Standards: The following standards are addressed in this unit:
Social Studies Standards
History #1.1 Students know the general chronological order of events and people in history.
History #1.3 Students use chronology to examine and explain historical relationships.
History #2.1 Students know how to formulate questions and hypotheses regarding what happened in the past and to obtain and analyze historical data to answer questions and test hypotheses.
History #3.1 Students know how various societies were affected by contacts and exchanges among diverse peoples.
History #3.2 Students understand the history of social organization in various societies.
History #6.2 Students know how societies have been affected by religions and philosophies.
Geography #2.2 Students know how and why people define regions.
Geography #2.3 Students know how culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions.
Geography #4.2 Students know the nature and spatial distribution of cultural patterns.
Science Standards
#4 Students know and understand the processes and interactions of Earth’s systems and the structure and dynamics of Earth and other objects in space.
#4.4 Students know the structure of the solar system, composition and interactions of objects in the universe, and how space is explored.
Language Arts Standards
#1 Students will write for a variety of purposes and audiences.
#2 Students will use the correct forms of grammar usage, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling in their writing.
#3 Students will read and understand a variety of materials.
#4 Students will use reading and writing to enhance thinking and understanding.
#5 Students will read to locate, select and make use of information from a variety of print, media and technological sources.
Technology and Information Literacy
Ends #1 Students use technology to access, select, apply, organize, and effectively communicate relevant information.
Ends #2 Students use technology to research and evaluate data and derive conclusions.
Ends #3 Students use technology to collect and organize information to solve real world problems.
Ends #4 Students demonstrate an understanding of the nature and operation of technology by using it in an ethical and responsible manner.
Technology Integration: The use of technology has been integrated into this unit in the following ways:
· PowerPoint: presentation teaching effective search techniques will be shown to the students
· Inspiration: used to create essential question/subsidiary questions web as well as an outline template
· Shared Folder: used to give students access to links to pre-selected websites
· Internet: used by the students for conducting their own search during the research phase
· HyperStudio: used to create the final project
Essential/Subsidiary Questions: In order to answer the essential question, “Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heavens either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?”, a list of subsidiary questions will need to be addressed first. The students will generate these questions in the described lesson. I will lead the students in formulating questions that will help them answer the essential question as well as promote high level thinking. Examples of these subsidiary questions might include:
· What deeds did each character do? (Identifying, Describing)
· Did these deeds have an impact? (Analyzing, Inferring, Evaluating, Explaining Causality)
· What was the importance of the character’s deeds? (Analyzing, Synthesizing, Explaining)
· Was it a positive impact or a negative one? (Analyzing, Classifying, Explaining)
· Is a positive impact more important than a negative one? (Analyzing, Inferring, Comparing/Contrasting, Evaluating, Explaining)
· Should this character have become a constellation? Why? (Synthesizing, Evaluating, Applying the knowledge of research, Explaining)
· What does it take to be worthy? (Synthesizing, Inferring, Evaluating)
Lesson Summary:
Prior to this lesson, the students will have had lessons in using the shared folder, the “Big 6” research model, note-taking, copyright etiquette and citing of sources, and will have viewed and discussed the Effective Search Techniques PowerPoint presentation. Following this lesson, the students will be introduced to StarLab and given opportunities to practice their storytelling presentations (as described in the culminating activity).
Lesson procedure:
1) Students are asked to share their background knowledge of the constellations. This will allow the children to call upon their schema and should provide a foundation for the research that they will be conducting in this lesson. The essential question (listed under Unit Summary) will then be introduced and discussed to ensure its understanding.
2) Using the Infocus machine, display the Inspiration web with the essential question listed. As a group, brainstorm subsidiary questions that will help in answering the essential question. As students suggest these questions, add them to the web. When finished, the students should review their subsidiary questions and discuss their worth to determine if any should be eliminated. Delete any questions if needed. Save this Inspiration web into the shared folder to allow for student access.
3) Students will open the shared folder and save the newly created Inspiration web onto their “H”drive. Once they have opened the Inspiration document, they should convert the web graphic to an outline form. This outline can then be used as a note-taking template—either by printing out a hard copy or by using the template on the computer.
4) Students will then choose to research 6-8 Greek mythological characters and seek out answers to the questions on their outline. A list of these characters will be provided by the teacher.
5) At this point, students will begin to gather data and take notes on their outline templates. They may access web pages using the sites listed in the shared folder or ones found through their own search. A supply of books will also be available to the students to use in their research. As sources are used, students will need to record their bibliographical information. This data can later be entered into Citation Machine and printed out as a bibliography.
6) When the data gathering is completed, the students will need to review their notes, synthesize what they have gathered, and use their new knowledge to answer the essential question.
