Katherine Cecil

Indiana Wesleyan University

Elementary Education Lesson Plan Template
Science- ECOSYSTEMS
2007 ACEI Standards

READINESS
I. Goals/Objectives/Standard(s)
A. Goal(s)—Unit (broad terms)
a. Students will be able to identify the similarities and differences in ecosystems.
b. Students will be able to compare 3 different ecosystems
B. Objective(s)—(specific terms)
a. By making a poster, Students will be able to see one aspect of the question.
b. By students sharing their information with other students, students will be able
to identify the similarities and differences in all 3 ecosystems.
C. Standard(s): Professional Society/State/District
a. SEPS.1 Posing questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
b. 3. LS. 3 Animals have structures that function to support survival growth,
behavior, what do animals/ plants have to survive in ecosystem

II. Materials & Management

a. Materials
i. Pictures (plants, animals, setting)
ii. Signs (desert, artic, wetland)
iii. Ecosystem information
iv. butcher paper
v. markers
vi. Worksheets
vii. Ipads
viii. Tape
b. Space
i. All over the classroom then at their desks.
c. Behavior
i. Shut down negative behavior/ point out positive behavior
ii. Brag tags
- If students exhibit good behavior and excellent focus they can earn
a brag tag
- If students exhibit negative behavior they could get a warning and
their brag tag taken away
d. Time
i. 30 -45 minutes
e. Technology
i. Use ipad
ii. Put worksheets on ipad
III. Anticipatory Set
 a. Have students do a team building exercise—Do the human knot I would like
everyone to stand up and go over to the rug. We need to form a circle and are
going to interlock arms. (model). We are going to play the human knot. Our goal
is to get untangled, so we have to work together in order for this to work.
b. Talk about how ecosystems work together – An ecosystem is a very delicate
system. It is like its own community. Just like our classroom is a community. We
all work together to form this great environment just like all the living things in an
ecosystem work together.
IV. Purpose
a. Today we will be learning about different ecosystems because we need to be
aware of our world and how each living and nonliving thing works together.

PLAN FOR INSTRUCTION

Use major concepts, principles, theories, and research to construct learning opportunities that
support students’ development, acquisition of knowledge, and motivation.
(ACEI 1.0)
V. Adaptation to Diverse Students-
a. Have students split up into ability group
i. Lower group- summarizes each ecosystem and presents
- Brayden, Grace, Alleja, Carter, Conner, Rhain, and Alyssa (7)
ii. Middle group- comes up with the similarities of each ecosystem and
presents
- Alicia, Macey, Preston, Trevor, Breanna, Eric, Kayden, Ava,and
John (9)
b. Enrichment
i. Higher group- comes up with the differences of each ecosystem and
presents
- Karter, Moriah, Laila, Arie, Ozzy, Haley, Moszi, and Hunter (8)
(ACEI 3.2)

VI. Lesson Presentation (Input/Output)

 Use link as teaching resource- https://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-a-
biome.html
 Explain what an ecosystem is – An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants,
animals, and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their
non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere)Animals and
plants depend on each other for their survival
 Adaptation is the process where an animal becomes better adapted to their environment
 Have the white board sectioned off into 3 sections (tundra, desert, and grasslands)
 Point to each animal and have the students raise their hand for which ecosystem they go
under so they can make a hypothesis of the information they might learn.
 Before we go around the room to see if our hypothesis is correct I need to tell you the
question we will be investigating today. We will be trying to figure out how ecosystems
are similar and different?
 Teach about 3 ecosystems – have the different ecosystems around the room in different
areas of the room.
 Have them open up the worksheet on their ipads to record information. Get out your
Ipads and go to Mrs. McCool’s home page and scroll down to ecosystem notes and open
it. That is where you will take notes while we walk around the room.
 I would like everyone to follow me. We are going to explore different ecosystems around
the room. First stop by the desert. What do we know about the desert already? What kind
of animals are there? What is the climate like?
 Desert – They generally get 10 inches or less of rain a year. cover 1/5th of the earth
surface, Antarctica is the largest, Sahara is the largest of the hot deserts, hot deserts are
covered in sand, deserts have little water, the plants are good at finding and storing water.
Cacti are common. Seals and penguins are animals you might find in the Antarctic
desert— little to no rainfall --- hot and dry, semi arid, coastal, and cold deserts( many of
the animals are nocturnal) desert covers 20% of the worlds land- the largest hot and dry
desert in the world is the Sahara Desert
o Since water is hard to come by Thorny devils drinks water through its skin.
o Camels have humps that store fat which can be used as both food and water
o Cactus have pine (pockers) because they lose less water. Have shallow roots to
soak up water immediately
o Dingos have thinner coats in warmer areas and sandy fur to blend into
surroundings
 Now lets head over to the Grasslands. Does anyone know anything about Grasslands?
What kind of animals are in the grasslands? What is the climate like?--- darkest richest
soil, good for farming, known as prairies or steppes, trees and large shrubs are rarely
found in the grassland areas.--- savanna and temperate – temp was high in summer and
freezing in winter. It is located between deserts and forests. 2 types of grasslands;
temperate (steppes, pampas, and prairie) wide expanses of land filled with low growing
plants ---10 to 30 inches of rain fall
o Elephants have tusks to fight off predators and stripping of bark
o Lions have golden brown fur for camouflage
o Giraffes have long necks to help it reach food high up
o Bluestem grass has speshal antibodies in this plant to help it survive harsh
summers and winters
o Praire dogs have strong hind legs to help them stand up and scan praire for
danger
o Posion ivy – toxins to prevent insects from feeding off of it

