Technology Integration Unit Project: Researching Ecosystems with the Big 6

Researching Ecosystems with the Big 6 Research Model

·         Grade Level: 3rd grade students

·         Unit length: 2-3 Weeks

·         Objective: Students will follow the steps in the Big 6 research model to research, create, present, and evaluate information pertaining to specific ecosystems

·         Technology Utilized:

o   iPads

o   Shadow Puppet video maker app

o   Online databases:

§  Encyclopedia Britannica

§  World Book

§  EasyBib

o   Alternative Technology:

§  Microsoft Surface Tablets

§  Animoto video maker

·         Other materials needed:

o   Index cards, envelopes, manila folders for organizing information

·         The 3^rd grade ELAR TEKS supported are:

o   (26)Research/Gathering Sources. Students determine, locate, and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the information they gather. Students are expected to:

§  (A)follow the research plan to collect information from multiple sources of information,  both oral and written, including: (ii) data from experts, reference texts, and online searches; and (iii) visual sources of information (e.g., maps, timelines, graphs) where  appropriate

§  (C) take simple notes and sort evidence into provided categories or an organizer;

§  (D) identify the author, title, publisher, and publication year of sources;

o   (28) Research/Organizing and Presenting Ideas. Students organize and present their ideas and information according to the purpose of the research and their audience. Students are expected to draw conclusions through a brief written explanation and create a works-cited page from notes, including the author, title, publisher, and publication year for each source used.

·         Lesson Steps:

o   Teacher will inform students that they will be researching different ecosystems. They may choose from forest, desert, tundra, rainforest, desert, or ocean.

o   Students will discuss previous learning of Big 6. Then they will follow the 6 steps of the research model.

Big6 #1: Task Definition

1.       Determine what information is needed.

a.       Description of habitat.

b.      Plants and animals that live in the habitat.

c.       An example of a food chain within the habitat.

d.      Real life examples of this habitat found around the world.

2.       Students will label an envelope for each of the four criteria.

Big6#2: Information Seeking Strategies

1.       Students will make a list of resources that can be used to find the information outlined in the first step.

a.       Online Encyclopedia Britannica

b.      World Book Online

c.       Informational books

d.      Encyclopedias

Big6 #3: Location & Access

1.       Students will come to the library to access sources listed in step #2.

2.       Students will locate the resources they plan to use.

Big6 #4: Use of Information

1.       Students will read online articles, watch videos, and listen to text within online databases.

2.       If desired, students will use the online catalog to locate informational books.

3.       They will take notes on notecards and use the EasyBib resource or the citation feature within the online encyclopedias to cite their sources.

4.       They will place their notecards into corresponding envelopes.

Big6 #5: Synthesis

1.       Students will organize the information on their notecards to create pictures and/ or posters and a bibliography.

2.       They will take pictures of their products and then upload them to the Shadow Puppet app.

3.       They will record their voice in the app as they explain each picture/ poster.

Big6 #6: Evaluation

Students will review and evaluate their presentation using the rubric provided by the teacher to decide if it needs to be modified to fit the criteria.

Rubric

	0	1	2	3
Description of the environment	No description	Little description of the environment	Many details of the environment included	Many details in complete sentences; Interesting facts
Animals found there	No animals	One animal mentioned, little description	Many animals identified	Many examples of animals, with detail
Plants found there	No plants	One plants	Many plants identified	Many examples of plants identified with detail
Real life examples around the world	No example	One example, no details	More than one example, with some detail	Several examples with pictures and details
An example of a food chain found there -	No example	Food chain is included but incomplete	Food chain is included with some detail	Detailed food chain with descriptions
Recorded Explanation	No explanation		Brief explanation of most elements	Descriptive and detailed explanation of each element
Neatness	Unorganized information, not neat	Neat but contains several spelling/grammatical errors	Neat with few errors	Neatly completed, organized No spelling errors
Sources	No sources cited	1 source cited, or sources cited incorrectly	2 sources, few citing mistakes	Several (3+) included, and correctly cited
				_______ / 24 points

Below is a ThingLink presentation. Click on the nodes to view the content. (There are 4 nodes/circles; hover over the image to see them.) The Project Overview is in the 1st sticky note, and the technology demonstration is in the 5th sticky note. The other two websites are for more information about the Big 6 and where the photograph I used came from.