The process of creating a mini-unit of a complex problem to use with my students proved to be quite challenging…which I suppose was the intent. I started by considering important topics that I cover throughout the year. I wanted to choose a topic that the students would be interested in and could foster exploration and meaningful learning.
As I considered topics: inventions, the impact of a natural disaster on the food web, and endangered animals, I knew I had to pick a topic that would really hold the attention of the students. Naturally, I decided that exploring the impact that a natural disaster would have on a food web in the students’ local environment would be the best choice. This topic would relate to the lives of the students, seeing that it is something that occurs in their local environment. It would also hold the attention of the students, because they all find natural disasters to be a very interesting topic, as we have already studied tornadoes and icebergs this year.
The plan for my mini-unit was the have each student choose an organism to research that exists in our local environment. The student would then create a table (database) to organize the characteristics that were related to the organism. This information would later assist them in creating a food web for their organism and a flowchart showing the impact (cause/effect) that a flood would have on the food web.
After the students had the information in a chart, they would then create a food web to show the relationship between their organism and the organisms in the level below it that it eats.
Next, the students would create a flow chart, showing the impact (cause/effect) that a flood would have on the food web. This flowchart would correctly organize each organism of the food web into producers, herbivores, and/or carnivores. The possible impacts of would be listed for each organism and would list possible ways the organism could adapt or survive. The students would then draw arrows to create a food web on the flow chart. This would be a powerful visual, because it would show not only the food web and relationship between the organisms of each level, but also the impact of the flood on each student’s food web.
After each student had created their own food web and food chart, we could compile all of the students’ information. Together, we would first create a food web to show the relationship between all of the students’ organisms. A flow chart would then be created to show how a flood would impact all the organisms in our class food web.
Originally I had planned for the students to create a food web and flow chart of 10 + organisms in small groups. I realized that this would be too difficult for my students. It would be hard for them to make these kinds of connections on their own. This is why I decided to have the students do their own mini-project before we came together as a whole group to compile our information and create a food web and flowchart that represented all of the organisms of the students. Although this would still be challenging for the students, it would present them with a problem that they could work at solving. Through trial and error and connections between the flow chart and cause/effect activities we had done earlier in the year, the students would be able to work through their problems.
This assignment has allowed me to challenge myself, while finding a project that would challenge and motivate my students, as well. I am excited to try this mini-unit in my classroom and to observe the student thinking and problem solving strategies that go into attempting to solve this complex problem. Hands-on activities, such as these, provide students with powerful learning experiences that relate to the real world and require them to apply their prior knowledge when going through problem solving steps.
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