Brief Description

While studying and learning about crayfish, the students will explore primary and secondary sources on the Internet. Students will learn to differentiate the importance of both types of sources.  Students will then create their own primary source presentation using a digital camera and computer editing tools to show to younger students during their end of the unit museum.

NOTE: This lesson uses crayfish as its main focus, but can easily be modified to work within many other science and social studies units as well!

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 1T-E2. Demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operation of technology components
• 3T-E3. Publish and present information using technology tools
• 5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources

• 4SC-F3. Identify the basic structures and functions of plants and animals
• 4SC-E7. Explain and model the interaction and interdependence of living and non-living components within ecosystems, including the adaptation of plants and animals to their environment

Academic

• Using the crayfish and its habitat, students will examine and label basic structures of the crayfish with 100% accuracy.

• Using a digital camera, students will take several pictures of their crayfish and save to the computer on the desktop with no errors.
• Using digital pictures and a presentation program, students will create a primary source slideshow of their crayfish structures with at least five slides to be posted online for others to use as primary sources.

• Students must have a basic understanding of PowerPoint (creating slides, adding pictures, transitions)
• Students should have experience taking digital pictures from a bird’s eye view
• Students should know how to save their presentation to a server or disk

• Crayfish Handouts from FOSS kit
• Crayfish and habitat
• Digital Camera
• Access to projector/Averkey
• Computer with photo editing and presentation programs
• Access to the Internet for primary sources part of the lesson

In order to meet the needs of gifted students, this lesson could be extended to include alternate slides that meet the requirements for the lesson. The students could take further crayfish structures pictures and should include more in-depth information about primary sources within their presentations. Gifted students could also create 3-D models of crayfish to enhance their presentations.

SEI students will be grouped with English speaking students.  SEI students can take the pictures and assist other students label their pictures on the computer. The SEI students could also get help from an adult with the word processing and creation of the primary sources slide. They could receive extra time or reduce workload to assist in their learning.

To meet the needs of my students with IEPs, they can be grouped with higher ability students. This grouping will be used for the entire class. Each student will be responsible for one slide within the presentation. They could receive extra time orreduce workload to assist in their learning.

In accommodate the needs of ADD or ADHD students, shorter sessions could be given to work on the project.  These students will also be paired for this assignment which will help with on task behavior.

Procedures

Day One: Before the Crayfish

• Teacher will display webpage discussing primary sources onto a screen or television using a proper converter. Teacher will discuss while navigating through the activity. Website located at http://www.k12science.org/curriculum/treasure/part1.html
• Teacher will lead the activity as stated on the webpage. In part one, students and teacher will discuss the list of sources and answer the questions found on the webpage.
• Teacher will move the discussion to part two, where the teacher will lead the students through as many of the sources as they wish.
• Teacher will lead students through a discussion of the importance of primary sources using questions like:
• What is a primary source?
• What is a secondary source?
• What are some other examples of primary sources that you have seen?
• Can a secondary source be valuable? Why?
• Why might you want to use a primary source when possible?
• What type of resource do we mostly use? Why?
• Teacher will introduce assignment. Students are going to create their own primary sources for others to use for learning purposes.(See Handout) Students are going to create a primary sources slideshow using PowerPoint that emphasizes what primary sources are, why they are useful, and examples of primary sources involving the crayfish.
• Teacher will pass out assessment rubric and discuss the criterion for success on the assignment.

• Students will do everything that is required for the maintenance of the crayfish habitat (clean habitat, provide food and plant life, etc.).
• When done, students will use the digital camera to take several pictures of their crayfish from various angles.
• Students will make sure that all of the specified structures are visible in the photographs.
• Groups will clean up their crayfish areas and save their pictures into the computer using a disk or the school network server.
• Teacher will discuss mapping and planning of a presentation. Teacher will focus on the organization, and ideas of the presentation as well as the management of workload on each student. To further emphasize the procedures, teacher may choose to demonstrate one.
• Groups will begin storyboarding their presentation. The students will determine who will create which slide, what order it will be in, etc.

• Teacher will demonstrate how to enter pictures into a PowerPoint slide show presentation. Students will click on insert, picture, from file. They then find the drive their pictures are located on and click on insert. Students can manipulate size by clicking on the corner of their picture, holding it and moving the picture to desired size.
• Teacher will demonstrate how to add arrows and word boxes. Teacher will show students the arrow in the bottom toolbar. Teacher will click and place on the picture where desired. Teacher will demonstrate how to change direction and size of arrow using the same corner markings and the dot on the head of the arrow.
• Teacher will click on insert, textbox. They will place the textbox where desired and type the name of the crayfish structure in the textbox.
• Teacher will monitor students and assist where needed while students begin creating their presentations.
• When done, student groups will use the assessment rubric to guarantee a finished produce and save to the appropriate place, server or disk.

The lesson will be assessed using the rubric.

Teacher Name: Robert Walling
Site: Painted Sky Elementary
Date Submitted: March 20, 2004