Planning a Digital Story Presentation

ITEC 7230
1. Purpose: The purpose of my presentation will be to inform students that all
organisms on Earth are dependent on one another. In addition, the presentation will
demonstrate to students that matter and energy are transferred from one organism to
another in any given ecosystem. It will also motivate students to explore the role that
humans and other organisms play in the web of life.

The following standards will be addressed:

S7L4. Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and
their environments.

a. Demonstrate in a food web that matter is transferred from one

organism to another and can recycle between organisms and their
environments.

b. Explain in a food web that sunlight is the source of energy and that this
energy moves from organism to organism.

2. Learner Analysis:

a. Age: This presentation is intended for 25 students (15 male and 10 female)
ranging in age from 11 to 13 years.
b. Cultural Background: The class consists of seventeen Caucasian
students, seven students of African American descent, and 1 student of
Asian descent. Students’ socioeconomic status ranges from the poverty
level to middle class. Most students in the class reside within a two parent
household. However, four of the students reside with a single parent and
one student resides with grandparents.
c. Educational Level: Although all students are seventh graders, there is a
wide range of abilities within the group. The class is a collaboration class
with several of the students receiving special education services. Eight of
the students did not pass the 6th grade CRCT in math. The same eight and
one additional student did not pass the 6th grade CRCT in reading and
language arts. Reading levels in the class range from 2nd to 9th grade as
identified by S.T.A.R. testing.
• Special Needs/Accommodations: Several students have specific
learning disabilities. One has Asperger Syndrome and requires
specific interventions in the general classroom setting. They
include: frequent redirection, short specific instructions, breaks
when frustration levels are high, and a peer tutor whenever
appropriate. Two students are considered mildly intellectually
disabled and require substantial teacher assistance. Their
modifications include: shortened assignments, instruction and
testing over essential content only, short specific directions,
frequent checks for understanding, and text is read to students
when necessary. Four students have Attention Deficit Disorder.
Their accommodations include: 1 or 2 step instructions, extra
time for responses, clarify instructions or directions, provide
warning prior to calling on student, repeat directions, check for
understanding, and redirection as needed.

d. Specific Entry Skills: All students have general knowledge of

relationships among organisms like predator/prey relationships. The class
has discussed all 6 kingdoms of life from bacteria to animals. All students
can differentiate between producers, consumers, and decomposers as
previous tests over these concepts have shown. Students also know that
plants carry out the process of photosynthesis.
e. Learning Styles: All students completed the Abiator’s Online Learning
Styles Inventory at www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/lsi/lsitest1.html. As
predicted, there were several different types of learning styles within the
group. Twelve of the students were identified as visual learners, nine were
identified as tactile kinesthetic learners, and four were identified as
auditory learners.

f. Motivation (Keller’s ARCS Model)

• Attention: Students’ attention will be acquired with the first
slide. It will be a picture of many of the students in the classroom
eating lunch. Above the picture will be the caption “Where did
the energy in the food that you ate come from?”
• Relevance: The material presented in the story will be relevant
to students every day life because it will show them how energy
has traveled all the way through the food web to reach their
plates. Examples of common organisms that students are familiar
with will also be used to link new information to what students
already know.
• Confidence: The organisms used in the presentation will be ones
that students are familiar with. The presentation will also build
upon their prior knowledge of producers, consumers, and
decomposers. The assignment that students will be asked to
complete during the presentation is developmentally appropriate
for their age and previous knowledge.
• Satisfaction: At the end of the presentation students will be
allowed to build a food web using a given set of organisms. They
will be given the opportunity to work with a partner while doing
this.

g. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences: The presentation and the activities

associated with it actively address the range of learning styles present
 within the class. For the learners in my class that prefer active engagement
in a tactile or kinesthetic experience, they will benefit most from the
experience of using the pictures of different organisms to build a food web
at the end of the presentation. For those students that prefer more
interpersonal interactions in their learning, discussion with and working
with a partner during this activity will greatly benefit them. For the
students that prefer visual and verbal modes of learning, the digital story is
well suited to them.
3. Objectives:
a. When given a diagram of a chloroplast and a mitochondrion, seventh grade
students at Ebenezer Middle School will be able to describe the relationship
between photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
b. When given a variety of different types of organisms, seventh grade students
at Ebenezer Middle School will be able to organize them into an appropriate
and accurate food web based upon their trophic level i.e., producer,
consumer, or decomposer.

4. Theory of Instruction: The major theory of instruction that will be incorporated

into the presentation will be Cognitivism as information will be delivered through
the digital story in a specific orderly presentation. In addition, students will use a
graphic organizer as a guide throughout the presentation. Students’ prior knowledge
of producers, consumers, and decomposers will be drawn upon to incorporate new
information about food webs.

5. Content Outline:

a. Basic topics that support objectives

• Photosynthesis
• Cellular Respiration
• Producers
• Consumers
 • Decomposers
• Food webs and food chains
• Interactions between organisms
• Predator/Prey relationships
• Competition
• Symbiosis
b. Factual information that explains each topic
• Photosynthesis – the chloroplasts in the cells of producers use the
energy in sunlight to convert CO2 and H2O into sugars and oxygen.
• Cellular Respiration – the mitochondria in the cells of organisms use
the sugars and oxygen created by producers to create ATP (cellular
energy & CO2).
• Producers - organisms like plants and algae that are able to carry out
photosynthesis in their cells.
• Consumers – organisms that most consume energy from other living
things.
a. Herbivores – consume plants or other producers.
b. Carnivores – consume animals.
c. Omnivores – consume plants or other producers along with
animals.
• Decomposers – consume the energy remaining in dead organisms and
recycle nutrients like nitrogen.
• Food webs and food chains – matter and energy is cycled among
producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
• Interactions between organisms – organisms interact to cycle matter
and energy in an ecosystem.
a. Predator/Prey relationships – matter and energy is transferred in a
predator/prey relationship.
b. Competition – organisms compete for energy.
c. Symbiosis – organisms work together to obtain energy
6. Plan for participation of the audience: While viewing the digital story, students
will be asked to complete a graphic organizer that shows the relationship between
photosynthesis and cellular respiration as well as how energy flows through a food
web in any ecosystem. Students will also be asked to identify specific examples of
producers, consumers, and decomposers from the digital story. In addition, students
will be asked to complete an accurate food web at the end of the digital story using
the given picture cards of organisms. This activity will be completed with a partner
or in a small group.