1. Willow Elementary School
Ms. O. Martin’s 4th Grade Class
Hello parents, students and members in the
community.
How Animals Survive Project
This newsletter is for specially designed classroom
projects Project duration five weeks.
Starting date 09/02/2012.
This Month’s Project is called Due date 10/09/2012.
Project requires that some
How Animals Survive materials be purchased to
safely work with animals,
such as hand sanitizer and
gloves.
Project will include two guest
lecturers.
Project will include one field
trip.
Some task will be completed
outside.
Students will learn to care for a classroom pet
rabbit while gaining insight on how certain
animals are able survive in the wild.
Students will also study about the diet type
that rabbits have and the different regions
and climates that they live in.
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2. The standards covered for this project.
4th Grade Science Standard 5.) Describe the interdependence of plants and
animals.
4th Grade Science Standard 6.) Classify animals as vertebrates or
invertebrates and as endotherms or ectotherms.
5th Grade Science Standard 7.) Identify common parts of plant and animal
cells, including the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane.
Objectives
Students gather information on blood cells in animals and note the differences
between those cells and plant cells.
Students will analyze how blood cells affect the heart in rabbits.
Students will gather information and discuss the type of diet rabbits have.
Students will learn and gather information on the different habitats of rabbits.
Student will gather information and hold discussions sessions about why rabbits
are located in certain areas.
Students will be able to explain the different hardships rabbits face to gather
food due to the region they live in.
Technology and leadership skills objectives.
Students learn to use power point excel as a way to organize the information
they collect.
Students learn to use Wiki pages to share information with other students.
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3. Project Questions
Students should ask themselves these questions
while completing the project. ?
Essential Question
How have species adapted to their environment?
Unit Questions
What is unique about rabbits between other animals?
How are some animals able to survive in cold climates?
Content Questions
Where are rabbits located?
What do rabbits eat?
Where do rabbits make their dens?
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4. Project guide
• The students will collect information and discuss the different abilities
that animals have to survive in the wild.
• Students will learn about the type of eating habits that rabbits have
and use the information they gather to correctly feed the classroom
pet rabbit.
• The student will go on a field trip to a local zoo.
• Students will attend two lectures in the classroom and have the
opportunity to ask questions about working as a zoologist and as a
veterinarian.
• Students will be asked to conduct interviews.
• Students will learn about the different regions that rabbits are found in.
• Students will learn and be able to discuss the differences between
living and non-living things.
• The students will learn how to take care for a pet animal by collecting
information on the type of living spaces rabbits live in and by fixing the
classroom pet rabbits pen area to meet those needs.
• Students will complete a final PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate
what they learned from the project.
Benefits of the Project
• The students will gain improved research skills by using new technology
tools.
• Students will be able to distinguish important information from
secondary information when working on essay papers and other
classroom assignments.
• Students will develop leadership skills by becoming familiar with
organizing group discussions and helping other students with tasks for
the project.
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5. Responsibility of the Teacher
• As the instructor it is my job:
• To ensure that the students are gaining skills and up to date
information about the necessary subjects, that will help them in their
current and future studies within the classroom.
• To ensure that the students are achieving the highest level in their
academic studies possible.
• To ensure that the students complete the project safely.
• To provide students the opportunity to explore career fields that may
interest them by having they complete tasks that relate to those
fields.
• To provide them with opportunities that will inspire them to continue
their academic studies.
Responsibility of the Parent
• To ensure that injuries are prevented while completing the project I
ask that you remind students that they will be working with a pet
animal and that they should not play roughly with it.
• If you child participates in the project I ask that you ensure that the
needed items for working safely with the pet rabbit are purchased
beforehand.
• I ask that you remind students to not only use the time working with
the pet rabbit to play with it, but learn from taking care of it, and that
it takes work and responsibility to raise it and ensure that it remains
healthy.
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6. Responsibility of the Student
• Students should come to class prepared to complete their tasks
for the project.
• Needed items to complete tasks should not be left at home on
school days.
• Time in the classroom is not for playing.
• Separate tasks that are to be completed at home should be
done on schedule so as not to delay to completion of the final
group project.
Project Based Learning
• Project based learning is a process where teachers encourage students
to have a greater part in what knowledge they gain about a classroom
topic.
• With this style of learning student become more independent in their
studies, they are encouraged to organize the information that they
collect.
• Students are encouraged to share the information that they learned
and collected with others by making presentation and by maintaining
webpages.
• The students are encouraged to ask more questions and to look for
answers to those questions by doing experiments, and holding
interviews with others who are experts in the field that they are learning
about.
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7. Project Based Learning Within this classroom
This style of learning will be used in this classroom to:
1. Familiarize students with new technology tools that can be used to work
collaboratively with others and to effectively share the information that
they gathered and learned, with other students.
2. Familiarize students with the process of conducting interviews.
3. Encourage students to work collaboratively with others while creating
charts and collecting information for presentations.
4. Help students find inspiration to continue their studies in the future.
5. Help students to find enjoyment in the process of studying.
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8. Contact Information
Please fill free to contact me if you have any questions
regarding the project or the class.
Office # 207
Office hours 5:00pm-6:00pm
Email: omail.com
Phone: 205-111-111
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