Letter to Parents on Habitat Science Project

THE PAGE ON OUR SCIENCE HABITAT PROJECT IS ALREADY HERE! 

We will be constantly updating this page as our class continues to work on the project. 

Here's the link: http://yutsaiyellowclass.blogspot.tw/p/science-project-animal-habitats.html   

See you around!

 

[The Chinese version of the letter can be found below]

April 26, 2013

Dear Parents,

                 One of the units of study that we are learning this year is about animal life.  The project is to choose animals and replicate their habitat in the classroom.  The students have formed groups and have already chosen the animal that they would like to raise and observe during the course of the unit. You can imagine how excited our students are!  Here are the groups and their chosen animals:

Students	Animals
Johnson, Kyle, Samuel, Tim	ants
Andrew, Edan, Johnny	guppies (fish)
Joanne, Kevin, Danny	crabs – changed to turtles
Amber, Angela, Cherry	pudding mice
Rosita, Eva, Ella	rice mice
Nana, Amanda, Vince, Jamy	tadpoles (frogs)
Jasmine, William, Vincent, JLin	Taiwan fire shrimp
Alston, Jacky, Mandy	rabbits

 

 

               

 

 

 Below is the timetable of this activity.  It is important to stick close to the schedule so that we could finish the project before the final exams.

Activities	Schedule
A.       Students will research about their group’s chosen animal.	April 19-24
B.       Each group will build the mini-habitat of their group animal, replicating its natural habitat	April 25-26 (Thursday-Friday)
C.       The students will decide on the focus (driving question) of their project. Ex. The tadpole group will study the life cycle of frogs	April 27-May 02
D.       The groups will set up their animal in the replicated habitat Mrs. Chen must approve when the animal can be brought to the classroom.  It’s important for the students to learn how to take care of their chosen animal so Activities A and B must be finished first in order to get to Activity D.	April 27-May 02 (This is the period that the students will bring their animal to its habitat in the classroom.
E.        The groups will observe and keep a journal on how their animals are doing in its replicated habitat.	From the set up date to May 30
F.       The groups will prepare a presentation and a poster or booklet to talk about their habitat and their animal.	May 13-24 presentation week

 

      Our students are going to be engaged in activities incorporating critical skills that are important to develop to be successful in the future.  They will also learn the values of caring for animals and the environment, taking responsibility, working with others, time and task management, creative work and so much more! See the chart below for the target skills and the subject area in which they will be taught.

 TARGET SKILLS

	Skills	Lessons
ENGLISH	Research	Using skimming, scanning, note-taking, translating skills
	Writing	Writing about the project/group work using sequencing, persuasive writing, comparing/contrasting
	Reading and Vocabulary Development	Fiction & Nonfiction readings focusing on animals the students have chosen.
MATH	Learning Average & Decimals	Calculate or estimate the cost of raising pets.  Find the average daily, weekly, monthly and overall consumption of different groups’ animals. Apply average and decimal in real-life situations concerning feeding and raising animals.
SCIENCE	Biology /Earth Science	Learn about animal behavior, habitats, adaptation and survival. Know the different biomes that are habitats of different animals; Observe and draw conclusions on how animals survive in their environment.
ART	Art in Nature	Create Stained-glass effect on illustrated animal;  Creating posters, brochures detailing animal life and care for them
21ST CENTURY SKILLS – reinforce in all subject areas	Collaboration	Working in groups – negotiating, scheduling tasks, planning the different stages of the project, etc.
	Communication	Authentic communication activities – talking about their experience and their animals in their presentations; creating posters/brochures to communicate facts and information
	Critical Thinking	Problem solving, application of concepts to real-life situations, comprehension and following directions

 

                                I would like to ask for your patience and cooperation, as your child might sometimes have to bring their group’s pet animal to your home over the weekend or purchase some food for their pets. Students in each group are deciding among themselves how to fairly distribute costs and responsibilities, as well as who would be taking their animal home before the summer break.  We will try to keep the expenses to the minimum.  I hope that the incurred expenses would more than make up for the rich learning experience that our children would get from this activity.

                              Your children are all very engaged and willing to work hard on this project.  Keeping up with

their unbridled enthusiasm is proving to be a challenge but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you so much in advance for your understanding and support of our classroom activities. Feel free to ask Teacher Christina or me for any question about this project.

