Ecosystems Turboquest

Lesson Plan 1 (Task 1)

Ophelia Gregory
Title of Lesson: Nature Walk
Topic: Ecosystems
Subject Area(s): Science and Physical Education
Grade Level: 4th
Description: Students will first complete the introductory pieces of Task 1 on the Turboquest (map,
introductory video, online informational text). Then students will complete a nature walk as a class
around the outside area of our school to explore and observe the ecosystem in which we live. Field
notes will be taken using the Field Notes handouts, pencils and clipboards. These notes may include
illustrations, labels and short explanations of the plants, animals, and habitats that students observe.
After the nature walk is complete, a discussion about ecosystems will occur. We will fill in information
on a KWL chart as a whole group. Lastly, students will use iRespond to vote for the animal they would
most like to learn more about.
Objectives:

Students will be able to identify the components of the ecosystem in which we live through a
labeled sketch with 90% accuracy.
Students, by participating in two physical activities while on the nature walk, will be able to
work in a partnership to complete Task 1.

Georgia Performance Standards:

S4CS4. Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and
technological matters. a. Observe and describe how parts influence one another in things with many
parts. b. Use geometric figures, number sequences, graphs, diagrams, sketches, number lines, maps, and
stories to represent corresponding features of objects, events, and processes in the real world. Identify
ways in which the representations do not match their original counterparts.
PE4.6: Values physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression, and/or socialinteraction.
Essential Question(s): How do people, animals, and their surroundings interact with one another to
create a community?

Materials Needed:

20 clipboards
20 Field Notes handouts (see Other Resources)
20 writing utensils
Active Board/computer
Turboquest: http://ecosystemsexpedition4th.weebly.com/
Chart paper and markers
iRespond system
1 Book: On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole
1 Hula hoop

Technology: As this unit revolves around a webquest, each task will begin and end with
technology. The students will be introduced to and engaged in the unit through a video describing the
mission students will go on and an online map that describes the different ecosystems researched
throughout the unit. After the nature walk, students will use the iRespond system to vote on which
animal about which they would most like to learn. This not only serves as another motivational piece of
the unit, but it also allows for a quick report that will be used for grouping students based on primarily
on their interests.
Procedures:
1. Motivation: Upon going to the website, students will explore a map that gives a few details and
descriptions about each ecosystem that students research will cover. Then, they will click a
button that links them to a video introducing the nature of the Ecosystem Expedition and
what their ultimate mission goals will be. (10 minutes)
2. Statement of Purpose: Ecosystems are the places in which we live. We are a part of an
ecosystem and it is a part of us. This lesson is to get you familiar with what an ecosystem is and
what we see in ecosystems so that you can continue on your expedition through our webquest
over the next few days. (2 minutes)
3. Body: Highlighted portions represent higher order thinking questions
a. After exploring the introductory materials online, students will come to the carpet as a
whole group. The teacher will draw a k-w-l chart on chart paper and ask students what
they know about ecosystems. She will fill in the know and want to know sections with
a bulleted list as students respond. (5 minutes)
b. The teacher will read the book On Meadowview Street aloud to the whole group. She
will pose the question, How does Carolines meadow compare with our ecosystem that
we live in? Invite students to raise their hands to respond. (10 minutes)
c. The teacher will then show students the Field Notes handout and will model how to fill it
out appropriately using examples from the story. (5 minutes)
d. Say, We will work in partners for this activity. We will fill out the field notes and then we
will play a game that involves some physical activity. Think about who you will work best
with to get the work done. Have students pick a partner. (2 minutes)

e. Explain the guidelines for the nature walk: what part of the school we will cover during the
nature walk, that students may not go anywhere that a teacher cannot see or hear them.
Explain how to look only for the important information: dont worry about other
teachers/students or the playground. Draw what you see related to plants, animals,
habitats, and their interactions. Explain that each student will fill out their own field notes
sheet, but that they can work together to find information for each part of the handout.
Have students gather materials for the nature walk by calling each pair separately. Once
materials are gathered by the pair, have them line up at the door. (3 minutes)
f. Complete the nature walk. Point out interactions that help open up discussion while on
the walk. For example, Look closely at this ant. He is carrying something. What is he
carrying? What do you think he is going to do with it? Where are these green plants
getting their food? What animals live in our ecosystem but we dont see them? What
would happen to the plants and animals if a company paid the school system a lot of
money to build a bigger school where the trees are now? How would that affect the
teachers, students, and neighbors? (20 minutes)
g. After all pairs have completed the handout, gather students and explain the physical
activity: After completing the field notes, we will gather in a row outside and each
partnership will pick an animal from our ecosystem to act out without telling the group
what the animal is and without making any noise (like charades). They will be directed to
skip, run, gallop, or hop to a designated hula hoop and act out the animal without
stepping outside the hoop. Once someone guesses the animal correctly, the students will
have to perform a different locomotor skill (running, hopping, skipping, galloping) on their
way back to the group. (5 minutes) Model physical activity with cooperating teacher as a
partner.
h. Go back to the classroom and have students join the teacher on the carpet. Continue
filling in the k-w-l chart and discuss what students now know about ecosystems. (10
minutes). For example, How might our ecosystem differ from a 4th grader in Alaska?
i. Have students turn in the field notes handout.
Assessment: As this is an introductory lesson, formative assessment will be observations of students
work and responses during discussion. The field notes handout will include a section for a sketch of our
ecosystem with instructions to label the components. The other sections of the handouts will include
places for bulleted lists and short answers. All parts will be checked for accuracy AND completion. Notes
will be taken by the teacher on which students need more information and direct instruction and which
have a more complete understanding of the ideas presented in the lesson. A checklist will serve as the
summative assessment for the physical activity portion of the lesson. (see Other Resources under the
teacher page on the website).
Closure: After students have turned in their handout and put away their materials, we will discuss
different animals in our ecosystem and how they compare to animals in other ecosystems. Students will
vote on the animal they would like to research using the iRespond clickers and the Active Board. They
will be required to pick a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. Choices will be: Fiddler crabs, gray wolves, lemmings,

kinkajous, puffins, or Komodo dragons (the introductory video will explain that they will pick an animal
to research).
Accommodations and Differentiation: The written instructional parts of the website will include audio
clips for students with a read aloud component on their IEPs. The teacher will read out each question
and selections when taking the poll on iRepond. Students who work best alone and would like to can do
so for the nature walk, but the physical activity must be done in a partnership. They will be given
freedom to act out their animal in the way that works best as long they are silent and in the hula hoop.
Reteaching: A small group(s) will be pulled and a picture of an ecosystem that differs from our own will
be shown to the group. The teacher will model what she notices as she looks at the picture, including
the organisms, details about the climate, and interactions between organisms. The teacher will then
show the group a picture of our ecosystem and explain where the location is. Have students label the
different parts of our ecosystem that they notice, guiding them as necessary.
Extensions: A small group(s) will be pulled and we will read a nonfiction and fiction text on a specific
ecosystem that differs from our own, such as rainforests. We will compare the two texts using a Venn
diagram, and the teacher will guide students to infer that what is similar between the two texts must be
what that ecosystem is comprised of. Students will be encouraged to suggest other elements of
ecosystems that were not mentioned in either of the texts.