How does the naturalized area make our school property an effective habitat? How can it become an even better habitat?
This could be the Driving Question to focus and motivate a study of the naturalized area at your school. A driving question can turn the suggested science study in this sixth grade square meter study into Project-Based Learning. The resulting projects can be presented to the fourth grade class to help give them the foundation for their fourth grade square meter study.
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One thing your students will have to establish is which non-human living things already make their home in the schoolyard. A next step is to track how things change in the schoolyard as the school year progresses (phenology). And a big step beyond that is to track it from year to year, as long as this year's sixth graders are in the school -the next three years.
Then they can research why the creatures that they found are comfortable making the schoolyard their home. What do those creatures need, and how does the naturalized part of the schoolyard and its surroundings meet those needs?
As you can see, as students research the answers to the Driving Question, they will formulate more questions the answers to which help students meet sixth grade learning outcomes.
Understanding Life Systems: Biodiversity
Curriculum expectations are always based on the Ontario Ministry of
Expectations. Many of the activities will reinforce, rather than teach,
those expectations. As such, no assessment ideas or rubrics are
included.
Overall Expectations:
- assess human impacts on biodiversity, and identify ways of preserving biodiversity;
- investigate the characteristics of living things, and classify diverse organisms according to specific characteristics;
- demonstrate an understanding of biodiversity, its contributions to the stability of natural systems, and its benefits to humans.
Here are some detailed resources that might help with your students' research of the school's naturalized area.
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