Lesson Plans

Teacher:
Date: Content Area: SCL2 WRL3 Unit: LIVING THINGS and ECOSYSTEMS
Title of Lesson: How do living things change over time?
Essential Questions: Why do living things change over time? What evidence do we have that extinct animals once lived?
Standards Addressed: SC2.19 Describe fossil evidence of extinct organisms and explain changes in life forms over time WR3.02 Experiment with original formats WR3.04 Uses descriptive words, WR3.11 Uses citation
Anticipatory Set/Introduction:
1) What happened here? Student teams use worksheet to come up with a scenario about what happened. Group sharing and discussion about how scientists use what evidence they have to develop theories.
2) Extinct- ask students to think-pair-share about what it means. Go over their ideas and come up with a class definition of extinct. Read the Natural History Fact Sheet Wooly Mammoth (Wildlife for the Future curriculum pg. 116) and summarize the information on the board and in journals. /

Resources/Materials

What happened here? Worksheets for teams.
Alaska’s Wildlife for the Future book- pg.27-32 and 116-118
Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center web site http://www.beringia.com/ (under center information-look at the virtual tour and on-line exhibits- Ice Age Gallery) ;under Beringia research, print out or share the Wooly Mammoth, giant beaver, others…
Projector for internet site viewing
Journal About Alaska prompt: Wooly Mammoth
Modeling:
-Review information from Wildlife for the Future curriculum pages 27-32 about extinction. Summarize in notes for student journals.
-Project the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center site and show/discuss the fossil evidence for extinct animals of this region.
How did the Giant Beaver survive? Look at the information sheet for the giant beaver with the class and model listing some of the physical characteristics of the beaver and what traits helped it to survive and why it became extinct. Cite the source of the information explain this process to students).
Guided Practice:
How did the Wooly Mammoth survive? The class helps list the physical characteristics of the mammoth and what traits helped it to survive and why it became extinct. Cite the source of the information.
Independent Practice:
Students choose the Stella Sea Cow or the Great Auk Fact Sheet (Wildlife for the Future book pg. 117-118) -read and summarize the fact sheet in journals- include characteristics that helped it survive and why it is now extinct. Share with partners. Cite the source of information.
Closure:
Students write a paragraph about what it would be like if wooly mammoths still lived in your area and illustrate with a drawing.
Assessment Date and Type: Wooly Mammoth journal prompt.

Resource below---What happened here? worksheet

R 8/09