Soaring with Bats Lesson Plan

I included this lesson plan since I believe it was excellent practice for what I will someday be required to do in the classroom in which I will be placed.  I also enjoyed creating it, and imaging doing it as a fourth grader.

Lesson Title:  Soaring with Bats                    November 27, 2007
Unit Title:  Animal Classes                        4th Grade/three days
Website:  Soaring with Bats 

Section A:  Lesson Preparation

Rational – This lesson will educate the students on a mammal that is has some unusual characteristics compared to other mammals.  This lesson will not only enlighten them on the unique features of bats, but also show how they compare to other creatures in the animal kingdom.  Furthermore, since bats have been a frequent topic in the news and are featured in television, comics, literature, etc., it is fitting that the students know something about this animal.

Description of learners – This is a class of 24 fourth graders.  There are two students with specific learning disabilities and two students that are receiving services for ELL.  Since the content of the website used contains primarily expository text which is challenging literature for any student to read, I will need to provide individual assistance to these students as they navigate through the website and read through the different parts.  I can also seat students who I anticipate will have difficulties next to more advanced readers who I know can assist them as needed. I will solicit the help of the special ed teacher during our computer time as well so she can help during this activity.  I will also give the four students mentioned above additional time if necessary to complete the activities. 

Objectives/learner outcomes –
•    The students will research information online and type up conclusive sentences about bats as compared to other animals as part of the process of creating a book on bats.
•    The students will learn to navigate through a website successfully in order to investigate the topic of bats, taking notes as they do so on information they relevant to bats’ survival, habitat, diet, or life cycle.
•    The students will create a power point presentation on bats which includes key information that they have gathered during their investigation.

Standards addressed –
(From ISTE)
•    Basic operations and concepts:  The students will demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems (the Internet).
•    Basic operations and concepts:  The students will show proficiency in the use of technology (the Internet).
•    Technology productivity tools:  The students will use technology tools (the Internet) to enhance learning, increase productivity, promote creativity, and prepare publications.
•    Technology research tools:  The students will use technology tools (the Internet) to process data and report results.

(From DPI) After the investigation portion of the lesson, the students will:
•    F.4.1 Discover how each organism meets its basic needs for water, nutrients, protection, and energy in order to survive
•    F.4.3 Illustrate the different ways that organisms grow through life stages and survive to produce new members of their type
•    F.4.4 Using the science themes, develop explanations for the connections among living and non-living things in various environments

Materials/resources/technology –
•    computers (one per student)
•    science notebooks
•    pens or pencils
•    construction paper, variety of colors (to be handed out at the end)

Section B:  Introduction to lesson

Purpose – I will explain to the students that we are learning about an animal that is often misunderstood.  We will learn about the animal, the bat, not only so that they can understand this particular animal, but gain a greater understanding of other animals as well and how the bat compares to other creatures in the animal kingdom.  At the same time, we will do this through Internet-based learning that will both improve their computer skills and engage them in some enjoyable learning activities.

Prior learning – We have been studying the animals in the animal kingdom.  I will begin the lesson by asking the students some questions to activate their prior knowledge:

•    What characteristics do most mammals have? 
•    What characteristics do birds have? 
•    What characteristics set amphibians apart from birds? 
•    We will be learning about an animal that has a lot of unusual characteristics that make it a little more difficult to determine which family it belongs to.

This will not only tap into their prior knowledge, but it will help prepare them for the text that they will be reading and basing their book on.

Motivation – I will begin by telling them to click onto the website.  This will immediately open up to the “Soaring with Bats” page where a female voice begins to narrate information about bats.  The information is quite engaging, and while the woman speaks, photos of bats appear and disappear on the screen.  This will instantly capture the attention of the students and, hopefully, peak their interest in bats.  This introductory speaking portion concludes with Nancy Simmons saying “…as we taking a closer look at bats.”  I will then tell them that they will have an opportunity to create and print their own informational bat book, as well as explore the website further as they investigate bats and record their findings.

Section C:  Content/procedures/sequence

Content outline   
Day 1: Making a bat book
Introduction to bats/to the website.

Remind Students of today’s activities.

Build vocabulary.

Each student will type and print an individual informational book on bats.  In the process, they will:

Review some of the background information on bats with teacher as they read through “Bats Belong together.”
and . . .
Students will build knowledge of bats while reviewing information about the characteristics of animals within the classes of mammals, birds, and amphibians.

Day 2: Investigating bats. 
This will begin the next portion of the bat activities that will involve investigating bats and their different behaviors, their diet, life cycle, survival, habitat and other characteristics, noting these down, and compiling them in order to create a power point presentation online.  The students will work in pairs to create questions to investigate.  This will assist them in conducting their search.  The students will search for information individually.

Day 3:  Making the Power Point
Students will work in pairs to create their power point.   

Instructional procedures/sequence of activities

Day 1:  Making a bat book
• Direct students to go to the website.
• Have them listen to the introduction to bats.
• Remind students that today they will be:
1.  Making their own informational book on bats
2.  Investigating bats on the website and recording their observations/findings in their science notebook with a pen or pencil.
• Have the students click on the words “level 1”
• Read through the “Words to Know” together as a class.  Write these on the board for students to copy into their science notebook.
• Read through instructions in the Level 1 box with the class.
• Have students click on “go.”
• Read through “Bats Belong” as a class.
• Directions for book:
•    Students may proceed at own pace by clicking on “start.”
•    After looking at the photos and reading the facts about each animal, they will type complete sentences in the boxes in response to each question.  Be sure to write in complete sentences, paying special attention to spelling and punctuation.  These sentences will be part of their complete book!
•    After completing a page, the students can either click on “next” or click on the next page number at the top of the page.
•    They should then complete the next page by reading the facts and typing responses to the questions.
•    Consider the illustrations as well.  These will be part of the finished book.
•    The last page will ask for the student to give the book a title, and will request the student’s first name and last initial.  The student should not forget to indicate on the bottom of the sheet what type of animal he/she thinks the bat is.
•    The final step is to click on “print preview” which will show the students what the final product will look like.  Students may then print their book.
•    After printing, the pages will have to be cut apart and stapled together to form the book.  This will be done at a later time.
• After printing their book, students who have time may begin investigating bats.  They can do this by clicking on the word “investigate” that is on the spiral notebook on the top of the page.