 Now lets go over to the Tundra. What do we already know about a Tundra? What kind of
animals are in the tundra? What is the climate like? - coldest and darkest ecosystems,
located in the arctic circle, 1/5 of the land on earth, means treeless plain, arctic and
alpine, temp is around 2-3 degrees C in summer and about -35 degrees C in winter,
Tunturia – barren land ,
 2 types of tundras; alpine(area of land high in the mountains above the tree line and artic
tundra(is located far north in the northern hemisphere along the arctic circle) a cold and
treeless plain where harsh conditions make it hard for plants and animals—around 10
inches of rain
o Cotton grass is known for its closeness to the ground
 o Polar bears have white fur and black skin. Their white for is actually transparent
(reflects the sun and camouflages) and the black skin absorbs sunlight and keeps
them warm
o Artic Fox- Thick fur on the tail for extra insulation
o Caribou has 2 layers of fur to keep itself warm and wide hooves to move through
muddy areas easily
 Now I would like all of you to go back to your seats. Lets look back at our hypothesis and
see if anything is correct. Lets start with Tundra.
 Give the students butcher paper and the part of the question they are supposed to answer.
So I have split you up into groups and each group has part of the question we have to
answer. Do we remember the question? The question is How are ecosystems similar and
different?
 Once done have the students present to the class.
(ACEI 2.2)
(ACEI 3.3)
VII. Check for understanding. How do you know students have learned? What strategies
will you implement if all students have not met lesson outcomes? Employ one or
more strategies to determine student learning.
- How are ecosystems similar and different?
- What do we already know about desert?
- Does anyone know anything about grasslands?
- What do we already know about tundra?
- What kind of animals are there?
- What is the climate like?
- does any one have an educated guess on where these 3 could go and explain why you
think so?
VIII. Review learning outcomes / Closure
- Have students work in their groups on their part of the questions
and share with the class.
- Go over student hypotheses and see if any were correct
- Students write 1 new fact they learned today and a similarity and
difference.

PLAN FOR ASSESSMENT

Formative
– Students will create a poster in their groups that they will present together
-Students will write 1 new fact they learned today along with a similarity and difference

(ACEI 4.0)
REFLECTION AND POST-LESSON ANALYSIS
1. How many students achieved the lesson objective(s)? For those who did not, why no
a. I think most students achieved the objective. I know a few students struggled to
understand exactly what to do so I gave them examples, which helped clear up
the confusion.
2. What were my strengths and weaknesses?
 a. I had good control over the classroom, which was awesome. I rewarded the
students with brag tags for how great they were. The one thing I could work on
is time management. I find it hard to give all the students the information
needed and still have a good fun way to assess them in the time allotted.
3. How should I alter this lesson?
a. Since the science block is shorter than how much time I was allowed for my
lesson I would cut a few things. I could make it, so I only focused on 2
ecosystems instead of 3. Still have the students do the group work; however, cut
groups in half so there is not as much messing around and people getting left
out. Then that would allow the students more time to have to share their posters.
4. How would I pace it differently?
a. I would pace it about the same. I spent about 10 minutes on each piece.
However, because in the normal science lesson block I would have less time I
would need to make adjustments to this lesson.
5. Were all students actively participating? If not, why not?
a. Yes, they all were engaged during my lesson. Some even shared some things
they knew and asked some really good questions. I did not have all the answers,
so I told them we could look that information up later.
6. What adjustments did I make to reach varied learning styles and ability levels?
a. Bloom’s Taxonomy
i. I was able to ask some good questions and get them thinking but I
need to work on continuing to climb this pyramid to be better at asking
deeper questions.
b. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
i. I catered to visual, verbal, and interpersonal intelligences.
7. Was having the students present a good idea?
a. I actually was unable to have the students present due to time. However, they
were pretty upset that they did not get to share their posters with the class.
8. Could I have come up with a better way to differentiate?
a. Honestly, I think the differentiation worked well. Even though the tasks
seemed like they would be fairly easy. They all were challenged with coming up
with the information.
 Ecosystem Notes:
Name:________________
Questions Desert Tundra Grasslands

What is this
ecosystem?
What is the
climate like?

List plants and

animals that
live here