Mini-Lessons Assignment
Frit 7234
Brodell
Mini-Lesson 1: What are Adaptations and What are Some Different Ones?
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Standards:
Content Standard:
S3L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and
differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions
(Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian
Plateau) of Georgia.
a. Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia’s
geographic regions.
b. Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage,
hibernation, migration, mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.
c. Use evidence to construct an explanation of why some organisms can thrive in one habitat
and not in another.
ISTE Standard(s):
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences.
Guiding Question:
An authentic, engaging, guiding question to focus the lesson on.
● What are adaptations and what are some different ones?
Digital Information Fluency: Principle of Inquiry Based Learning:
Locating Information Efficiently: What Deep Understanding, Assessment, Use of
Technology, Learner Success
information am I looking for? - Where will I
find the information? - How will I get there?
1.E Learners select and apply appropriate
search strategies to effectively and efficiently
locate reliable digital information related to
their academic learning goal(s)
Curated Resource(s):
https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAAT-W7PcAA41-4rQVEA==
Stage 2 – Learning Plan
Student Learning Activity and Technology Use:
The teacher will start off by placing two photographs, one of a bird and one of an elephant, on
the SMARTboard. As a class, the students and the teacher will talk about how they are
different and what makes them unique. They will identify the different characteristics or
adaptations of each animal. The teacher will then expand the discussion to include other
animals.
Afterward, the students, as a class, will make a list of as many animal adaptations as they can
identify, listing the adaptations on the SMARTboard. The class will then discuss this list by
asking questions such as, “do these characteristics help these animals and how?” The
teacher will continue with other question prompts: Why are these differences important? Do
they help them stay alive? Are these characteristics suitable for where they live, etc.?
The class will then watch a video and discuss it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=fRX2JtKFUzk&t=16s
After the video the teacher will have the students pair up. They will then go to Symbaloo to
view the curated resources: https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAAT-W7PcAA41-4rQVEA==.
Once at the site, the students will explore each tile. During this time, the teacher should be walking
around the classroom observing the students.
The class will discuss the different adaptations that they learned about. They will be able to
share their favorites and why they like them. They can also share what they found interesting
or cool.
Next, the teacher will explain to the students that they will be making an information poster on
what adaptations are, and give examples based upon the information that they just learned.
They will need to list at least one adaptation of an animal that is common to the area where
they live. The students will use their own computer to go to www.glogster.com to create the
poster about adaptations.
Stage 3 – Assessment
Assessment:
As the students are working on their information poster on www.glogster.com, the teacher will
be walking around giving real-time feedback. The teacher will also grade the poster using a
rubric.
Mini-Lesson 2: How do Animals Adapt to Different Habitats?_______
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Standards:
Content Standard:
S3L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and
differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions
(Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian
Plateau) of Georgia.
a. Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia’s
geographic regions.
b. Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage,
hibernation, migration, mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.
c. Use evidence to construct an explanation of why some organisms can thrive in one habitat
and not in another.
ISTE Standard(s):
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences.
Guiding Question:
An authentic, engaging, guiding question to focus the lesson on.
● How do animals adapt to different habitats?
Digital Information Fluency: Principle of Inquiry Based Learning:
Locating Information Efficiently: What Learner Success, Assessment, Appropriate
information am I looking for? - Where will I Use of Technology,
find the information? - How will I get there?
1.E Learners select and apply appropriate
search strategies to effectively and efficiently
locate reliable digital information related to
their academic learning goal(s)
Curated Resource(s):
https://www.tes.com/lessons/QPd9GAJ8l3JsCg/animal-adaptations
Stage 2 – Learning Plan
Student Learning Activity and Technology Use:
The teacher will start off the lesson by having the students open their Glogster poster on their
computers. The students will review their poster and then, as a class, we will go over what
adaptations are.
The teacher will place the same pictures from Lesson No. 1 up on the board. The teacher will
ask the students, “Would these animals live in the same place, and if not, why not?” The
teacher would explain that animal adaptations help them live in their habitats.. The class
would then define what a habitat is as well as come up with different types (Tundra, Ocean,
Rainforest, Arctic, etc.). The teacher will then put up an interactive website,
https://ssec.si.edu/habitats, on the SMARTboard about animals and different habitats, and the
class will work on it together.
