Ecology Lesson Plan Critique: A Theoretical Perspective

Emma Sarbit ETEC 512 December 2 2012

The Lesson Plan: To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. (Covey, 1989 !n other words, a clear vision of the outcome of a lesson is essential to its success. This "articular lesson is to be utili#ed at the beginning of a grade seven unit on $cology. !ts overall "ur"ose is to illustrate the interconnectedness of organisms and their environment. %ltimately, students will recogni#e how their own actions im"act organisms around them, which will foster a sense of environmental stewardshi". Currently, the lesson "lan (see &igure 1 demonstrates a lac' of attention to the nature of learning and the theories that suggest how 'nowledge is absorbed, "rocessed and retained. The following analysis aims to ma'e im"rovements to the lesson "lan based on three main categories of learning theory( )ehaviourism, Cognitivism (!nformational *rocessing , and Constructivism.

&igure 1( !ntroduction to &ood Chains and &ood *yramids +esson *lan.

Behaviourism: !n order for students to learn and understand content they need to be engaged and on,tas', not distracted by negative behaviours around them ()urton, -oore, -agliaro, 199. . )ehaviourism defines learning as a change in observable behaviour due to a "articular incentive. )ehaviourist techni/ues therefore allow educators to reinforce "ositive behaviours in order to create students that are involved, confident and motivated to learn and "artici"ate. The shorter the time between the action and the feedbac' for that action, the greater im"act the reinforcement ma'es on student behaviour. Thus it is necessary to "rom"tly reinforce "ositive behaviour during instruction. Currently, this lesson "lan does not address how the teacher intends to 'ee" learners motivated and on,tas', therefore behaviourist strategies must be added. Proposed Changes: &irstly, an online tool called ClassDojo will monitor student "rogress. Class0o1o ca"tures and generates data on individual student behaviour during lessons and ma'es it instantaneously available to students, "arents and administrators. 0uring the lesson, the teacher will use a smart "hone and interactive whiteboard to in"ut feedbac' for "roficient grou" wor' s'ills, sound behaviour and "artici"ation. The "rogram will then generate visible statistics on student2s individual "erformance. This s"ecific "ositive reinforcement will condition students to continue to elicit these desired behaviours and thus create a more conducive learning environment. !n addition to Class0o1o, the teacher will also ma'e use of "ositive verbal su""ort throughout the lesson, directing the students to observe "ositive behaviours in action. &or e3am"le, the teacher may use the following statements( This grou" is doing an e3cellent 1ob encouraging each other to contribute ideas. ! wonder which other grou"s ! can find doing the same thing. This verbal reward will reinforce that "articular grou", while motivating the others to strive for the same reward.

Cognitivism: The amount of information that the mind "rocesses is immense. !n order to ma3imi#e retained information "resented in lessons, educators must have an understanding of how information is managed in the brain. To do this, Cognitivists or !nformation *rocessing theorists use an analogy of the learner as a com"uter, and the brain as an information "rocessor to e3"lain how learning occurs. +i'e a com"uter, the brain gathers and ta'es in information, "rocesses and encodes it, stores and retains it and then retrieves it when necessary. The brain codes and mani"ulates information through three stages of memory( sensory, short,term and long,term. The ultimate goal is to have information committed to long,term memory, thus freeing u" s"ace in students2 wor'ing or short,term memories, allowing them to "rocess more information before becoming overloaded. $ffective strategies shown to enhance the encoding of information include( ma'ing material meaningful by connecting it to students2 lives, activating "rior 'nowledge, brea'ing information u" into manageable chun's, and using memory tools including imagery and mnemonics. Currently, this ecology lesson "lan utili#es some of the above,mentioned strategies. !t connects the learning to student2s lives by beginning the lesson with a discussion of the ingredients of their "revious nights2 dinner. 4s well, it ma'es use of visual re"resentations when students are as'ed to colour code and organi#e organisms into food chains. 5owever, with some amendments, this lesson can become much more effective in terms of information "rocessing. Proposed Changes: To begin with, multimedia as"ects will be added to the lesson to assist with the connection of new material to e3isting material in long,term memory as evidence suggests that students learn more from words and "ictures together than they learn from words alone (Taylor, 6778 . The lesson introduction will be com"leted on the !nteractive 8hiteboard, allowing students to see a visual connection between new content and familiar 'nowledge. They will "hysically mani"ulate

"ictures of the ingredients to either the "roducer or consumer side of the board. 4s well, when the conce"t of "hotosynthesis is discussed, a 9ouTube video will be used to "lay the The *hotosynthesis :ong. This video combines voice and images in the form of a catchy tune to hel" students remember the difference between "roducers and consumers. !n addition to multimedia tools, the lesson will also be bro'en down into three se"arate class times in order to limit the amount of new information "resented "er session. ;esearch states students can only "rocess five to nine chun's of information "er e3"osure (-iller, 19<9 . Therefore, on day one students will discuss "roducers, consumers, herbivores, omnivores and decom"osers, day two, students will loo' at food chains, and on day three, students will move on to food webs and energy transfer. &urthermore, the T;4* memory strategy will be em"loyed to hel" students solidify the information "resented each day. The T;4* method includes Translating the information or ideas into students2 own words, ;e"eating and rehearsing information, using 4 "icture or visuali#ation, and *racticing information learned (;ichards, 6778 . 4t the end of each class "eriod students will com"lete an e3it tic'et, which will utili#e these tactics. 4dditionally, at the beginning of the following class "eriod students will com"lete an entrance tic'et, which will hel" recall the "revious class2 conce"ts.

