Creating a Nature-Classroom Interface

Creating a Nature-Classroom Interface.

By Emily Martin 

To synthesize their knowledge of biomes, the 3^rd graders at TNS along with the 1^st and 2^nd graders were involved in a lesson allowing them to delve deeper into these habitats.  Emily Martin, senior at SUNY ESF, brought to the table a lesson plan about competition in the natural world, and worked with teachers at The New School to develop a lesson plan in which students would apply their knowledge to real life scenarios. 

At the first of a series of mini-lessons, the 1^st and 2^nd graders needed to be caught up to speed about what biomes were and what characteristics existed in each.  The 3^rd graders were able to use their knowledge to help teach the other students and we came up with lists of plants and animals in the six biomes that the 3^rd graders had previously learned about. We discussed the weather/climate and habitat type of tropical rainforests, temperate forests, grasslands, desserts, the taiga, and the tundra.  The following days consisted of each student being assigned a plant and animal and working in pairs to research their organisms.  The students filled out fact cards on which they had to write the food, water, and habitat requirements of their organism and sketch a picture of it.  They seemed to thoroughly enjoy learning new in-depth facts about the plants and animals they were assigned and were very engaged, helping each other learn.

The final portion of the lesson consisted of a role-playing game in which the students were split into groups representing each biome. The plant and animal fact cards were used as a reference in each group in addition to water and sunlight graphs that the older students help make.  Students took turns rolling the die and then a question would be read from a deck of cards from the corresponding category.  Categories included Human Impact, Natural Disturbance, Climate Change, Plant Mix-Up, and Animal Mix-up.  Each card had a scenario that was read to the students, and the students had to determine what the associated impact on the biome and its plants and animals would be.  Students seemed to really enjoy this role-playing exercise, and were able to establish some very feasible answers exercising their critical thinking skills.

The students especially liked the Plant Mix-Up and Animal Mix-Up scenarios because they consisted of questions such as, “What would happen if an elephant moved to the desert?” or “Would a grey wolf be able to survive in the tundra? What would happen to the Arctic wolves?”. Students were able to develop sensible answers to these questions, discussing with one another about the needs of the given plant or animal and whether or not it could survive in a different environment.  With some guidance they were able to determine the consequences of relocating animals and plants not only on the individual organisms but on the plants and animals of the new ecosystems to which they were introduced.

They were also expected to determine whether the impact or change was a positive or negative for the biome and for the plant/animal.  At the end of the game, they were able to synthesize that not all human impacts or climate change impacts are negative and that they have ability to make positive human impacts to preserve the different biomes.

The students seemed to really enjoy learning about new plants/animals by partaking in the research of their own organisms. They also were able to develop critical thinking skills while having fun applying their knowledge to real-life situations.