Week 5

Learned this Week

This week we dove deep into ecosystems and food chains. We were able to learn about different ecosystems and how they function, we worked with our group to create an ecosystem and we got to pick what animals from the ecosystem would appear in our food chain example. We also learned about ants and that they work together to build things and heavily rely on teamwork, we also learned they release chemicals to communicate with each other. Another thing we learned about was how to determine if lesson plans are effective and if they are meeting all of the standards. We also saw our butterflies hatch and become beautiful butterflies, as well as our seeds growth and we could evens see roots coming out of the bottom of our pot!

Already Knew

The prior knowledge we came in with of knowing the characteristics of living things was very helpful. Another thing that we already knew was the life cycle of different animals. Knowing these things helped us add onto certain species lives and allowed us to understand different biomes and how animals survive. This lesson was very good to be taught after being taught about the life cycle because this allowed for students to add on to the same topic of knowledge. Another thing we already knew was that different animals thrive in different climates and different life styles. 

Clear and Confusing 
What was clear to me was how the animals all eat on the food chains in different ecosystems. Something that was really cool but I was confused about what how the butterflies hatch from the chrysalis. This was really cool to watch but a little disturbing. A few of the butterflies flapped their wings very aggressively after hatching, was there water on their wings? What were they trying to get off? I think it would be cool to talk about what is going on with the butterflies after they hatch.

Apply to Teaching 

Having the students create their own biomes is very informative. This allows for students to research different animals life and allows for students to be able to learn on their own, they foster their own learning. My group made a Freshwater Ecosystem and it was very cool to learn about all of the different species found in this ecosystem and using prior knowledge to relate them to other ecosystems.

Questions

What happens to the butterflies after they hatch from the chrysalis? When do they start being able to fly?