Asking Questions to Learn About Pollination

Cooperating teacher-librarian: Amanda Harding

School: Kildeer Countryside Elementary School, Long Grove
Dates of Lesson: 4/8/19; 4/15/19; 4/17/19 (in classroom); 4/22/19
Grade Level: 3
Population: regular education, individual/small group activities
Purpose: During their classroom unit on plants, students will learn how to conduct
research and use text features to locate key points in articles in order to answer their
questions regarding the concept of pollination. Through literature, both print and digital,
students will familiarize themselves with this process and be able to present their learning
and comprehension in either written or visual format, as well as a construction of their
own pollinators.
Learning Objectives: Students will be gain the ability to:

 Use text features in order to develop an understanding of a book or article

 Summarize and paraphrase effectively
 Use technology to conduct research
 Make inferences to apply what they’ve learned
 Effectively work individually and collaboratively with a small group
ELA Standards:

 Reading 3.2- Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and
explain how they support the main idea.
 Reading 3.5- Use text features and search tools (e.g. keywords, sidebars,
hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
 Writing 3.2- Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey
ideas and information clearly.
 Writing 3.8- Recall information from experiences or gather information from
print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into
provided categories.
Length: 4 days
Environment: Library/Classroom
Resources:

 Gibbons, G. (1991). From seed to plant. New York: Holiday House.

 About Pollintors. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://pollinator.org/pollinators
 BrainPop Video
https://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/pollination/
  Beautiful Flowers Best Relax Music https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=fsc63FRQpRs
 Seesaw
https://web.seesaw.me/
Note Taking/Graphic Organizers

 Notability
 KWHL Chart
https://sites.google.com/site/theycallhimcoolguyjones/_/rsrc/1449084465657/hom
e/kwhl-chart/KWHL.jpg
Search Engines

 Newsela
 KidRex
 Kidtopia
 KidzSearch
Rubric

 Self-Assessment Rubric for Research Process and Project

Materials: iPads; Apple TV; Laptop; white board; art supplies (e.g. pipe cleaners, plastic
spoons, sticky tack, etc); sand; plastic dish
Activity and Procedures:
Day 1: Introduction to the topic of pollination and creating research questions
1. As students enter the library, tell them to have a seat on the carpet in front of the
Apple TV. Begin the lesson to students by asking them about their recent field
trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Ask them: “What did you see that was
interesting to you?” The students, who are learning specifically about seeds and
plant life cycles in class, mention how they learned about how seeds spread. “Was
there anything your were curious to learn more about after leaving?” Students will
surely mention how they would like to know more about different ways seeds are
spread. Continue by asking them if they know what this process is called.
Introduce the topic by showing a BrainPop video about pollination and reading
“From Seed to Plant” by Gail Gibbons.
2. After finishing the story, draw a bubble map on the white board, with the word
“Pollination” written in the center. Based on what the students have heard from
the video and the book, ask them to come up with different words that come to
mind when hearing the word pollination. Students raise their hands and offer
suggestions while the librarian creates the bubble map with all of their ideas. The
final product may look similar to this, depending on what ideas the students offer.
 Animals Bees Wind

Pollination

Flowers Flowing
Water

Making Seeds

3. “We have our topic of pollination. What are some curiosity questions we can come up
with about this topic?” Possible questions might be: What is the most common way that
seeds move? or What do plants start as? Have students pull out their iPads and have them
open up the Notability app. Set timer for three minutes and ask them to use that time to
write down a question that they would like to research in the next couple of weeks.
Approve students’ topics.
Day 2: Locate resources, either print or digital
1. Let the students know that today they will get to research the answer to their
curiosity question from last week. Introduce the research portion of the lesson by
having a graphic up on the Apple TV with images of all the kid friendly search
engines. Tell the students that they are only allowed to choose from these search
engines if they would like to do online research with their iPads. Reinforce that
Google is not a valid choice for this assignment. Students are also able to locate a
book in the library for their research if that is what they prefer. Demonstrate the
research process by using a student iPad to airplay to the Apple TV.
2. Using the search engine KidRex as an example, try to find the answer to the
question: What kinds of animals spread seeds? Ask the kids what important words
should I use if I do not want to type the entire question into the search bar. Assist
students in coming up with key words, such as “animals” and “pollination.”
3. Ask students what are some ways that they can know a book, website, or article is
going to be helpful without reading all of the text. Since they have had a previous
lesson on text features, they should be able to answer this question. Have students
identify different text features and note their responses on the whiteboard. Some
examples include:
 Title
Pictures
Table of Context
Glossary
Bold Words
Captions
Diagrams

4. Use the article Pollinators need you. You need pollinators. to have students
identify the text features and determine if the article would be helpful. Some text
features the article uses are a title, a diagram, and photographs. Ask students if
this article will help us answer the question we posed earlier. They might say yes
it will since there is a section of the article headed “Who are the pollinators?”
with images of animals.
5. Encourage students to spread out and use the alternative seating tools while they
conduct their own research. Students are going to be using a KWHL chart to fill
in information as they research. For the How portion, they are expected to put
exactly where they found their information. For example, the title of the book or
the name of the website. Students are expected to come up with an answer to their
question and write it on their chart.
Day 3: Work in groups to create pollinator
1. The librarian is going to come into the classroom for the next part of the lesson.
Students are going to now be split into small groups of 3-4 students to construct a
device that will work as a pollinator. Librarian and classroom teacher will provide
art supplies for the students to use. “Your mission: to create a device that will
successfully transport a few grains of sand from your pollinator into a small
plastic dish.” Tell them to think about how they can mimic some of the other seed
dispersal methods. Encourage them to be as creative as they can. Play youtube
video of calming nature music while the students work.
2. Allow last ten minutes of class for students to present their pollinators to the class,
including what they use to build it and why they chose the materials they did.
Have them put it to the test by see if it is successful by having them transport
grains of sand from one plastic dish to another. Have students take a picture of
their pollinators before the end of class.
Day 4: Write narrative, make a video, or create a presentation detailing creation and
experience
1. “We have explored the various ways that pollination occurs and you have created
your own pollinator. Now it is time to show what you learned.” Students are being
assessed in two areas: their research question and their pollinator. They have the
option to write a narrative, make a video, or create a presentation. In whatever
format they choose, they have to provide the answer to their curiosity question,
along with what sources they used to come up with that answer. Also, they will
 have to discuss the pollinator they created with their group, along with an
explanation of why they think it worked or did not work. “Also try to use
evidence from the readings to help you in the explanation of why your pollinator
was a success or not.”
2. Students are to upload their projects to Seesaw once they are completed.
Closure: Students are able to view their classmate’s postings on Seesaw and can leave
comments.
Differentiation: Students are provided with various options for the final assessment to
give them more flexibility to work in a format they are comfortable in.
Assessment: Students are going to be assessing their own learning by determining why
their pollinator was successful or not. They are also going to decide what changes they
would make it they were to repeat the project.
Evaluation: Students will be using the Self-Assessment Rubric for Research Process and
Project to evaluate their own learning.
Extension: Students will continue practicing asking curiosity questions and conducting
research on various topics.