Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Introduction to the My Blog
Welcome to this blog! This is being created for a class, in which I have to create a one week lesson plan for all things dealing with Genus Pepsis. What is Genus Pepsis, you ask? Follow my lesson plans, and you will find out!
Standards
So, I'm teaching this unit, but... how does this tie into what my state is wanting me to teach? This is a single bug! I guess it's time to search Georgia's standards at www.georgiastandards.org/ to see what I need!
Well! Look what I found!
Standards
GPS
S7L1. Students will investigate the
diversity of living organisms and how they can be compared scientifically.
a. Demonstrate the process for the development of a dichotomous key.
b. Classify organisms based on physical
characteristics using a dichotomous key of the six kingdom system
(archaebacteria, eubacteria, protists, fungi, plants, and animals).
S7L4. Students will examine the dependence
of organisms on one another and their environments.
d. Categorize relationships between
organisms that are competitive or mutually beneficial.
e. Describe the characteristics of
Earth’s major terrestrial biomes (i.e. tropical rain forest, savannah,
temperate, desert, taiga, tundra, and mountain) and aquatic communities (i.e.
freshwater, estuaries, and marine).
CCGPS
L6-8RST7: Integrate quantitative or
technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that
information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or
table).
L6-8WHST2: Write informative/explanatory
texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/
experiments, or technical processes.
a. Introduce
a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and
information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose;
include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and
multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
L6-8WHST6: Use technology, including
the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships
between information and ideas clearly and efficiently.
L6-8WHST7: Conduct short research
projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on
several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow
for multiple avenues of exploration.
L6-8WHST9: Draw evidence from
informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.
**I can use the basic GPS for 7th Grade Science to integrate this topic, but to make sure that I'm also covering the new Common Core GPS, I have found some relative topics that can be integrated to align my standards!
Objectives
Objectives: Outcome-Based
Statements
1)
Students will be able to classify Genus Pepsis,
starting from Kingdom down to Species.
2)
Students will be able to label the Genus Pepsis
with its common name(s).
3)
Students will be able to explain the life cycle
and life span of Genus Pepsis in detail.
4)
Students will identify the different particles,
plants, animals, and other organisms in the Genus Pepsis’ habitat.
5)
Students will create and identify the anatomical
parts of the Genus Pepsis.
Initial Set of Questions
As I'm not a Science teacher, I had to start from the very beginning. I had to find out what Genus Pepsis was myself! After finding out what Genus Pepsis was, I had to find out basic information. Below are the questions I asked myself, along with the corresponding answers and the websites in which I found the information.
Guiding Questions
1)
What is the common name(s) of the genus pepsis?
a.
Tarantula hawk, tarantula wasp
2)
What is the classification of the genus pepsis?
a.
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
Family Pompilidae (Spider Wasps)
Genus Pepsis (Tarantula Hawks)
Species P. thisbe
3)
Where do the genus pepsis live? What type of ecosystem?
a.
Open areas, deserts, in the SW U.S.
4)
What is the life cycle of the genus pepsis?
a.
Mating takes
place on flowers, or sometimes near a "hilltop", such as a large
cactus, defended by the male. Females seek out tarantula burrows, paralyze
them, and bury it in a burrow, laying a single egg. Larvae feed on the
paralyzed spider.
5)
How long does
the genus pepsis live?
a.
Males live 1-2 months, but females live longer
6)
What does the genus pepsis eat?
a.
Nectar and milkweed
7)
What is the anatomy of the genus pepsis?
a.
Blue-black body with orange wings, made up of a
head, thorax, abdomen, 6 legs and antenna
b.
8)
Interesting facts about the genus pepsis.
a.
Females
lay the egg in the body of a tarantula, and the larva feeds off the stomach of
the tarantula; though they are not aggressive, if provoked, the tarantula wasp
has one of the strongest stings in the United States.
9)
What animals, plants, and other organisms exist
in the desert?
a.
Rats, mice, chipmunks, toads, cacti, moss
Introduction to Genus Pepsis
Now I need to figure out how to introduce this topic to my students. Maybe I should start off with
Hi! My name is... nah, that won't work. They already know my name. Maybe if I start off with "My name is Genus Pepsis." But that might confuse some of the students. Maybe I should try this...
Hi! My name is... nah, that won't work. They already know my name. Maybe if I start off with "My name is Genus Pepsis." But that might confuse some of the students. Maybe I should try this...
Introduction:
To get students familiar with the next lesson, students will
discuss what a classification is. They
will recall (activate prior knowledge) the different types of kingdoms, phylums, classes, orders, genii,
and species that we have discussed in the past unit. I will have them race to find the
classification of a bald eagle. In doing
this, they will be prepared for the upcoming task before them.
Research Question
Now that I have my initial set of questions, I need to make sure my students can get it! But where do I start with them? I guess I'll start them off where I started. I must first give them a research topic in order to get them started.
Research Question
What are the intricacies in the life of Genus Pepsis?
What are the intricacies in the life of Genus Pepsis?
Well, that's a little broad, and if I'm trying to reach 7th graders, I should probably cut this stuff down
to size for them. Therefore, I created a group of sub-questions that I also aligned with the standards that will be addressed in each question.
Sub Questions Used for WebQuest
1)
What is the full classification of Genus Pepsis
and common names? (S7L1.a and S7L1.b)
2)
Where do Genus Pepsis live (in what type of
ecosystem do they exist)? What other
things would you find in their environment? (S7L4.e)
3)
How do Genus Pepsis reproduce and live out their
lives? How long do they live? (S7L4.d)
4)
What do Genus Pepsis look like?