Day 2: Investigating bats
• Students will meet with partners to form questions on bats relevant to bats’ life cycles, diet, survival, habitat, etc. that they wish to investigate answers to.  The questions must be relevant and pertain to scientific inquiry.
• During the investigation portion of the bat activities, the students may explore freely.  There are three categories:
1.    Bat facts
2.    Mammals with strange characteristics
3.    Bat behaviors
• Student will record the information they find in their science notebooks, being careful to put it into their own words.  They may also take notes on any thing else of interest that they may find about bats.
• Students will reconvene and compare their findings.

Day 3: Making the Power Point
• Students will return to the website and work in pairs to create their power point.  They can start the power point by clicking on “Make a presentation” on the bottom of the main page of the website.  This will download the power point to the desktop.
• The students may choose to use any font, and any size to begin typing the information on the pages of the power point.  It is all set up for them. 
• The power point has six pages.  The first page is simply a cover page, and the final page is a bibliography.  I will walk them through the steps of how to copy and paste the website address so that they can get it accurately onto the bibliography.  If any students found information on other websites, we will do the same for those.
• The remaining four pages ask questions that the students are supposed to answer.  If the question does not tie in with the information that they found, they may simply delete the question and replace it with a different question.  The important thing is that they fill the four pages with relevant information about bats and begin each page with a question or two.


Section D:  Closure

First Day’s Summary – I will conclude the lesson by asking the students what they learned about bats.

•    So, what class of animals do bats belong to?
•    What characteristics helped you determine this?
•    What characteristics does the bat have that make it a unique mammal?
•    What are some things about the bat that you found particularly interesting?  Why?
•    Where are some places in literature or movies that bats have been famous?  Why do you think that bats have been a theme or character in movies and stories?
•    Why do you think bats are featured at Halloween time?  Think about this question as you work further on your investigation.  See if you find more answers to this and the other questions.

I will then tie what the students have been doing into their next technology-based authentic lesson, which will be to create a power point presentation with the information they are accumulation through their investigation. 
•    Some of you have already had a chance to begin investigating bats and have learned some pretty cool things.  Some of you have learned some interesting facts just from making your book.  As you continue to investigate next time we get on the computers, and write down your findings, think about what you find most fascinating about the bat.  But think also about what is most crucial about the bat.  For example, where they live.  What do they eat?  How do they survive?  What is their life cycle like?  You will work in pairs to use this information to put together a power point presentation using the same website that we used today.  That will be our next project.  And we will get a chance to share our power point presentations with each other.

First Day’s Assignment – I will assign the students the task of assembling their book by designing a back cover for it and putting it together on construction paper, which I will hand out.  They will be asked to share their finished book with someone at home, and again with a fellow student the following day.

Assessment – The students will be assessed on two different activities. 

First:  The students will be required to work together in pairs to create three questions that they and their partners will need to find the answers to as they continue to investigate the subject of bats.  I will guide them in this activity and remind them of the previous animals we studied and what relevant information we found necessary to search for when we examined those animals.  (I will provide some coaching to make sure that the students cover subjects such as diet, survival, life cycle and habitat.)  The students will then investigate bats, using these questions to assist them in their investigation.  After the students conclude their investigations online, they will meet again with their partners to compare notes and see how their responses to their questions measure up.

Second: The students will also be required to produce a power point presentation that reflects the information they collected on bats.  They will work in pairs to create this.  This should be a synthesis of what they perceived to be the most essential information on bats, such as facts about survival, habitat, diet, or life cycle.  They will need to put the information into their own words.  They may also include some particularly interesting piece of information that they found on bats if they so choose, provided they include the relevant information on bats first. 
 
Rubric:

Score    5    3    1
Questions   

• All questions to be investigated were relevant for scientific inquiry, that is pertained to the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival.   

• Questions to be investigated were somewhat scientifically relevant.   Only two pertained to the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival.   

• Questions to be investigated did not have scientific basis. Only one or none pertained to the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival

Research    

• Research was carefully conducted to answer questions at hand fully and completely and to address any other questions that arose as a result of the investigation.   

• Research was done to answer only briefly the questions at hand.      

• Research was done scantily.  Questions were not adequately addressed during investigation.  Attention was not on information relevant to the task.

Work Time   

•  Student made good use of time to form questions and compare/contrast information.  Student shared ideas and contributed, both with the content included and the effort applied while working at the power point.   

• Student made adequate use of time. Students did not put forth equal effort in contributing to the questions or the creation of the power point.   

• Student did not make good use of time.  Student did not contribute sufficiently in creating questions. Little effort was made in creating a the power point presentation.

Power Point- Content   

• Content of power point is relevant to the assignment.  It reflects well the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival   
• Content of power point adequately reflects the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival   
• Content of the power point does not reflect the animal’s basic needs, habitat,  or survival.

Power Point- Presentation   

• Power point was done with care and precision.  Attention was made to proper spelling and language mechanics.   
• Power point was done with some care.  There are several mistakes in spelling and language mechanics.   
• Power point was done with little care.  There are numerous mistakes in spelling and language mechanics.