Courtney Commander

ELED 3221
March 20, 2017
Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template

Building an Ecosystem
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Central Focus/Big Idea: Ecosystems

Subject of this lesson: Understand how environmental conditions help sustain an ecosystem.

Grade Level: 3rd

NC Essential Standard(s): 3.L.2.2- Students know that how well plants grow and
survive is determined by a combination of environmental conditions. For
example, drought conditions will tend to diminish plant health and growth.

Next Generation Science Standard(s): 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with

evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some
survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

21st Century Skills: Critical Thinking- These students must use their knowledge to create an
idea of what they think the components in the ecosystem contribute to the survival of it as a
whole. Collaboration- The students must work together to create the ecosystem successfully and
be a team.

Academic Language Demand

Language Function: The most important language function is to analyze because they are
having to think about how all of the components that we include in our ecosystem work
together to keep it alive and how each component contributes specifically.

Analyze Argue Categorize Compare/contras Describe Explain

t
Interpret Predict Question Retell Summarize

The most important language function is to analyze because they are having to think about how
all of the components that we include in our ecosystem work together to keep it alive and how
each component contributes specifically.

Scientific Vocabulary: Nutrients, light, water, survival, growth, ecosystem, soil.

Instructional Objective: Students will be able to observe a man made ecosystem to determine
the importance of each component of the ecosystem in its survival. They will know how the
water cycle effects it and what conditions the ecosystem will thrive in. They will then have to
pick a component and describe what would happen to the ecosystem if that component wasnt
included in it.

Prior Knowledge (student): Basic water cycle, basic knowledge of how plants survive.

Content Knowledge (teacher): Teacher needs to know that the snails need to have the algae
tablets to survive before the actual algae grows, the ecosystems need to be placed in direct
sunlight, also all the basics of how a self sustaining ecosystem works (water cycle, sunlight
creating algae for the snails and providing the plants the opportunity to photosynthesize).

Accommodations for special needs (individual and/or small group): The students that would
need special accommodation would be in a group with me while building the ecosystem and I
would have them with me and we would work on the paragraph assessment together as a group.

Materials and Technology requirements: You will need: 3 sets of cut bottles, 3 squares of
panty hose, 3 rubber bands, 6 snails (2 in each ecosystem), a can of wax worms (divided into 3
parts, 3 aquatic plants, 3 semi-aquatic plants, soil, tape, 3 bottles of water and aquarium rocks.

Total Estimated Time: 45 minutes 1 hour

Source of lesson: Cooperating Teacher

Safety considerations: The only danger the students may come across is the sharp edges of the
bottles after they have been cut. I will ensure their safety by taping these edges before the
experiment starts. I will also have them wash their hand immediately after handling any of the
items that go into the ecosystem.
 Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5 Es. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. If you will be relying on technology (e.g., a YouTube
video), describe your back up plan thoroughly. Imagine your most novice colleague needing to
teach from your plan. Dont just answer the questions. Additionally, I expect you to include
possible questions you could ask for each section. This needs to include higher-order questions.

Engage: Alright everyone lets get out our lab coats and put on your scientists thinking caps! I
want you to think about a few scenarios for a second. How long do you think you would be able
to survive without water? What about food? Does how much sunlight you get effect how long
you survive? I want you to turn and talk with your partner and discuss what you think. (Give
students about 3 minutes to discuss amongst themselves.) Okay! Now does someone want to
tell me what you and your partner discussed and came up with? (While students are telling you
what they discussed and how long they would be able to survive without these things ask
questions such as Why do you think that? Do you have any evidence to support your
thoughts?) I hear some great things coming from my scientists! Now I want you to take those
questions and apply it to plants and animals. Do you think plants and animals can go longer or
shorter without food or water? Do you think there are other factors that go into their survival that
dont have a big impact on ours? (Allow time for discussion) Now I want us to think about this
a little more. We are going to actually get to see how plants and animals survive on their own!
We are going to be building our own ecosystem so we can observe all the factors that go into
keeping plants and animals alive!