5)
What are some interesting facts about the Genus
Pepsis?
*Question number 4 is a fundamental question for identification purposes, and question number 5 is to make the assignment more appealing to the students.
Websites
These are websites that I used to help fuel my exploration. Hopefully, these sites may help my students!
Websites
Assignments
So, I've introduced it, but I have to teach something for a week that I just learned about myself? And it has to involve multi-media!!!! So, what do I do? I guess I'll make them do what I did...
Day 1:
Directions: Students will engage in a Webquest. They will search out the answers to the
following questions either alone or with a partner. If the student chooses to have a partner, he
or she must stay with that partner for the remainder of the unit. Email me (my e-mail is in the syllabus) the answers to your search to be graded.
Questions
1)
What is the full classification of Genus Pepsis
and common names? (S7L1.a and S7L1.b)
2)
Where do Genus Pepsis live (in what type of
ecosystem do they exist)? What other
things would you find in their environment? (S7L4.e)
3)
How do Genus Pepsis reproduce and live out their
lives? How long do they live? (S7L4.d)
4)
What do Genus Pepsis look like?
5)
What are some interesting facts about Genus
Pepsis?
6) Find something in the family Hymenoptera, and compare its life and habitat to the Genus Pepsis.
6) Find something in the family Hymenoptera, and compare its life and habitat to the Genus Pepsis.
Day 2:
Directions: Using a collage builder (I suggest http://www.collage.com/), students will be required to make a collage of the Genus Pepsis habitat. Students will use the Internet to find
pictures of the Genus Pepsis habitat.
They will find pictures of places that they live, along with plants and
animals that they may come in contact with.
Make sure to tell what is in each picture (there is a text button to add this). Save the collage to your H Drive and e-mail it to me. (My e-mail address is in the syllabus.)
Day 3:
Directions: Students will spend the class period
coming up with creative, realistic posts that they would put on Twitter (but will actually be put in a blog) of what a Genus Pepsis may
be doing. Posts should be based off the
research done over how they live their lives. For full credit, students must comment on posts of their peers.
Day 4:
Directions: Formative Assessment: Students will be given a description of Genus
Pepsis on a blog. They must find the
errors and comment below the description.
Students will then “draw” Genus Pepsis using any online drawing tool. (I suggest http://mudcu.be/sketchpad/.) Make sure that your
work can be saved and e-mailed to me. (My e-mail address is on the syllabus.) Students will also use the drawing to diagram the parts of Genus Pepsis.
Well, that's it! But now, I bet you're thinking that there are five days in a week. Well, day five for this unit will be my summative evaluation of this unit.
Summative Assessment
Here is the kit and caboodle! The students must prove that they are able to regurgitate what they've learned. Hopefully, with all of these fun and exciting assignments, their job should be easy! So, how can I do this? If I give them a boring old test, they will finish it in no time, because they know the information so well... but I have to have them write something! What do I do... maybe this will work!
Day 5:
Assessment: Students will create a presentation
(Prezi, PowerPoint, Blog, Popplet, etc…). You must use your presentation to compare and contrast Genus Pepsis to the insect you found in the Order Hymenoptera from the Day 1 assignment. Make sure to include all of the following for both insects.
Things to include:
1.
Classification of Genus Pepsus in its entirety
2.
Common name(s)
3.
Habitat and biome
4.
Interesting facts
5.
Anatomy
6.
Pictures
7.
Extra Credit: Video
That should do it! The students are using a multi-media tool to integrate everything they've learned! And the best part is that they've already researched and found all of the information they need in order to create this project. I'm sure there may be some problems at first, while they are making their first ever creation, but those are technical learning problems that should be fixed easily.
The Grand Finale!
After racking my brain for weeks trying to figure out how I would complete this task, I realized that my job was to be the student for a few minutes. I had to learn something that I had no clue about what it is. I figured out that by finding my own information, I became hyper-aware of what I was learning. Even though I'm not interested in entomology, I could probably tell people so much about a tarantula hawk/wasp.
I chose to present the information to my students in this format, because students have become accustomed to looking up information for themselves. (Who sings that song? I don't know, so I will just google it.) As teachers, we have become so ingrained in doing a stand and deliver platform that we don't realize that most of our students are zoned out due to boredom.
I don't believe that there is a set way to introduce or teach information. Each teacher has his and her own way of delivering the material. I consider myself a chameleon when it comes to teaching. I'm constantly having to change with the times. When I first started teaching, PowerPoint was the big craze, now we have smart boards, and clickers, and computers in every classroom for the students to use. I feel, as a teacher, it is my job to let students use all of these nifty gadgets. I don't think technology is supposed to make my job harder. In the long run, it should make my job easier.
I chose to present the information to my students in this format, because students have become accustomed to looking up information for themselves. (Who sings that song? I don't know, so I will just google it.) As teachers, we have become so ingrained in doing a stand and deliver platform that we don't realize that most of our students are zoned out due to boredom.
I don't believe that there is a set way to introduce or teach information. Each teacher has his and her own way of delivering the material. I consider myself a chameleon when it comes to teaching. I'm constantly having to change with the times. When I first started teaching, PowerPoint was the big craze, now we have smart boards, and clickers, and computers in every classroom for the students to use. I feel, as a teacher, it is my job to let students use all of these nifty gadgets. I don't think technology is supposed to make my job harder. In the long run, it should make my job easier.
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