We formally concluded our plant unit a couple weeks ago, however, I have yet to post about a few of our final activities, so I'm doing that now.
We really delved into understanding the various things plants provide and their necessity in our lives. To making our thinking visible we did an altered version of a thinking routine called "Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate". After generating a list of items plants provide, students worked in pairs to sort the items based on their necessity in our lives. They worked with such pictures as oxygen, chairs, food, happiness and clothing. Students put those items which are necessary in order to survive in the circle. Just outside the circle were items that were pretty important, but not necessary, and along the exterior were pictures of items that are nice to have but not as important. Upon finishing, students examined each others' papers and then sat down to discuss them in more detail. They questioned one another on the placement of certain pictures and discussed why they did or did not belong in a certain area. The discussion was quite deep and is a good example of the capability of young learners when challenged and encouraged to share their thinking. View the clip below to see a snapshot of this discussion.
Another activity that showed our thinking was an art project in which we use only paper and glue to show our understanding of how humans and animals use plants in similar ways. View the slideshow below to see all the connections we made.
We really delved into understanding the various things plants provide and their necessity in our lives. To making our thinking visible we did an altered version of a thinking routine called "Generate, Sort, Connect, Elaborate". After generating a list of items plants provide, students worked in pairs to sort the items based on their necessity in our lives. They worked with such pictures as oxygen, chairs, food, happiness and clothing. Students put those items which are necessary in order to survive in the circle. Just outside the circle were items that were pretty important, but not necessary, and along the exterior were pictures of items that are nice to have but not as important. Upon finishing, students examined each others' papers and then sat down to discuss them in more detail. They questioned one another on the placement of certain pictures and discussed why they did or did not belong in a certain area. The discussion was quite deep and is a good example of the capability of young learners when challenged and encouraged to share their thinking. View the clip below to see a snapshot of this discussion.
Another activity that showed our thinking was an art project in which we use only paper and glue to show our understanding of how humans and animals use plants in similar ways. View the slideshow below to see all the connections we made.
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