Explore: Now we are going to build our ecosystems so we can start observing our living
organisms and their environment. While we are building our ecosystems I want you to be
thinking about why we are including the stuff we are putting in there and why it might be
important to the survival of the ecosystem. We have 3 stations so I have divided you into 3
groups. Each group has bottles, an aquatic plant, 2 snails, a semi-aquatic plant, some wax worms,
soil, two tablets, a bottle of water and tape. I have already put some aquarium rocks in the
bottom of our bottles, now I need one person to volunteer to put the aquatic plant into the rocks.
You want to make sure the roots of the plant are fully tucked under the rocks. (Allow time) Now
I need another volunteer to pour some water into the bottle. You want to pour enough in so that
the aquatic plant is fully underneath the water. Now we are going to place our snails into the
water! I am going to go around and give each team two snails, you have to be extremely careful
with these little guys because they are actual living creatures and you can harm them if you
arent careful. Grab them by the shell and gently guide them to the bottom of the bottle and place
them on the rocks. Now is when you should put in the two green tablets into the water. Next,
take the piece that has a piece of cut up panty hose on the end of it. Put the panty hose part into
the bottle first and secure it with tape around the outside of the bottle so that no air can get in or
out. Here I want you to think, how will the snails get food if we are closing them up in the
bottle? Just think about your answer, we will discuss it later. Now we are going to put more rocks
in the bottom of this part and one volunteer pour the soil on top of the rocks. Now we have the
semi-aquatic plant! I need one volunteer to plant that one in the soil and pour just a little water
into the soil. Now we have the wax worms, another volunteer should slowly pour them into the
soil. Now we are going to close off our ecosystem. Put the lid on it and seal it with tape so no air
will get in or out. Now I want you think about this questions for a second, if there ecosystem is
closed off how will all the plants and animals survive?

Explanation: Does anyone have a theory as to how the ecosystem will survive on its own?
(Let students answer and ask follow up questions such as why do you think so? or Elaborate
on that please.) So lets think about this. What do we know about snails? We put them
underwater so they dont need air to survive but what will they eat? The snails eat algae and
algae is produced by sunlight so what does that tell us about where we should put our ecosystems
to make sure our snails have something to eat? (Students should say in direct sunlight) Great!
Now that our ecosystem is in direct sunlight, lets think about the plant and soil we put in the top
of our ecosystem. What do we know about what plants need to survive? (Allow students to
answer. Guide them to the fact that plants need water to grow if they dont get there on their
own). Oh excellent! I heard something about how plants need water to grow and stay alive. Well
how will our plant get the water it needs if our ecosystem is closed off? I want you to turn and
talk with your neighbor about what you think. (Allow time for discussion.) I heard some great
responses! Now tell me, where will the water come from that the plant at the top needs?
(Student response: The water at the bottom!) Okay, but how will it get to the top? (Students
response: it could evaporate! We have it in direct sunlight so the water will start to evaporate and
get to the top!) Excellent! The water will turn to gas, go up to the top and it will rain down on
the top plant. Then where will the water go? (Student response: it will go down to the bottom
through the panty hose!) Fantastic job! Can someone tell me why there I put panty hose in the
middle there? What is it keeping? Where? (Student response: It looks like it is stopping the soil
from getting to the snails.) Exactly. The panty hose has tiny holes in it so the water can get
through but the soil cant and it stays where it needs to be. Lastly, lets talk about the worms and
their purpose in the ecosystem. Why did we put them in there? What do they do for the plant?
(Student response: they will fertilize the soil so the plant at the top will stay alive.) Yes! The
worms are there to make sure the top plant stays alive and gets the nutrients it needs from the
soil. You all have done a great job piecing this ecosystem together! Now go back to your seats
and get a clean sheet of paper out.

Elaborate: You all were fantastic working with our ecosystems today. Now I want you to work
backwards. I want you to pick one of the following components that are present in or around our
ecosystem. You can pick either the wax worms, the water, the sunlight, the plants, or the panty
hose. After you have made your pick I want you to write a paragraph (about 5 sentences) about
what would happen to the ecosystem if the component you chose was no longer a part of the
ecosystem. I want you to think back to everything we talked about during this lesson to help you.
Ready, set, go!

Evaluate:
Formative: I will be checking for understanding throughout the lesson by listening and engaging
in partner discussions taking place.
Summative: The student are to write a paragraph about how the ecosystem would be effected if
their chosen component wasnt included in it. I will be checking for accuracy and vocabulary we
used during the lesson.

To be completed after the lesson is taught as appropriate

Assessment Results of all objectives/skills:

Reflection on lesson:

CT signature/confirmation: _________________________________ Date: ________________