Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans: Science: Polar Bears

Summary: In the article A Polar Bear Paparazzo Brings Back Close-Up Images of these Hudson Bay Celebrities by John Eliot it discusses the way the Hudson Bay residents live and how they survive in the warmer weather. The polar bears spend most of their time there and in that time they are hunting for prey which consists of seals and seal pups. During the warmer weather from July to November they hibernate to escape from the melting ice of the Hudson Bay area. During the time period they live off their fat reserves. The article’s main concern is the polar bear’s existence as a whole. As the climate of the earth slowly climbs higher polar bears need to live off their reserves. The bears can only live for so long off from its fat. Studies conclude that the bear’s average weight is down by 10% in just 25 years. The author is concerned that the bears will not be around forever. The article gives information on how the bears keep warm with their insulating fur and fat reserves. The polar bear retains virtually of their body heat. John Eliot catches these large, amazing creatures in photographs that are tantalizing to look at and study. The polar bears are majestic creatures that are in a lot of children’s books, cartoons, and even commercials as the winter icon for Coca Cola.

Rationale and Objective: I chose this article because it was fun and interesting to see the pictures. It was not a long article but did have a lot of those pictures. Children are generally interested in big creatures that are cute, in which polar bears are. This unit is probably most suited for 2^nd or 3^rd graders. Students will love to study these creatures and their interesting habitat. By studying the lives of polar bears we can also study topics such as maps, the arctic and different life of the arctic. Children will be familiar with about 12 different animal species that reside in the arctic and retain vocabulary that pertains to the habitat. They will work together in groups to get life skills such as working together, taking responsibilities, comparing and contrasting, and organization.

Activities: : The lesson will first start off by having the students draw a picture of what they think the polar region looks like and write a short description of what they already know about the topic. Students will share with each other their knowledge. By doing this activity children will reinforce what they already know. Then students will start learning about the region through different books, experiments, and discussions. If it is done in this region they will be intrigued to know that it does get colder in other regions in the winter time than it does here. Similarities and differences can be recorded and thought about.. They will learn about vegetation, climate, animal life, and other interesting facts. A “Word Wall” will be put up on the wall to record vocabulary that students do not know and words that they think others might not know and they do. After we have learned about the area and what animals need to survive in the area I will have the children make up their own arctic animal complete with a name, a picture, look and size, its friends and enemies, it’s food and shelter, and how it defends itself. Another activity would be locating on a map where the Hudson Bay area is on a topographical map. By doing this activity children will get to be familiar with the area and topographical maps. We, as a class, will also go over other maps from this region such as climate maps and regional maps. Then students will study polar bears in depth. We will read children’s books that have to do with them and look at pictures from the National Geographic article that I previously mentioned. We will discuss the polar bear’s fur as being camouflaged in with its environment. We will conduct an experiment that shows how animals blend into their surroundings. An easy project is to get into pairs and get a colored piece of construction paper and little squares of paper. One student will put the squares onto the other paper while their partner closes their eyes. When they open their eyes they have to pick up some pieces of paper. It is likely that the student will go for the ones that do not match the paper; the ones that are most visible. The mini experiment shows that things of the same color are not as easily seen.

For our final unit project students will be put in to groups of two or three and chose or be assigned an arctic animal of their choice to do an in depth study on. The requirements for this study will be a report complete with pictures, an oral presentation, and a diorama that the group made. By doing all of this children will become familiar with one arctic animal and will get to be acquainted with other animals from different groups. After the class has presented the projects to the class we will hold an “Arctic Fair” in which the students will be designing. For the fair students have to work together to plan decorations and set up their projects along with their imaginary arctic animals for other classes to come in to view. When other classes come into the classroom the groups will have to tell the other students about their projects.

Time Allotted In Minutes	Objective	Activity
30 minutes	To brainstorm knowledge about the arctic that is already known and to share that knowledge with a partner	Students will draw a picture of what they think the arctic looks like and write a short description that includes where it is, how it looks, and what animals live there. They will then share this information with a partner.
30 minutes	To show children where the arctic is located and give them a sense of how far it is away from them	Students will look at globes, topographical maps, climate maps, and regional maps to compare and contrast the differences between the maps.
30 minutes	Since students are more familiar about the geographic location of the area we will start discussions about the area. Such topics will be climate, animal life, and vegetation. Students will also learn vocabulary from the “Word Wall” that will be displayed in the back of the room.	I will have a variety of books for children to look at and explore. They then will compose questions that they want the class to answer. When the questions are asked children will all, as a group, look up the answers and share. After we will go to the computer lab for some research on Polar bears. In groups children will find three facts about Polar bears and bring it back to the class.
20 minutes	To learn about Polar Bears with the use of pictures, books, and an experiment.	Using the three facts the groups will perform a little skit acting out the facts. We will discuss each fact as they present it.
10 minutes	To learn about Polar Bears and blending into the environment.	Using the camouflaging experiment above children will discover that it is hard to find an animal that blends into its environment
15 minutes	Students will use their imagination and new knowledge about the arctic to make up an imaginary animal.	Using the knowledge about the arctic children will do the imaginary animal activity explained above in my narrative.
4 Class periods of 30 minutes	Students will become familiar with an animal and learn how to present it to the class.	By making a report, diorama, and oral presentation students will become acquainted with a lot of different animals from the arctic.
30 minutes	Students will be reinforcing their knowledge of their animal by teaching it to other people	Children will set up their group’s project and teach other children about their animal.

Assessment: In order to assess students on their knowledge of the Arctic and Polar bears I will be watching closely as students do their research, perform in groups, and on their own. I will be grading their skits on the facts and how well they can answer questions from the group. With their imaginary animal I will be looking to see if students have used some characteristics of the arctic animal in their own animal. The more characteristics they use then the better the grade they will receive. Their group reports, diorama, and oral reports will also be graded on creativity, knowledge of their subject, oral expression, and presentation. At the end of the unit we will have an exam on the terms gone over on the “Word Wall”, facts discussed, geological questions, and other common facts discussed. Students will also do an assessment of themselves and their groups.

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Jessica Drinkwine
Email: drin0348@mail.plattsburgh.edu
Site hosted by: SUNY Plattsburgh
last updated: August 31, 2006