Lesson+2

Scientific Investigation and Reporting Grade Level: 3rd Number of Students: 24 Time Needed for Lesson: 2 days, 50 minutes each day Educational Objective: Students will conduct investigations about the physical properties of fossil samples, record their information, and publish their findings on a class wiki.

Georgia Performance Standards: S3E2. Students will investigate fossils as evidence of organisms that lived long ago. a. Investigate fossils by observing authentic fossils or models of fossils or view information resources about fossils as evidence of organisms that lived long ago.

S3CS1. Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works. a. Keep records of investigations and observations and do not alter the records later. b. Offer reasons for findings and consider reasons suggested by others.

S3CS3. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating objects in scientific activities utilizing safe laboratory procedures. b. Use computers, cameras and recording devices for capturing information.

S3CS4. Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters. a. Observe and describe how parts influence one another in things with many parts. b. Use geometric figures, number sequences, graphs, diagrams, sketches, number lines, maps, and stories to represent corresponding features of objects, events, and processes in the real world. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">c. Identify ways in which the representations do not match their original counterparts.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">S3CS5. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">b. Make sketches to aid in explaining scientific procedures or ideas. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">c. Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">d. Locate scientific information in reference books, back issues of newspapers and magazines, CD-ROMs, and computer databases.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">S3CS6. Students will question scientific claims and arguments effectively. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">a. Support statements with facts found in books, articles, and databases, and identify the sources used.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">ELA3W2 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The student writes in a variety of genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">The student produces informational writing <span style="font-family: Arial,Arial;">( e.g., procedures, report, correspondence) that: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">a. Captures a reader’s interest by setting a purpose and developing a point of view. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">b. Sustains a focused topic. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">c. Includes the appropriate purpose, expectations, and length for the audience and the genre. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">d. Includes relevant examples, facts, anecdotes, and details. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">e. Uses organizational structures for conveying information (chronological order, cause and effect, similarities and differences, questions and answers). <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">f. Uses a variety of resources (encyclopedia, Internet, books) to research and share information on a topic. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">g. Provides a sense of closure. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">h. May include prewriting. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">i. May include a draft that is revised and edited. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">j. May be published.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">ELA3C1 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The student demonstrates understanding and control of the rules of the English language, realizing that usage involves the appropriate application of conventions and grammar in both written and spoken formats. The student <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">e. Speaks and writes in complete and coherent sentences. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">j. Uses resources (encyclopedias, Internet, books) to research and share information about a topic. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">k. Uses the dictionary and thesaurus to support word choices. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">l. Uses common rules of spelling and corrects words using dictionaries and other resources. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">m. Uses appropriate capitalization and punctuation (end marks, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks).


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Materials Needed: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">8 Samples of Fossils <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">8 Digital Cameras <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Document Camera <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Smart Board with computer and internet access <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">8 student computers with internet access

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">8 rulers <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Student notebooks (each student should bring their own) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Pencils <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Fossil Investigation hand-out


 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Description of Lesson: **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Day 1 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">20 minutes: The class will gather in the media center in front of the Smart Board for an introduction to wikispaces. The media specialist will demonstrate the website and explain why this web 2.0 technology is helpful for sharing research and scientific findings. The classroom teacher will then review the information about fossils learned in the previous lesson.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">30 minutes: Students will be broken up into predetermined groups of three and assigned a fossil sample to practice their scientific investigation skills. Students will be given a visual organizer that will guide them through the process of recording all of the significant data about their fossil sample. Each sample will be labeled with the approximate area in which it was found and the era in which the species is believed to have lived. Once the students have recorded their observations about their fossil, they will begin to conduct research to determine what species of plant or animal their fossil is. ( The Virtual Museum of Fossils website published by Valdosta State University has a wonderful search function to find species by time period and region, and the Paleontology Portal has a great search by region of the United States.) Both the media specialist and classroom teacher will circulate and assist the groups in their research.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Day 2 <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">10 minutes: Groups will come to the media center to continue their research on their particular fossil, the region it is from, and the era in which it lived. They will begin to formulate their data so that it can be shared on the class wiki. All groups will need at least 1 photograph of their fossil to include in the report.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">40 minutes: Groups will move to the computers and begin to enter their information into the class wiki page. Each student will have a dedicated section and will be able to work from a template to enter all of the information they were able to find about their particular fossil.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Optional Extension Day: Either in the classroom or the media center, students can spend time browsing the wiki to read each other's submissions. Students should make a comment on at least three of their classmate's work.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Assessment: See rubric. Media specialist will evaluate the research component as well as student work on the creation of their wikispace page. The classroom teacher will evaluate the specific information gathered about the fossils.