Constructivism: The basis of Constructivist theory is that students learn by doing rather than observing. Central to constructivist teaching is the encouragement of students2 autonomy, in/uiry and thoughtful /uestioning, dialogue with one another, engagement, and curiosity ()roo's = )roo's, 199> . The constructivist a""roach to 'nowledge building can be li'ened to learning how to ride a bi'e. !t is not enough to read a boo' about bicycle theory? you need to "hysically get on the bi'e and "ractice until you get it right and solidify the new s'ill. :imilarly, in the classroom, it is active and authentic "ractice that leads to the greatest retention of 'nowledge.

!n order to achieve an a""ro"riate learning environment for student,directed 'nowledge construction, lessons should be relevant, active, collaborative and reflective. *resently, this "articular lesson "lan has some of these characteristics, but needs elaboration and the addition of others. The "lan attem"ts to ma'e learning relevant by lin'ing it to something they do on a regular basis @ eating, and there is a small active learning com"onent when students are as'ed to arrange organism cards into food chains. 5owever, the lesson does not em"loy any in/uiry or "roblem, based synthesis, collaboration or reflection. Proposed Changes: To begin with, collaborative elements will be added to the lesson "lan. 4fter being introduced to the terminology of herbivore, carnivore, omnivore and decom"oser, students will wor' in small grou"s to organi#e their "revious food brainstorming into each of these categories. They will collectively negotiate for each ingredient, determining which animal or "lant it comes from and whether that animal or "lant is a carnivore, herbivore, omnivore or decom"oser based on its diet or energy source. :tudents will also wor' in grou"s when colour coding and organi#ing their organism cards into food chains on 0ay Two. 4dditionally, a class ecology wi'i will be introduced. The "ur"ose of this online tool is to have students collaboratively "roduce definitions for the terminology introduced during this series of lessons. 4n active, multi,sensory e3"erience will also be added to day three of the lesson. 4fter reviewing the ideas from the "revious sessions and being introduced to the conce"t of transfer of energy and food webs, the 9arn )all game will be "layed. &or this game, each student will be assigned an animal or "lant in a food web that has already been discussed. $ach student will wear a "icture of this organism around their nec' so it2s clearly showing to the other students. 4 ball of yarn will be handed to the to" "redator, who will hoo' the end of the yarn onto their organism "icture. That "erson will then throw the yarn ball to the food item heAshe would choose to eat. The chosen "rey will then hoo' the yarn onto their "icture, and toss the ball of yarn to their "rey item of choice. This ste" is re"eated until it reaches the lowest tro"hic level. The "oint of the game is to

have students a""reciate the web they create and how many connections there are between the different items in the food web. The teacher will then as' thought "rovo'ing /uestions to stimulate discussion such as what would ha""en if one organism went e3tinctB or how would humans im"act this food webB 4t the conclusion of the game, students will hang their organism "hoto on the board under the a""ro"riate category (to" "redator, carnivore, herbivore, "rimary "roducer to create a visual re"resentation that they may refer to later. -oreover, an inde"endent research activity will be added to the end of this "lan. :tudents will choose an organism that dwells in their area and research its life cycle, food chain and habitat. They will integrate various sources of information as well as construct "ersonal meaning surrounding their own im"act on this "articular organism. Throughout this series of classes, individual and "eer reflection elements will also be integrated. 4 self,reflection will be included in their daily e3it tic'et, giving students an o""ortunity to thin' about their "rior 'nowledge, learning "rocesses (including grou" wor' "roficiency , and new 'nowledge created. 4lso, students will "eer assess each other2s final research "ro1ects.

Conclusion: 8hen "lanning a lesson, it is im"ortant that educators begin with a strong foundation of learning theories and methods. The final version of this ecology lesson "lan does this by incor"orating behaviourist, cognivitist and constructivist a""roaches. !t has clear e3"ectations for students, trac's student achievement and offers "raise and "ositive reinforcement. 4s well it ma'es use of verbal, visual and 'inaesthetic learning tools to aid in the retention of information and "romotes student interaction and engagement by "roviding o""ortunities for students to co, construct 'nowledge. The lesson also "rovides numerous o""ortunities for reflection. 4 revised co"y of this lesson "lan can be seen below in &igure 6.

&igure 6( ;evised &ood Chains and &ood *yramids +esson *lan.

References: )roo's, C., = )roo's, -. (199> . !n search of understanding( The case for constructivist classrooms 4le3andria, D4( 4ssociation for :u"ervision and Curriculum 0evelo"ment )urton, C. E., -oore, 0. -., = -agliaro, :. F. (199. . )ehaviorism and !nstructional Technology. !n 0. 5. Conassen ($d !, 5andboo' of ;esearch for $ducational Communications and Technology ("". G.,H> . Iew 9or'( -acmillan. Covey, :. (1989 . The H habits of highly effective "eo"le. Iew 9or', I9( :imon and :chuster. -iller, F. (19<. The -agical Iumber :even, "lus or minus two( :ome limits on our ca"acity for "rocessing information. *sychological ;eview .>(6 ( 81,9H ;ichards, ;. (6778 -a'ing !t :tic'( -emorable :trategies to $nhance +earning. +0 Jnline. 4ccessed( htt"(AAwww.ldonline.orgAarticleA<.76A Taylor, 0. (6778 8hy %se -ultimedia in 9our Jnline ClassroomB 4ccessed at( htt"(AAdeoracle.orgAonline,"edagogyAteaching,toolsAwhy,use,multimedia,in,your,online, classroom.html