The teacher will then instruct the student to go to Blendspace at
https://www.tes.com/lessons/QPd9GAJ8l3JsCg/animal-adaptations to access the curated
resource titled, “Match the Right Animal to the Right Habitat”. The students will listen to the
description of the animals and the different types of habitats the site offers to see if they can
match them correctly. Once students complete the activity correctly, they will go back to
Blendspace and go to the curated resource “Match the Right Feet to the Right Habitat”. The
students will then match which animal’s foot would work best in each environment.
As the students finish their independent work, the teacher will instruct the students that they
will be inventing their own animals. Students will use their laptops to create their own animal
using AbCya! Paint at: https://www.abcya.com/games/abcya_paint. They must incorporate
adaptations either from our class created list or from their own research, and be able to
explain why they selected them.
Students will use Flipgrid to create a short video presenting their animal. They will include the
picture of what their animal looks like, its specific adaptations, and what type of environment it
would live in.
Stage 3 – Assessment
Assessment:
Students will present their new animal, its adaptations, and its environment in their Flipgrid
video. Their video will be shared with their classmates in order to get peer evaluations and
comments. They may also share this project with their families at home.
Mini-Lesson 3: What is Plagiarism and is it Good or Bad?____________
Stage 1 – Desired Results
Standards:
Content Standard:
S3L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and
differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions
(Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian
Plateau) of Georgia.
a. Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia’s
geographic regions.
b. Construct an explanation of how external features and adaptations (camouflage,
hibernation, migration, mimicry) of animals allow them to survive in their habitat.
c. Use evidence to construct an explanation of why some organisms can thrive in one habitat
and not in another.
ISTE Standard(s):
2c. Students demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the rights and obligations of using
and sharing intellectual property.
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their
intended audiences.
Guiding Question:
An authentic, engaging, guiding question to focus the lesson on.
● What is plagiarism and is it good or bad?
Digital Information Fluency: Principle of Inquiry Based Learning:
Using Information Ethically - How will I Assessment, Appropriate Use of Technology,
ethically use the information? Ethical Citizenship
3.A Learners ethically use digital information
Curated Resource(s):
https://brodellportfolio.weebly.com/ethical-use-of-information-curation.html
https://www.symbaloo.com/shared/AAAAAT-W7PcAA41-4rQVEA==
https://www.tes.com/lessons/QPd9GAJ8l3JsCg/animal-adaptations
Stage 2 – Learning Plan
Student Learning Activity and Technology Use:
The teacher will start off with the prompt: Have you ever cheated or copied someone’s work?
What would happen if you were caught?
The class would then take a poll: Is it right to take credit for or to copy other people’s work?
The students will use their laptops to go to
https://PollEv.com/multiple_choice_polls/XDRWFJnFMYl3eUjD5wzVr/ to respond to the poll.
The class will then discuss the results. The teacher will call on some students to explain their
answers.
Afterwards, the class will watch a video detailing what plagiarism is at
https://www.brainpop.com/technology/digitalcitizenship/plagiarism/. The teacher will stop the
video at 2:39, before it starts talking about citations. The class will then discuss the video.
The teacher will allow the students to work in pairs to explore the provided information about
plagiarism in the curated resource titled: “Plagiarism Infographic”.
The teacher will gain the students’ attention again and tell them that now that they know what
plagiarism is, they will be learning how to avoid it. The teacher will start off by playing the rest
of the Brainpop video that was paused. The class will discuss what they learned about giving
credit to others and why citations are important. Then the teacher will put the curated resource
titled: “citation infographic” up on the SMARTboard. The teacher will explain that citations are
created using certain information from the original work to allow others to know where you got
the information from.
The teacher will then instruct the students that they will be going back to the Symbaloo and
Blendspace that they used previously for adaptations and choose one site to gather
information from. They will pick one animal and need to write down three facts about it as well
as cite their work. They will complete this activity with paper and a pencil.
Stage 3 – Assessment
Assessment:
The teacher will collect the students’ work with the adaptation information and citation on it.
The teacher will check it and provide feedback to the student.
At the end of the lesson, students will take a quiz on Quizizz at:
https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5f0a62541834db001bda30cf
