5E Lesson Plan
Title: Ant StationsSummary: Students work together at various stations to explore how ants change the environment they live in, problem solving like an ant would, the needs of ants, the life cycle of an ant, and the external body parts of an ant. Students will complete puzzles, diagrams, create a tunnel, make a prototype of a solution that solves a problem like an ant would, and play a game to discover the needs of living things.
Author: Carrie Holloway, CINSAM 2014
Grade level: Primary
Materials:
· Catch the Learning Bug tri-board
· Hex bug Ant
· Copies of scaffolded Student Notebook
· Station 1 – ant life cycle puzzle and ant hill diagram puzzle (1 per pair of students) in attached Word Document
· Station 2 – cotton balls, spoons, tongs, toothpicks, chenille stems, pom-poms, glue, sticky dots, small styrofoam balls, clothespins, small paper plates, clear plastic shoe boxes to hold supplies
· Station 3 – One dice per group, 1 set of Build an Ant and Needs of Ant Cards per student, 1 set of Build an Ant Instructions per group
· Station 4 – Ant Anatomy article 1 per pair
· Station 5 - Construction paper leaves, plastic berries, real acorns, rows of bubble wrap to represent ant eggs, paper towel rolls and masking tape or clear tubes with magnets
· Thought Bubbles Tri-fold board
NGSS Connections
Station 2 - 1-LS1-1 Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of human problems that can be solved by mimicking plant or animal solutions could include designing clothing or equipment to protect bicyclists by mimicking turtle shells, acorn shells, and animal scales; stabilizing structures by mimicking animal tails and roots on plants; keeping out intruders by mimicking thorns on branches and animal quills; and, detecting intruders by mimicking eyes and ears.]
Station 3 – K-LS1-1 Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive. [Clarification Statement: Examples of patterns could include that animals need to take in food but plants do not, the different kinds of food needed by different kinds of food needed by different types of animals, the requirement of plants to have light, and that all living things need water.]
Station 1 and 5 - K-ESS2-2 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs. [Clarification Statement: Examples of plants and animals changing their environment could include a squirrel digging a hole to hide its food and that tree roots break concrete]
Science & Engineering Practices
Station 2 – Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence-based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
· Use materials to design a device that solves a specific problem or a solution to a specific problem. (1-LS1-1)
Station 3- Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Analyzing data in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to collecting, recording, and sharing observations.
· Use observations (firsthand or from media) to describe patterns in the natural world in order to answer scientific questions. (K-LS1-1)
Station 1 and 5 - Engaging in Argument from Evidence
Engaging in argument from evidence in K-2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to comparing ideas and representations about the natural and designed world(s).
§ Construct an argument with evidence to support a claim. (K-ESS2-2)
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Station 2 - LS1.A: Structure and Function
· All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow. (1-LS1-1)
LS1.D: Information Processing
· Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs. (1-LS1-1)
Station 3 - LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
· All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1)
Station 1 and 5 - ESS2.E Biogeology
· Plants and animals can change their environment (K-ESS2-2)
Cross Cutting Concepts
Station 2 - Structure and Function
· The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s). (1-LS1-1)
Station 3 - Patterns
· Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed and used as evidence. (K-LS1-1)
Station 1 and 5 - Systems and System Models
§ Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together. (K-ESS2-2)
Learning Target(s):
Station 2 – I can use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
Station 3 – I can use observations to describe patterns of what animals need to survive.
Station 1 and 5 - I can construct an argument supported by evidence for how animals can change the environment to meet their needs.
ENGAGEMENT
· Describe how the teacher will capture students’ interest.
· What kind of questions should the students ask themselves after the engagement?
“Today we are going to be talking about ants to decide whether or not ants change the environment they live in. Who knows what the word environment means?” Take student answers. Help students to a working definition – surrounding area where a plant or animal lives, includes living and non-living things. Ask students “How many of you think that ants change the environment in which they live? Raise your hand if you think yes.” Keep a mental note of how many raised their hand. “How many of you think no?”
Show students the Hexbug Ant. Allow it to run around on student desks so that they can all get a chance to see how it moves. Ask students, “How is this robotic ant like a real ant?” Write student answers on the board listen for things like (has antennae, has a mandilble (jaw), has three body parts, has 6 legs, moves fast, is fragile). Tell students that today they are going to be working through various stations to learn about how ants interact with their environment.
Review learning target with students
Station 2 – I can use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
Station 3 – I can use observations to describe patterns of what animals need to survive.
Station 1 and 5 - I can construct an argument supported by evidence for how animals can change the environment to meet their needs.
Have students begin their science notebooks on Ants by putting their name, date, and time on the front cover.
EXPLORATION
· Describe what hands-on/minds-on activities students will be doing.
· List “big idea” conceptual questions the teacher will use to encourage and/or focus students’ exploration
Explain to students that they will be working at stations and that they will be working independently at all stations. Explain that the station will be helping at the Problem Solving like Ants Station and the Ant Engineering.
