Plant and Animal Diversity Teaching Assignment to Young Minds 2018

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

     Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, which is the product of nearly 3.5 billion years of evolution.  Two major kingdoms that contribute to the diversity of life on Earth are Plants and Animals. Plants have six fundamental characteristics: photosynthesis as the almost exclusive mode of nutrition, essentially unlimited growth at meristems, cells that contain cellulose in their walls and are therefore somewhat rigid, the absence of organs of movement, the absence of sensory and nervous systems, and life histories that show alternation of generations. No definition of the kingdom completely excludes all non-plant organisms or even includes all plants. Many plants, for example, are not green and thus do not produce their own food by photosynthesis, being instead parasitic on other living plants. Others obtain their food from dead organic matter. Animals have developed muscles, making them capable of spontaneous movement, more elaborate sensory and nervous systems, and greater levels of general complexity. Unlike plants, animals cannot manufacture their own food, and thus are adapted for securing and digesting food. In animals, the cell wall is either absent or composed of material different from that of the plant cell wall. Animals account for about three-quarters of living species. Some one-celled organisms display both plant and animal characteristics.

 

Information/Requirements:

 

·         Research plant and animal diversity from one of five pre-assigned (tba) major biomes including: Aquatic, Desert, Forest, Grassland, and Tundra.  One particular and informative website about biomes would be at:  http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/

      How you wish to deliberate the research is up to you and your partner(s); grading will be separate however.

 

·         Use a 3-D display board:   

 

o   Plan your board. Take time to mock up or "storyboard" your Project Display board on a sheet of paper before you start printing or gluing anything in place. 

o   Know the size limitations. You don't want your board too tall, too crowded, or with information too low to the ground to read. 

o   Choose the right title. Your title should be accurate for your project but should be catchy enough, or interesting enough, to make a viewer curious. 

o   Tell the whole story. Your board should contain all of the information required for a viewer to understand your project from start to finish. 

o   Make effective use of headlines and subheads. After a minute of looking at the board, the viewer should know what question you were researching, what you expected to happen, and how things turned out. 

o   Know your font sizes. A project display board headline needs to be read almost across the room. 

o   Remember the power of pictures. Photos and diagrams can quickly and efficiently convey information to a viewer—plus, they'll liven up your board! Just be sure to use relevant captions or subheads to further explain a photo's contents. 

o   Print your materials. Unless there is no alternative, don't hand-write elements for your display board. Use a word processing program to type up your information and headlines, and then print them out.

o   Show some creativity.  What can you do to make your project more inviting or more interesting than anyone else’s? 

o   Don't wait until the last minute. Creating a good project display board takes time. Not only do you need to map out how you want your information to appear, but you'll need to create your diagrams, charts, images, and text blocks and print them out (in the right sizes) to assemble on your board.     

 

 

·         Teach (not just present) the topic by focusing on the following key requirements:

 

-          Know and understand your topic

-          Develop a “hook” to begin

-          Use a suitable manipulative(s)

-          Show enthusiasm for the topic

-          Discuss rather than just reading

-          Engage with the participants

-          Ask questions and check for understanding

-          Address styles of learning (visual, auditory, kinesthetic)

-          Target audience will be announced

 

 

The entire lesson is not to go over about 10 minutes from beginning to end.  

 

Be sure to review the “Rubric” prior to your research and teaching.

 

 

 

 

Plant and Animal Diversity Teaching Assignment to Young Minds Rubric

 

Name(s):

 

Topic:

 

Trait	10-9	8-6	5-3	2-0	Totals
EYE CONTACT	Holds attention, seldom looking at notes during the lesson.	Consistent use of direct eye contact, but returns to notes during the lesson.	Displayed minimal eye contact with audience, reading mostly from notes.	No eye contact with audience, as entire report is read from notes.
BODY LANGUAGE	Movements seem fluid and help the audience visualize the lesson. Engagement noted.	Made movements; however, only some engagement and mingling.	Very little movement or descriptive gestures. No engagement.	No movement or descriptive gestures; no engagement or mingling.
POISE	Displays relaxed, self-confident nature about self.  Maintained professionalism.	Minor mistakes, quickly recovers; some tension.  Some professionalism.	Displays mild tension; has trouble recovering from mistakes.  Little professionalism.	Tension and nervousness is obvious; trouble recovering. Little professionalism.
ENTHUSIASM	Strong, positive feeling about topic during the lesson. Made lesson fun.	Occasionally shows positive feelings about topic.	Shows some negativity toward topic presented. Lesson was a chore.	Shows absolutely no interest in topic presented.
ELOCUTION	Clear voice and correct, precise pronunciation of terms.	Voice is clear. Pronounces most words correctly.	Voice is low.  Pronounces terms poorly. Audience difficulty hearing.	Mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly.
KNOWLEDGE	Knowledgeable. Provided discussion and higher level thinking.	Seemed a little unsure about information. Is at ease with questions.	Uncomfortable with information; answers some questions.	Does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject.
LEARNING STYLES	3 different learning styles addressed. [visual, auditory, kinesthetic]	2 different learning styles addressed in a fair way.	1 learning style addressed.	0 learning styles were noticed.
MECHANICS	No grammatical errors; fonts, color, background, graphics excellent.	Few grammar errors; fonts, color, background, graphics fair.	Some grammatical errors; fonts, color, background, graphics alright.	Many grammatical errors; fonts, color, background, graphics very poor.
MANIPULATIVE	Strong, meaningful and used appropriately. Utilized equipment in room.	Fair, somewhat meaningful and used correctly.	Sad, not too meaningful or associated with topic.	None, failure to provide a meaningful addition to the lesson.
UNDERSTANDING	Checked for understanding at beginning, throughout, and at the end.	Checked for understanding throughout and at the end	Checked for understanding at least once during lesson.	Did not check for understanding at any time during the lesson.