TITLE OF THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Dinosaur Characteristics and Groupings by Julie A. Kealy, South Jefferson Central School District

1. LEARNING CONTEXT
The purpose of this learning experience is for students to become aware of different dinosaur characteristics and how dinosaurs can be grouped according to their characteristics. This correlates with Mathematics, Science, and Technology Standard #4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principals, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in Science. In order for students to be successful in this experience they will need to be able to cooperate in a group and be careful observers.

2. PROCEDURE
1. Teacher should tell students what the purpose of the activity is ("Boys and girls in a moment you are going to do what real scientists had to do. In groups, you are going to be looking at many different dinosaur pictures and carefully observe their characteristics. Then you will decide how you can classify or group them based on these characteristics.")

2. Teacher should review the criteria for working effectively in groups. (Assign roles if desired: leader, recorder, reporter, encourager)

3. Teacher may also want to or need to elicit what "characteristics" means. This could be done by having a group of students come forward and as a class, discuss their characteristics-male/female, brown hair/blond hair, glasses/non-glasses, etc. He/she may then want to discuss ways to group the students.

4. Teacher should then divide class into 2 (or more) groups. have the students sit in a circle and place several pictures of dinosaurs in the center. (These pictures can be students' own drawings or teacher can access a variety of pictures off of the Internet and print them out. See Materials and Supplies)

5. Ask if anyone has questions. Then, begin.

6. As students work, circulate with a checklist/observation list to assess progress. Teacher should also ask questions: "What characteristics have you observed?", "Why did you group them this way?", "Could you group them another way?", "Can this dinosaur belong to both groups?", "Why or why not?".

7. After a given amount of time (approx. 10-15 minutes), gather class together (at floor or at desks). Have students share the different groupings according to characteristics. The teacher should write these responses on chart paper.

3. INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS
Due to the group dynamics, it is expected that everyone will participate and learn to the best of their ability as well as learn from each other. Also, desks, furniture, may need to be moved to accommodate 2 groups working on the floor.

4. TIME REQUIRED
This learning experience should take about 30 minutes. Depending on the teacher's knowledge of dinosaur characteristics and groupings, planning and preparation should take very little time. (If the teacher is providing students with pictures, he or she will need to spend time preparing them) The assessment should occur simultaneously as the experience occurs.

5. RESOURCES
Students will need to have several pictures of different dinosaurs. These could be teacher provided or previously have the students choose a specific dinosaur and draw a "detailed" picture of it. Pictures are also available on the Internet and could be printed out from there for students' use. Teacher will need chart paper and a marker. (The chalkboard could also be used, but it would be unavailable for future reference.

6. ASSESSMENT PLAN
Assessment will be made through careful observation of group discussions and teacher questioning during discussions. The teacher should use a checklist to document participation and understanding. Further assessment can be done if this knowledge gained from this learning experience is demonstrated in a culminating activity. Students can also self-assess by looking up their dinosaur on the Internet to see if it has been classified as their group did.

7. STUDENT WORK
No hard copies of student work, since this experience is based largely on discussion.

8. REFLECTION
The learning experience should be modified in the way of class groupings. This could easily be changed into a whole class, partner, or individual activity. The dynamics of the class should be taken into consideration. The experience here should not end here. In order to ensure that the purpose is maintained the knowledge gained should be expected to carryover into other areas, such as a culminating activity on a dinosaur unit. It can be referred to whenever students are asked to classify and sort. This experience reflects good classroom practices because it actively engages all students and they are engaged in an activity where the teacher is merely a guide and facilitator.

LEARNING EXPERIENCE PEER REVIEW – TEACHER PRESENTATION

The title of this learning experience is "Dinosaur Characteristics and Groupings" . It is part of my unit on dinosaurs. The purpose of this lesson is for students to become aware of different dinosaur characteristics and how dinosaurs can be grouped according to their characteristics. I particularly like this lesson, because it actively engages all the students and they must use eachother as a resource. The entire lesson should take about 30 minutes and when used in the unit requires very little preparation.

My FOCUS QUESTION for this lesson would be "How could I make the assessment part of it more objective?"

The lesson correlates with MST #4 – Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principals and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in Science.

OVERVIEW OF LESSON:

The teacher should tell students what the purpose of the activity is. For example, "Boys and girls in a moment you are going to do what a real scientist might actually do. In groups, you are going to be looking at many different pictures of dinosaurs and carefully observing their characteristics. Then together, you will decide how you can group or classify them based on their characteristics.

Next the teacher will divide the class into two groups and have each group sit in a circle. Then place several pictures of dinosaurs in the center. These pictures can be the students’ own drawings or teacher provided. Allow students to ask questions, then let them begin investigating.

As the students are working the teacher will circulate and use a checklist to assess participation and understanding. The teacher should also ask questions to check for understanding such as, "What characteristics have you observed?", "Why did you group them this way?", "Could you group them another way?", "Could this dinosaur belong to both groups?", Why or why not?"

After a given amount of time, 10-15 minutes, gather the class back together and have students share their different groupings according to characteristics. The teacher should write these responses on chart paper.

MODIFICATION:

The lesson could be modified in several different ways, such as groupings. It could easily be done as a partner, individual, or whole class activity. The dynamics of the class should be taken into consideration. The experience here should not end here. It can be referred to whenever students are asked to classify and group.

I have no student samples of work since this lesson is primarily based on student discussion and teacher observation.

As said before, I like this lesson in that the students are all actively engaged, they are the resources, the teacher is the facilitator.