Station 1: Puzzle Station
Students will work at completing 2 puzzles – the life cycle of an ant and an ant hill diagram.
Students will complete the questions in their science notebook.
Station 2: Problem Solving like Ants
Students will work independently to solve the problem:
After student is finished making model ant and testing it out, they need to make a technical drawing in their notebook.
Station 3: Build an Ant Game
Students will play this dice game as a group. Group needs 1 set of Build an Ant Instructions per group:
And 1 of each Build an Ant and Needs of Ants Card Set per student:
When the group has finished the game, students write in their student notebooks about their game.
Station 4: Ant body diagram
Students will read an article about Ant Anatomy and complete the body diagram of an ant.
Station 5: Ant Engineering
Have students connect paper towel tubes or use clear florescent light holders to create tunnel system.
Have students create a tunnel for the eggs (bubble wrap) to stay. Have students use different colored balls to send through the tunnels (brown for dirt, green for leaves, red for berries, real acorns, etc.) and have a place where they can stay for storage (use caps to capture materials after it travels through the tunnel). Have students make drawing of their tunnel in their notebook. Have students label in their notebooks where the eggs are stored and where the food is stored.
EXPLANATION
· Student explanations should precede introduction of terms or explanations by the teacher. What questions or techniques will the teacher use to help students connect their exploration to the concept under examination?
· List higher order thinking questions which teachers will use to solicit student explanations and help them to justify their explanations.
Once students have completed all stations, ask students questions like:
Station 2 – I can use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
Station 3 – I can use observations to describe patterns of what animals need to survive.
Station 1 and 5 - I can construct an argument supported by evidence for how animals can change the environment to meet their needs.
· How did you solve the problem of cutting down trees like an ant would?
· Demonstrate your solution for someone at your table. Which materials worked well to be the mandibles of the ant?
· What do ants use their mandibles for?
· Can you think of any machines that we use that look like ant mandibles? (Show students the picture of the
· After playing the Build An Ant Game, what things did you find out that ants need to survive?
· When building your tunnels, in what ways were you acting like ants?
· Do you think that ants change their environment when they build tunnels? Explain why or why not.
ELABORATION
· Describe how students will develop a more sophisticated understanding of the concept.
· What vocabulary will be introduced and how will it connect to students’ observations?
· How is this knowledge applied in our daily lives?
Review vocabulary with students:
External body parts
Needs of living things
Evidence
Claims
Environment
EVALUATION
· How will students demonstrate that they have achieved the lesson objective?
· This should be embedded throughout the lesson as well as at the end of the lesson
The student notebook can be used as a formative assessment to see how students are doing on the individual activities.
Thought Bubbles
Have students draw in the thought bubbles 3 things they learned today about ants. In the description boxes, have students add labels if possible or scribe student ideas.
EXTENSIONS
- Have students make ant catchers (using instructions from How to Make An Ant Sucker - attached). This will allow students to observe ants without touching them. Take students outside to look for evidence of ants (ant hills or trails of ants). Allow students to catch ants for making observations. Return to classroom and place ants in clear, sealed containers such as petri dishes or small deli containers. Have students return the ants to the environment when finished. Have students use their observations, notes, and technical drawings to build an ant model.
- Raise and observe ants in a class ant farm.
- Ants Changing their Environment Lesson Plan – Holloway CINSAM
RESOURCES
“Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as ‘Ecosystem Engineers’”, Science Daily, 2011
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131133227.htm
“The Ants Have It”, Belinda Daughtery, Science and Children, 2001
http://learningcenter.nsta.org/files/sc0102_16.pdf
Ant Tunnel Diagram Idea
http://msbarbarasblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/open-house.html
“Introduction to Ants”, Animal Planet
http://animal.discovery.com/insects/ant-info.htm
Ant Tunnel Ideas
http://trinitypreschoolmp.blogspot.com/2012/02/tubes-of-fun-magnetis-fun.html
Ant Suckers
Junior Master Gardener Activity JMG Gardener Handbook www.jmgkids.us
Ant hill diagram
http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-144467/An-ant-colony-has-several-entrances-leading-to-a-variety
Build an Ant
http://www.4shared.com/document/3DS50Pku/Roll_an_Ant.html
Life Cycle Ant Puzzle
http://www.4shared.com/document/XXzUu1dm/Ant_life_cycle.html
Examples of student ant tunnels:
RELATED LITERATURE
Perrot, Adrienne Soutter, Ant, Creative Education Inc., 1993
Dorros, Arthur, Ant Cities, Harper Collins Publ., 1987
Cole, Joanna, The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants, 1996
Selsam, Millicent E., Ants, Uncle Milton Industries, 1991
Parker, Steve, It’s an Ant’s Life, My Story of Life in the Nest, Reader’s Digest
Children’s Publ., 1999
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