 

Best regards,

 

Mrs. Lolit Chen



親愛的家長們,

 

我們現在正在進行一個有關動物與動物生態研究的單元，學生以小組合作的方式進行學習。各組自由決定挑選出一種動物並營造該類動物的棲息生態，飼養於教室內，每天可以在學校觀察並記錄動物的生活成長狀態。學生們可是非常興奮的唷! 以下是分組名單及各組研究的動物:

Students學生	Animals動物
Johnson, Kyle, Samuel, Tim	ant 螞蟻
Andrew, Edan, Johnny	guppies (fish) 孔雀魚
Joanne, Kevin, Danny	crab – changed to turtle 烏龜
Amber, Angela, Cherry	pudding mice  布丁鼠
Rosita, Eva, Ella	rice rats稻鼠
Nana, Amanda, Vince, Jamy	tadpoles (frogs)蝌蚪(蛙類)
Jasmine, William, Vincent, JLin	shrimp蝦
Alston, Jacky, Mandy	rabbits 兔子

 

 

 

 

 

 

下表昰這個單元的進度表，希望所有活動可以及時在期末考前完成，所以小朋友們要跟著進度走喔～

Activities 活動	Schedule 時程
A.       學生們查資料研究各組所選擇的動物	4/19~4/24
B.       每一組要替他們的動物設立一個迷你棲息地，盡量複製營造出該動物的自然生態	4/25~4/26 (星期四、星期五)
C.       學生們要決定這次研究報告的重點 (例如，研究蝌蚪的小組可以訂定青蛙的生命週期為其研究主題)	4/27~5/2
D.       學生們將動物帶來飼養於設置好的迷你棲息地 ￭ 各組須獲得Mrs. Chen的許可後才可將欲研究的動物帶到學校 ￭ 非常重要的是各組必須先學會如何照顧他們選擇飼養的動物，所以A和B務必先完成後才能進行D項活動	4/27~5/2 (這段時間學生可以把研究的動物帶到學校)
E.        各組會觀察並寫研究日誌記錄他們的動物在他們所設置的棲息地的生活情形	從棲息地設置好到5/30
F.       各組將準備海報或是小書對全班介紹各組的動物、相關的生態環境以及觀察記錄。	5/13~5/24報告週

 

  這次的單元結合了很多關鍵性的技能，對於孩子未來成功的學習發展都很重要。他們會學到如何珍惜生命及我們生活的環境、 學習負責任、學習小組合作、時間管理、如何發揮創意讓報告更有趣等，下表是孩子在各領域會學到的目標技能 :

 

科目	Skills 技能	Lessons 課程內容
英文	研究	略讀技巧, 瀏覽能力, 做筆記能力, 翻譯技巧
	寫作	運用前後文連接、比較及對比、說服性寫作等技巧記錄動物的習性及準備最後的報告
	單字及閱讀	跟研究動物相關的事實性文章閱讀
數學	平均數與小數點	能夠運用平均數與小數點來計算及預估飼養動物所需的花費，算出每日、每周、每個月所需的平均花費。
自然科學	生物/地球科學/生命教育	學習到動物的行為特性、棲息地、適應力及生存力 了解到不同動物需要不同的環境生存及照顧方式 觀察動物如何在環境中生存並將觀察的結果總結 尊重並珍惜生命及愛護環境生態
美術	藝術性質	運用彩繪玻璃的效果呈現各類的動物 製作有關動物的特性及如何照顧動物的海報或是小書
新世紀的關鍵成功技能 (整合於各類科目中)	合作能力	團隊合作 – 學習小組分工、協調, 時間管理, 專案進度管理等技能
	溝通能力	進行真實與實用的溝通活動: 簡報分享照顧動物的經驗、 製作海報或是小書呈現整理過的資訊和實際經驗
	批判思考	問題解決能力、將概念運用到真實情境的能力、理解能力及聽從並執行指令的能力

 

在這個學習單元的過程中，孩子可能會需要購買一些飼料、假日時要輪流將動物帶回家照料等等，都需要您耐心的支持與配合。每一組的孩子要事先討論協議好如何公平地分擔照顧動物的花費及責任，以及暑假期間照顧的責任分配等規劃。我們會指導孩子盡量以最少的錢達到最好的效益，同時我希望這次的研究學習活動的珍貴經驗對孩子而言，其價值遠遠超過所需投入的花費與時間。

 

孩子們都非常認真積極的熱情參與這個活動，非常感謝家長的配合和支持，若您對於這個學習單元有任何問題，可以直接和我連絡，也可透過Christina主任與我溝通。

 

     Mrs. Lolit Chen敬上