Name: Christine Pawlowski Date: October 7, 2011 Grade Level/Subject: Third grade science Prerequisite Knowledge:

Students will be aware that Illinois is a state with many Prairies, and that there is a great deal to learn about the elements that make up a prairie. Students will have a made a drawing of what they think makes up a prairie after being read the book, If You Are Not From the Prairie

Approximate Time: Two thirty minute class periods Student Objectives/Student Outcomes: Students will record what they see outside on our prairie walk and see if they find something that they did not include on their prairie drawing. Students will analyze what they find and critically think and categorize if it is unique to the prairie biome. WIDA Language Objectives: Compare and contrast features of the prairie from oral and written information Interpret information or data Summarize information from graphics or notes Explain phenomena, give examples, and justify responses

Content Standards:

12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments (e.g., predator/prey, parasite/host, food chains and food webs). 12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different environments (e.g., specialized teeth for eating certain foods, thorns for protection, insulation for cold temperature).

Materials/Resources/Technology: Notebook Pencil Jacket (if the weather is chilly) Implementation:

Time
10 minutes

Opening of lesson: (Objectives, hook, behavior expectations)

Have the students share with the class what they included in their prairie drawing after having been read the book, If Youre Not From the Prairie Ask them the critical questions, Do you think there may be more that you did not include? You may choose to actually have them respond or have the question be rhetorical. Share that in order to find out if there is more we can include that was not shared in the book, we are going to go on a prairie walk, since our state is can be considered one big prairie!

Urge them to look for plants or animals on our walk that are unique to the prairie biome. Flies, bees, and pigeons are probably not only found here in the prairie.

20 minutes

Procedures: Include critical thinking questions and accommodations for individual needs
Go for a walk around the school. Try to go to a wooded area if possible or one that does not see much vehicular or foot traffic. Guide children to closely examine the different plant life. Is this grass indigenous to the area or was it brought over and planted here so it could look pretty? Are these in fact wild flowers, or did people buy them and plant them here? What do you notice about the weather here that is different from other biomes? Do the trees look different of those you would see in the desert or in tropical rainforest? Write down all the responses to these questions in your observation notebook. If you live in the prairie, what do you notice every day that is unique to the prairie? Im not expecting them to notice major differences, since it is third grade, but I hope they can distinguish the different climates and the different aspects that make a prairie so unique. Students may collect grass or plants to include in their shoe box representation that they will complete in the next lesson. Wrap up by going back to the classroom and have the students write down a quick reflection on what they saw, what they were surprised they saw, and what they were surprised they didnt see. It will set up as a journal activity.

20 minutes day 2

Summary/Closing:
Have them recall our prairie walk from yesterday. Ask the students to share what they saw on their walk that was not mentioned in the book. Also urge further critical thinking questions such as, What type of clothes would you need if you lived a prairie year round as a opposed to the desert, wetland, or if you lived in water? What would the weather patterns be year round? Why do you think the book did not include all that can be found in the prairie? What do you think is most unique about the prairie?

Next lesson

Student Assessment:
The primary assessment of this lesson is seeing if the students did in fact search hard on their prairie walk to see if they could find more elements than the book included. The final diorama they will create will determine if they found that the prairie is made of many plants and sustains many different life forms, much more than the book could include. However, the assessment for this individual lesson is primarily the notebook observations and their summary on day two.