Brief Description

All fourth graders study Arizona.  This information can be used to create a beautiful poster using research from the Internet.  This lesson includes a student guide called poster elements, a Trackstar for research and an evaluation rubric.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

1T-E2. Demonstrate increasingly sophisticated operation of technology components.
2T-E2. Exhibit legal and ethical behavior when using technology and information and discuss.
5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources.

6SC-E4. Provide evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.
6SC-E5. Explain how earth processes seen today, including erosion, movement of lithospheric plates, and changes in atmospheric composition, are similar to those that occurred in the past.
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

• Design and create a poster of an Arizona region (desert, plateau, mountain) including appropriate landforms, plants and animals.

• Use the Internet to research Arizona regions.
• Use proper “netiquette” when using other’s work.

Students must be able to access the Internet and log on to Trackstar.

Materials

Computer with Internet access
Arizona reference books
poster board
Yardstick
crayons
colored pencils
Poster elements sheet
poster Rubric
Trackstar # 87854

Accommodations for Special Needs

Divide the class so that each group has a computer literate person, a good reader and a good artist.

Procedures

1. Divide the class into groups of 3-4 students.  Give each student a copy of the poster elements and the poster rubric.

2. After choosing an Arizona region as the poster subject, the group needs to assign research jobs:

1. landforms- make a list of 3-5 landforms in the region
2. cities, parks, and monuments- find out what special features are in the region.
3. animals and plants- find out about herbivores and carnivores that live in the region.

4. Each member reports his or her findings to the group.  From this information, the whole group designs the poster referring to the requirements on the elements sheet. A list of the animals and plants in the food chain is prepared.  This sloppy copy design is presented to the teacher for approval.

5. After approval, each group is given poster board or butcher paper to make a finished product.  Care should be given to scene design, boarder, title, and coloring.

6. As some members create the poster, other members can work on the oral presentation.

7. The group presentation includes all members in speaking roles.  The group identifies the region, shows the landforms, explains the food chain including why those plants and animals belong in that region. The group can elaborate on the description of the poster elements to show off the research that was done.

8. During the oral presentation both the teacher and the class audience have an active role. The audience listens to the presentation, asks questions, and then offers positive comments to group. The student audience evaluates the poster and presentation on the rubric scale to give feedback to each group. The students rate each category 1-4, and then total the six categories for a final score.  These are tallied, applied to the final score, and then given to the group as feedback.

9. The teacher evaluates the group, and then adds the group grade and the audience score to the student self-evaluation as the final grade.

10. This project takes approximately ten 45-minute periods.

Assessment
Use the rubric to judge the final project.

The final grade is based:
 

Teacher’s group rubric	75%
Student’s rubric as a self-evaluation	20%
Class evaluation	5%
Total	100%

Teacher Name: Sue Labuda
Site: Holaway
Date Submitted: November 14, 2001