This resource has been designed to guide year 4 students in exploring habitats and in particular what happens when a habitat is lost. The resource design is based around student centered teaching approaches, promoting students to be active learners and utilise higher order thinking skills.
The objectives of this resource have been derived from the following year 4 Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (n.d.) content descriptors for science.
*Science understanding: Living things, including plants and animals, depend on each other and the environment to survive [ACSSU073] (ACARA, n.d.).
At the beginning of this resource, students are required to create a mind map outlining what they already know about habitats. This can be used as a tool for teachers to evaluate students’ understanding before students explore the topic further (Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009).
Students will investigate the roles of living things within a habitat. The roles of producers, consumers and decomposers will be explored and a game is included which can be used to reinforce students’ understanding. Pearson Education (2014) state that the use of online science games help students to build skills while reinforcing concepts.
*Science as a human endeavour: Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions [ACSHE062] (ACARA, n.d.).
Students will utilise their research skills to investigate what happens when a habitat is lost and what we as humans can do to prevent such occurrences. By investigating the effects humans have on habitats, students are able to gain knowledge of the consequences of our actions. MarineBio Conservation Society (2014) state that it is important for everyone to know that preserving habitats is important to also preserve biodiversity.
*Science inquiry skills: Represent and communicate ideas and findings in a variety of ways such as diagrams, physical representations and simple reports [ACDIS071] (ACARA, n.d.).
Students will produce a report with the information they found during their research into what happens when a habitat is lost to share with the rest of the class. The report students are to complete is an open-ended task, allowing students to include as much or as little information as they desire. Open-ended tasks challenge students while also promoting higher order thinking skills (Conklin, 2011).
The objectives of this resource have been derived from the following year 4 Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (n.d.) content descriptors for science.
*Science understanding: Living things, including plants and animals, depend on each other and the environment to survive [ACSSU073] (ACARA, n.d.).
At the beginning of this resource, students are required to create a mind map outlining what they already know about habitats. This can be used as a tool for teachers to evaluate students’ understanding before students explore the topic further (Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009).
Students will investigate the roles of living things within a habitat. The roles of producers, consumers and decomposers will be explored and a game is included which can be used to reinforce students’ understanding. Pearson Education (2014) state that the use of online science games help students to build skills while reinforcing concepts.
*Science as a human endeavour: Science knowledge helps people to understand the effect of their actions [ACSHE062] (ACARA, n.d.).
Students will utilise their research skills to investigate what happens when a habitat is lost and what we as humans can do to prevent such occurrences. By investigating the effects humans have on habitats, students are able to gain knowledge of the consequences of our actions. MarineBio Conservation Society (2014) state that it is important for everyone to know that preserving habitats is important to also preserve biodiversity.
*Science inquiry skills: Represent and communicate ideas and findings in a variety of ways such as diagrams, physical representations and simple reports [ACDIS071] (ACARA, n.d.).
Students will produce a report with the information they found during their research into what happens when a habitat is lost to share with the rest of the class. The report students are to complete is an open-ended task, allowing students to include as much or as little information as they desire. Open-ended tasks challenge students while also promoting higher order thinking skills (Conklin, 2011).