Title: Square of Life

Discipline: Life Science

Ability Level: 7th and 8th Grade

Time: 2 class periods

NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards:

 

Objectives:

 Students will use their observational skills to describe the living and non-living things in their schoolyard habitat.  Students will have to find their squares by using measuring in meters distances from the schoolyard walls.  Students will work in groups to record their data on the data sheet.

 

Materials:

1 Meter2 wooden plots             Meter sticks                 Magnifying glasses                       Insect boxes                          Field guides                  Thermometers                                      Data sheets                              Coordinate of squares

 

Preparation:

 It is helpful to determine where the squares will be prior to the lesson.  There is a grassy courtyard at the Linwood Middle School which the teachers have developed into a schoolyard habitat.  This is where our classes did this activity.  Walls should be labeled so students will know where they are measuring from.  If temperature measurements are being taken then some squares should be in the shade, some in the sun and some on concrete.

 

Lesson:

 The teacher will discuss with the students the importance of good data collecting and observational skills.  Students should be instructed to write down as much information as possible about the living and non-living things in their square.  (For example, soil color, feel, wetness).  Working in groups, students will go outside and, using the coordinates given to them, will find their squares.  If the lesson is being done throughout the day, students should be told not to dig up the soil too much.  Any animals that are collected can be put in an aquarium tank with soil, leaves and twigs to be observed and identified during the next lesson.

 

Extensions:

  • Students can be asked to exchange data sheets with other groups and evaluate how well the groups recorded their data.
  • Students can work with field guides and taxonomic keys to identify the different organisms that exist in their schoolyard habitat.
  • Students can see how temperature changes throughout the day in their square by graphing the data from groups in other periods.

 

Self-Assessment/Reflections:

This was a good lesson to introduce students to the Linwood Schoolyard Habitat.  We hope to do more lessons based on this habitat throughout the school year.  Students collected worms, grasshoppers, beetles and ants.

            Students were using meter sticks to measure their squares. This led to some error when locating the squares.  It would have been helpful for them to have used measuring tape.

            We did not have a follow –up lesson to this outdoor activity.  It would have been appropriate to key out different plants and animals in the schoolyard and create a working field guide.  Every time a new organism was identified it would be added to the field guide.  This is a potential activity for the spring.