Introduction

This unit will provide 6th grade students with an introduction to India and its wildlife. Students will explore different habitats and their characteristics, and species that live in the different habitats.

Content Standards:

This unit is aligned with the National Science Standards with a focus on Life Science: Content Standard C.

Regulation and Behavior

-All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment.

- An organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment. How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger are based in the species' evolutionary history.

Populations and Ecosystems

-A population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.

-The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem.

Software Requirements:

This unit requires the use of:

-Internet resources

-Microsoft Word

-Microsoft PowerPoint

-National Geographic Photo Gallery CD- ROM

Resources:

-National Geographic Software

http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/gateway/233/124/page/1.html

-National Science Standards

http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/nses/6d.html#csd58

-Other Web Sites

http://www.worldwildlife.org/expeditions/teraiarc/whatlives.html

http://www.webindia123.com/wildlife/wildlife.htm

http://www.iucnredlist.org/

http://wildlywise.com/index.htm

http://images.google.com/imghp?ie=UTF-8&tab=wi

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=326236&depNav_GID=1655

Lesson 1:

Title: India vs. Connecticut

Materials:

-Internet access

-Venn Diagram

-Microsoft Word

-Wildlife magazines

Objectives:

-Students will compare and contrast India and Connecticut focusing on size, religion, language, currency, and government.

-Students will identify similarities and differences between the wildlife of India and Connecticut by researching information on each place and collecting pictures.

Procedure:

1. Students will research using the internet, reference books, or an atlas information on India and Connecticut. They will find data for each regions area, religion, language, currency, and government. They will record their information using a Venn Diagram.

2. Students will then research the different types of wildlife found in India and Connecticut. Each group will study a specific area and record their information using a Venn diagram.

3. Students will share their findings with their classmates.

Assessment:

1. Completion of Venn Diagrams

2. Presentation of material

Lesson 2:

Title: Whose Habitat Is That?

Materials:

-Pictures of habitats and animals

-Paper sack

-Easel or poster paper

-Tape

-Paper and pencils

-Reference materials

-Whose Habitat Is That? Worksheet

Objectives:

-Students will identify similarities and differences between organisms by collecting pictures and categorizing them.

-Students will comprehend the connection between diverse organisms and the diverse environments in which they live.

Procedure:

1. Using the worksheet locate through internet or reference books pictures of the habitats and the animals that live in them. Cut out pictures and display them on the table. Write the name of each habitat on a slip of paper. (You will need one slip for each student, so you may need to make two or three slips per habitat). Put the slips into a sack. Write the name of each habitat across the top of separate large pieces of easel paper.

2. The class will be divided into two groups. Half the class will select a habitat and research its characteristics and animal species that live there. The other half of the class will select the animals and research where they can be located.

3. The class will then come together and each group will have to determine what habitat or what animal they have selected. Students ask questions and opposite members will give clues as to what they have. Some examples are:

-What's the climate like in your habitat?

-Name some other animals that live in your habitat

-Describe some of the planst that grow in your habitat

- Describe any special features in your habitat

-What do you eat?

-How are you suited to this habitat?

4.The class as a whole will tape the proper animals to the appropriate habitat.

Assessment:

1. Examine the creativity and detail in the students' habitat descriptions, and look for explicit connections between the type of animal and its habitat.

2. Have the students select an animal they have learned about and describe whether it could live in their area.

Lesson 3:

Title: Tropical Tree house

Materials:

-Paper

-Pens

-World Map

-Pictures of rainforests and animals

-CD of rainforest sounds

-Tropical Forest Products sheet

-Internet access and/ or reference books

-Microsoft PowerPoint

Objectives:

-Students will describe plants and animals that inhabit tropical rainforests, including neotropical migratory birds.

-Students will analyze issues involving the rights of native inhabitants of a tropical rainforest.

-Students will describe what products or resources are made from tropical rainforests and their importance.

Procedure:

1. Students will brainstorm the characteristics of a rainforest and what animals live there. Their responses can be recorded on chart paper or on the board. Students will draw either pictures of the rainforest of an animal that lives there.

2. Have students listen to a CD of the rainforest and determine what some of the sounds are. Students will then create their own rainforest sounds. They will do this by performing the following motions:

-Rub palms together back and forth (wind)

-Snap fingers slowly, then quickly (first raindrops)

-Clap hands, not all in the same rhythm (steady, light rain)

-Slap thighs (heavy rain)

-Stamp feet rapidly on ground while sitting (downpour)

3. Students will receive the Tropical Forest Products sheet and will select one product off the list to research and present information on where does it come from, how is it made, and what are its uses. They will present their findings in a PowerPoint presentation to the class.

Assessment:

1. Ask students to develop a cross- section of a forest typical to their own region and compare it with a rainforest.

2. Have students create a list of products they have used in the past or use now.

3. Students will be assessed by the creativity and presentation of their PowerPoint Presentation.

Lesson 4:

Title: Life on the Edge

Materials:

-Large sheets of paper

-Internet access and/ or reference books

-Life on the Edge worksheet

-Microsoft PowerPoint

Objectives:

-Students will understand the habitat components that organisms need to survive.

-Students will research an endangered, threatened, or rare species and give a persuassive PowerPoint presentation on preserving that organisms needs.

Procedure:

1. Students will choose what animal they would like to research and begin reseaching it throughout use of Internet or reference books. They will record their information into the Life on the Edge worksheet.

2. Students will then create an "animal card" to read to classmates to determine what animal they have choosen. An example of this is:

-I live in open areas, with steep rocky slopes

-My fur is brown, with a white patch near my tail.

-I eat grass, shrubs, twigs, and shoots.

-I am very sure- footed- or you might say, sure- "hooved"

-Males of my kind have large, curling horns.

Answer: Bighorn Sheep

3. Students will then create a PowerPoint presentation on their animal and persuade their classmates on what can be done to save the animal.

4. Students will present their PowerPoint to the class.

Assessment:

1. Students will be assessed on time management, participation, and effort

2. students will be assessed on their PowerPoint- its creativity and persuasiveness

Lesson 5:

Title: Bringing Nature Indoors

Materials:

-Transparent container

-Directions for habitats

Other materials will depend on the choice of your container. They may include:

-Sand, soil, leaves, rocks, sticks, seeds, twigs, and water

Objectives:

-Students will recognize the characteristics of certain habitats by creating their own.

Procedure:

1. Students will decide if they want to create a desert, woodland, or tropical habitat

2. Students will find appropriate materials and begin setting up their container.

3. Students will present their habitats to their classmates and they will be on display for the school to see.

Assessment:

1. Students will be assessed on time management, creativity, accuracy, and the presentation of their habitat.

This project is part of CultureQuest Connecticut, whose website is http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/dept/culturequest.html

The home website of Culture Quest is located at http://www.culturequest.us .

For more information about the CultureQuest Consortium, please contact Dr. Sheila Gersh at sgersh@ccny.cuny.edu.

For information about CultureQuest-Connecticut, please contact

David L. Stoloff, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Education Department, Eastern Connecticut State University, 83 Windham Street, Webb Hall Room 129, Willimantic, CT 06226, tel. no. (860) 465 - 5501, fax. no. (860) 465 - 5099, email: stoloffd@easternct.edu , WWW: http://www.easternct.edu/depts/edu/stoloff.html

Disclaimer: The CultureQuest Projects linked to this index represent the collaboration of students, teacher candidates, teachers, and/or university faculty members and do not represent the official position of the Education Department and/or Eastern Connecticut State University.