Tyren Cloyd & Chris Owens

MAJ Hodde

ERH-411

1 March 2020

Pre-Proposal for Expeditionary Unit

Introduction

Two Disciplinary Domains: Science & English

 

Principles: The Natural World- teach the important ideas of recurring cycles & cause and effect.                    The Responsibility for Learning- encourage children to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning

 

Driving Questions: How can students combine the use of imagination and the natural world?

How can we use research skills to present information from an experiment?

How to effectively manage many different tasks within a time constraint?

 

Content

VDOE: Life Processes & Living Systems

-Observing, Classifying, & Researching

 

Anchor texts: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/08/insect-bug-medicine-food-macneal/

This article from National Geographic provides students with an understanding of the importance of bugs. This includes what their roles are and how life would be without them. It also gives a general background behind the types of bug species that exist.

 

 

https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/default

This article from Smithsonian provides students with a general background of information dealing with bugs. The website allows students to discover many different things from the amount of insect species that exist, to diseases caused by insects. It then goes on to display and name a variety of different insects that exist today.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgZ_YdKPMdM

This short video on why insects are important provides the students with real world situations that pertain with bugs. It gives a very generic overview on the role insects play in today’s society. Because  of insects the food web and the cycle of life continues to spin. Insects also help contribute to the removal of decomposing animals.

 

Expertise: COL Bryant (science) & VMI Writing Center (research)

 

Assignment: Split classroom into groups of four and introduce them with a video on insects from youtube or National Geographic. Next assign them with the project goals and expectations. With their rubric they will also be given two different articles to read as a group to get a basic knowledge on insect species. Next, the students will explore the realms of the school and discover at least three different insects. They will capture these insects and store them away in a plastic bag. A cotton ball with rubbing alcohol will be placed within the bag to expedite the process of killing the insect. The groups will then research what type of insect they have collected and answer a variety of questions (animal species, predators, food source, environment, life span). Lastly, the students will find a way to display their insects to the class and present what information they have learned. To end the project they will watch the movie “Bug’s Life”

 

Schedule:

Week 1- introduction to project, show videos, deliver readings

Week 2- capture insects, store them away, & begin research

Week 3- finish research questions & create display

Week 4- presentations & movie

 

Writing Action Plan:

Chris will research the reading resources and websites using models that pertain to insects, while Tyren will develop a rubric to assess the expectations for the fin