7) Students will then create a HyperStudio presentation consisting of 3-4 cards. The first one will be a title card with buttons to the other cards. This title card will also introduce the Greek character they have chosen. The remaining 2-3 cards will consist of a short summary of the character’s legend and the rationale for that character becoming a constellation. All the students’ stacks will be compiled to create a presentation on “worthy constellations.” A combined bibliography will be included in the final card of the presentation.
Culminating Activity:
This research project is a precursor to having StarLab in the school. I have always used StarLab as a way to teach students about Greek mythology by telling stories about the Greek god/goddesses while showing their constellations. Now, I would like the 5th grade students to be the “StarLab experts.” After doing the research and learning about the different mythological characters that make up the constellations, they should have the background to teach other students about the Greek myths. My students will use StarLab as a storytelling venue to share their knowledge with other classes.
The Big 6 Research Model
Michael Eisenberg and Robert Berkowitz’s “Big 6” research model provides an easy to use, yet comprehensive, step-by-step process that my 5th grade students can follow. The “Big 6 for Kids” website (http://www.big6.com/kids/) is a great resource for teaching the 6 basic steps of the research process. This research model also has a primary component involving three steps. I can teach this model to my 1st and 2nd graders. Then I can easily build upon their learning to include the additional three steps in their intermediate years.
The “Big 6” research model consists of these steps:
Ø Task Definition: In this stage the students ask themselves, “What needs to be done?” The best way to answer that question is to define the essential question the students will ultimately answer after completing their research. In order to answer the essential question, “Which mythological character do you feel is the most worthy of being a constellation—being placed in the heaven either as an honor or as a punishment—and why?”, the students will need to list subsidiary questions that will help focus their research. I will lead the children in formulating those questions by using an Inspiration web. The essential question will be centered on the screen and the student generated subsidiary questions will be clustered around. This web can then be printed out as a reference during the research process. Students should also be presented a rubric so that they know in advance the requirements of the final project.
Ø Information Seeking Strategies: In this stage the students ask, “What resources can I use?” They will need to address the essential question and the subsidiary questions in order to generate a list of the potential sources they can use in order to answer those questions. These sources can include books, encyclopedias, web sites, etc. The students will also need to be encouraged to evaluate the sources in order to determine which ones will yield the best information. A mini-lesson will be beneficial to present the children with possible sources and their value.
Ø Location and Access: Simply stated, this stage answers the question, “Where can I find the resources?” Trips to the school or public library, as well as internet searches, will be necessary in order to gather the necessary materials. It will also be necessary for me to teach mini-lessons in order to ensure that children know how to use the resources. For example, the children will need to know how to reference a book or encyclopedia’s index. Effective web site search techniques will also need to be taught.
Ø Use of Information: This stage involves the actual gathering of information and evaluating its worth. To make this stage efficient, students will need to be reminded to seek out facts and information that will help them answer the questions outlined in their Inspiration web. A lesson on skimming and scanning will help to facilitate this. Also, it will be imperative to teach the students how to take appropriate notes and cite sources. Modeling good note-taking skills will help to alleviate the problem of “copying.”
Ø Synthesis: This stage “ties everything together.” Students will need to organize all their information as well as create a final project that presents what they have found. Once again, the steps in this stage will need to be taught. The children will need a lesson on organizing information and tying it all together. The final project will be a HyperStudio presentation, so the children will also need mini-lessons on the different components of this multi-media program. Their HyperStudio presentation will include a slide referencing that fair use guidelines were followed, a bibliography, and slides that address the essential question.
Ø Evaluation: In this last stage of the Big 6 model, students ask the question, “How will I know if I did my job well?” Providing the children with a rubric against which they can judge their final project should help to answer this question. During this stage, the students should also evaluate the research process itself to ascertain what they learned about that process and what skills and strategies they found useful and will use with future research projects. I intend to provide the students time for a group discussion on this topic.
Real Life Applications: This unit has several real-life applications. One example is the research process itself. Students can apply skills and strategies learned during the process to other situations. It is important to know helpful search techniques when using the Internet. It is also necessary to be able to evaluate the validity of information found during a search. Another example of a real-life application is the skills attained from the culminating activity. Allowing the students the opportunity to present in front of an audience will give them the practice and experience that they can then apply in future presentations. Finally, the students can recall this unit and remember the experience each time they gaze up at the stars.
Avoiding Plagiarism: This can most readily be accomplished by carefully structuring the research process. The most important element will be in establishing a good essential question and appropriate subsidiary questions. These questions will force the students to synthesize the information they have gathered. They will need to formulate their own decision. Consequently, there will not be as much of an opportunity to simply plagiarize someone else’s work. It won’t help the students to meet the final goal. Additionally, it will be important for me to monitor the students’ note taking and HyperStudio presentation to ensure that they properly cited their sources. Keeping a watchful eye on the research process and making the children aware of the importance of avoiding plagiarism should help to alleviate the potential for it happening.