Grade Span: K-2 / Subject: Science
Assignment Type: Whole group, small group
Recommended Time Frame: 3 days
Summary of Project:
Students work in groups to use a website to create a make-believe animal. Students will practice using technology as they describe the animal, its diet, and its habitat.
Materials and Resources Needed:
Whole class / Per Group / Per StudentPrinter / Computer with Internet access
Animal flash cards / Journals
Document camera / Computer log-in cards
Projector
Smartboard
Engaging Questions:
1. If this animal was real, what kinds of facts do you think you would find about it?
Implementing the Activity
· Introductory activity (Launch) Day 1: The teacher will show students a make-believe animal from Switcheroo Zoo on the Smartboard. Teacher will ask students what kinds of animal parts they see. The teacher will also change the animal while it is on the screen to show students the morphing feature. The teacher will inform the students that over the next couple of days they will create their own make-believe animals.
· The teacher will turn off the projector and show students animal fact cards. The teacher will explain to students that they will work in groups to decide which 3 animals they are going to use. The teacher will put students into groups of three. Groups will consist of a high-achieving student, an ELL student, and a low-achieving student. The teacher will pass out a stack of animal cards to each group. Students will shuffle through the cards, read the facts, and decide which three animals to use. Teacher will tell students to think about which animals go together based on diet and habitat. For example, they shouldn’t choose a fish body with a bear head because those animals live in different habitats. The teacher will go through the cards beforehand to make sure the stacks have animals that go together and the stacks will only include animals that are found on the Switcheroo Zoo animal list. When the students have chosen three animals as a group, they will get their journals and copy facts from the cards into their journals. As the students finish up, the teacher will write www.switchzoo.com on the board and the students will copy the website address on their computer cards.
· Instructional activities (Technology experiences) Day 2: The teacher will use the Smartboard to show students how to navigate around Switchzoo. The teacher will explain to the students that they can only go to the places that the teacher shows them. First, the teacher will show them where to find the page that contains a list of all the animals on Switcheroo Zoo with links to all the facts. The teacher will tell the students to find their animals and copy more facts about their animals in their journals. Then the teacher will show the students how to get to the Make New Animal section. The teacher will model how to find all of the animal parts to create the animal that students had already decided to make in day 1. The teacher will also show the students how to print a picture of their animal with blank space underneath it. Finally, the teacher will explain to students that they should not navigate away from the Switchzoo website. The teacher will show the students a screenshot of the screen that comes up whenever somebody tries to go to an unprotected website and the filter blocks it.
· The class will go to the computer lab and get started on their project. First, the students will login to the computers. Then, they will go to www.switchzoo.com. After that, they will find more facts about their animals and write them in their journals. Then, they will make their own animal using the parts from the three animals they chose on day 1. Finally, they will print a picture of their animals with blank space underneath it. Students who finish early will be allowed to make more animals for fun or build an online habitat. The class will go back to the classroom and students will put everything away until tomorrow.
· Wrap up/culminating activity (Debriefing) Day 3: The students will use the information in their journals to write facts about their make-believe animal under the picture. They should include the animal’s diet, habitat, size, and name, as well as any other interesting information they would like to include. The higher level students will be expected to write complete sentences in paragraph form. Low-achieving students will make a list of facts. ELL students will attempt to write sentences but will be allowed to draw pictures to show information.
· The class will go to the computer lab and go back on www.switchzoo.com. The students will recreate the animal they made on day 2. The students will type the writing that they previously wrote underneath the picture of their animals. The students will also add a title to their project which will be the made up name of the animal. Students will print a final copy of their animal with the animal’s name printed above the facts and the facts about the animal printed underneath the picture. Students who finish early will help other students in their group figure out how to add the title and text and print the final copy.
· The class will go back in the classroom and the teacher will call several students to put their animal on the Elmo and tell the class about their animal using the microphone. The teacher will collect the finished products to be graded.
Rubric
Rubric
Rubric