EDUC537 Designing Web Based Learning (91) Assignment #2 Concept Mapping Concept Map: Grade 5 Life Science

Respectfully Submitted By: Lindsay Bennett ldyson@lsb.ca Student #20112383 Carol Cheyne carol@cheyne.ca Student # Robin Parrott robinparrott@esdnl.ca Student # 20112179

Cape Breton University

July 31st, 2011

Description of Learners
This unit on Maintaining a Healthy Body has been developed to cover grade five outcomes from the Life Science curriculum of Nova Scotia that will be used to teach grade five students, both male and female, ages ten and eleven. At this stage in their lives, students would have had some exposure to the body parts and organ functions. Their prior knowledge will be largely dependent upon their own individual experiences. The knowledge that they have acquired this far will also be dependent upon their individual learning abilities, as strong students will take more away from their experiences than weaker ones. To ensure that all learners are able to successfully meet the outcomes of this unit, attention will be given to accommodate the different ability levels. There will be some learners who will require specific adaptations to the program delivery, there will be some learners who require additional support, while others may require more challenging activities.

Context of Learning
This unit focuses on four outcomes under the Meeting Basic Needs and Maintaining a Healthy Body unit found in the grade five science curriculum guide (see Appendix B). In order to achieve the outcomes listed in the concept map, this unit will be employing a project based learning approach so that student interest will be maintained throughout and they will be engaged in activities which support their learning. One of the major projects within the unit has been structured to allow the students to work in small groups (the groups will be designed to cater to a variety of ability levels) and create a model of their respective organ/system.

The concept map (Appendix A) illustrates a number of adaptations that will be made to the unit delivery for any student who requires additional support or requires more activities. The culminating activity will permit flexibility and freedom for the students to decide which form of media they wish to use when discussing their finds and revealing their model organ/system. This will allow for a variety of learning styles to be employed.

Concept Map
The concept map reflects the sequence of the unit. We will start with activating of prior knowledge by prompting students to discuss their experience with the vocabulary words and the function of each organ. The unit flows through the various concepts by incorporating a number of activities and websites that will underline the key ideas. A summative evaluation will require students to demonstrate their understanding of the knowledge gained with regard to the circulatory, digestive, excretory and respiration systems. The final culminating activity will require students to form groups, choosing from the bodily systems we are studying, and present their findings to the class using the media of their choice.

Appendix A

Appendix B: Curriculum Outcomes

The following outcomes have been selected to be covered for this project-based unit.

Propose questions and carry out procedures to investigate the factors affecting breathing and heartbeat rate, and compile and display data from these investigations in a graph (205-1, 206-2)

Select and use tools in building models of organs or body systems (205-2) Describe nutritional and other requirements for maintain a healthy body and evaluate the usefulness of different information sources in answering questions about health and diet (206-4,302-9)

Describe the structure and function of the major organs of the digestive, excretory, respiratory and circulatory systems (302-5)

Bibliography Department of Education of Nova Scotia. (2008) Science Grade 5 Curriculum.

Retrieved from:
http://www.ednet.ns.ca/pdfdocs/curriculum/Science5_web_secured.pdf