Overview 
Do You have a different set of
clothes for each season? Can you wear the same types of
clothing year-round? What are the signs of each season? Does the
weather and climate affect what you do and where you go? Do seasonal
changes affect plants and animals? What is the weather usually like in
December? What is the weather like in June? What
is that season called? What season are we in now? What are
seasons? Why do we have seasons? Do all places have four
seasons? Why do places near the equator have a hot climate?
Why is it cold at the poles?
In this science unit, students will ponder about and answer these questions together! Our science unit is about seasons. We will mainly focus on: why we have the four seasons in Michigan and how do the seasons affect us, plants and animals. We will also describe seasonal changes. Students will also learn that some places have one, two, or four seasons all over the world.
This unit is designed to facilitate students' learning through the use of creating charts, tables, reading and writing, research on the internet and integrating a variety of technology software and hardware into our curriculum. The goal of this unit is to conduct science based activities which integrate the use of technology and language arts to enhance students' learning and comprehension. We will be incorporating many technology hardware and software programs in this unit ..including:
- Kidspiration
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- LCD Projector
- Digital Camera
- Digital Video Editing Software
- Scanner
- Digital Video Camera
- Internet (Explorer)
- Once paper K-W-L charts are complete,
students will type their K-W-L chart using Microsoft Word .
Students will be utilizing all formatting features/tools and inserting
tables. Each group is encouraged to create a unique K-W-L chart.
Click here to see samples of students'
K-W-L
charts of lesson #1
- Students will be making
bookmarks
from leaves.
- Students will read several literature
books about seasons, including "The Story
Behind Our Seasons" and answer 8 comprehension questions and perform
activities about stories.
- After reading , "A Bear for All Seasons", by
Diane Marcial Fuchs, Illustrated by Kathryn Brown, Published Henry
Holt and Company, 1995, students will do an activity where they have to
draw a bear wearing appropriate clothing for each
season.
- Watch seasons movie from http://www.brainpop.com/
- Ongoing activity: Cut-out of Tree Skeleton to
display on bulletin board throughout unit and year. We cut
out a tree skeleton from brown construction paper and decorate tree with
appropriate and obvious seasonal changes throughout year.
Students will be divided into four groups. Each group will be assigned a season. Then, each person in the group will design a Kidspiration web for that season. Each student will have an individual web but, they will collaborate in groups. For example, four or five people might be creating a web about fall, but each web will most likely be unique. Our computer lab is set-up for group work. Each area has 4 or 5 student station set-up in an L-shaped format.
Students will use five categories to create their web. They will use the five senses as their categories, i.e. I can see, I can hear, I can feel, I can smell, I can taste. For a fall example, students can write, I see the leaves changing colors, I hear the wind blowing, I can taste the pumpkin pie, etc.
Students will go outside and use the digital camera to take pictures of anything that might be relevant to their seasons web. Any appropriate digital pictures will be incorporated into their webs.
Students will also bring any old photos of themselves or any magazine clippings that reminds them of the season or that might be appropriate for their season. We will scan, print and save the photos or images on floppy disks or CD's.
Click here to see student samples for les. #2
Les. #3 Making Books
Students will create books, one for each season. The class will be divided into four groups. They will be given kid-safe web sites to use. We have provided over a 100 resources to use...examples such as http://www.google.com/ and http://www.askjeeves.com/. Students will be asked to choose and focus on two or three of these web-sites to conduct research and retrieve images for seasons book.
They will be given tips and instructions on how to conduct their search, how to make their search more effective and how to save or copy pictures from internet. Students will site sources from the internet.
Students will reveal the affects that weather and seasons have on plants and animals. Students will use Microsoft Word...which will definitely include clip-art! :)
We will share books using an LCD projector and make copies for students to take home and keep forever!
Click here to see student samples for lesson #3
Les. #4 The Experiment
Students will conduct an experiment to understand and explain the causes of seasons. They will discover that the Earth's tilt , as it rotates (orbits) around the sun, dictates the season rather than the Earth's distance from the sun.
Students will be able to identify physical changes caused by the seasons.
Students will be working in groups and will use the Digital Video Camera to film and edit an i-Movie while performing the experiment. Each group will summarize their findings and present their short Movie to the class by using the LCD projector.
As a culminating activity, students will be singing a cute song about the tilt of the Earth! The title (sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb) is, "The Tilt of the Earth!"
Click here to see student samples for lesson #4
Les. #5 The Big PowerPoint
As a culminating or review activity, we will have a PowerPoint presentation about seasons. This presentation will include all previous activities and examples of student work. Students and teacher will prepare the presentation.
We will incorporate digital pictures of the students, a movie of the experiment and download and embed videos about seasons from the United Learning Company website.
We will use the LCD projector for presentations and we will have an assessment on the PowerPoint and an online quiz.
Students will first work in groups to generate a K-W-L chart by using pencil and paper. This is to encourage cooperative learning, sharing of ideas and to brainstorm. When finished, students will edit and revise K-W-L charts.
Photo from http://pics.tech4learning.com/
Munasser working hard
Adam
Seasons
Photo from
http://www.google.com/