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Lesson 3

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Land Acknowledgement

This is Kumeyaay homeland. The Kumeyaay people are the people native to this land. We acknowledge that our school is built on the homelands of the Kumeyaay people. We thank them for their care of the land, water, plants and animals. We stand with the Kumeyaay by recognizing ___. We commit to ___.

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What do we love/ feel thankful for about the land our school is built on?

Pair Share

Pair Share: What are we thankful about the land that our school is on?

Last lesson, we observed our chosen plants and animals on the schoolyard and decided what stage of the life cycle we were observing - birth, growth, reproduction or death.

In your groups of four, you are each going to be in charge of one of the stages of your plant or animal’s life cycle: birth, growth, reproduction or death. You will be drawing a group model of the life cycle. If you are in charge of birth, you will be drawing a picture related to the birth stage. If you’re in charge of growth, you’ll be drawing the growth stage. If you’re in charge of reproduction, you’ll draw the reproduction stage and if you’re in charge of death, you’ll draw the death stage. Once you’ve drawn your picture, you will come up with a dance move to show that stage.

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Life Cycle of a Butterfly

GROWTH: Caterpillar

Butterfly

BIRTH:

Egg

GROWTH:

Chrysalis

REPRODUCTION

DEATH

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STEP 1: Draw each stage of the life cycle (each group member is in charge of 1 stage).

STEP 2: Come up with dance moves for each stage of the life cycle.

You have 10 minutes to come up with a first draft of the life cycle of your plant or animal. You’ll each be in charge of one drawing and one dance move. What questions do we have before we start? This should be a busy work time full of talking and working together. Students will have questions and might need to do more research. They can learn from each other if another plant or animal has a similar life cycle.

Great work, scientists, now you have an additional 10 minutes in your groups to practice how you will show your life cycle dance or cheer to the group. Remember to shout out or sing out the stages you’re showing. You can perform your dance for the group or ask for group participation. What questions do we have before we get started?

We’ll form a giant circle and have a life cycle dance off in 10 minutes! Go team!

Great work, dancing scientists! As we show off the first drafts of our plant or animal’s life cycle dance, we’re going to make sure we support each other and celebrate as each group performs their first draft in the center of the circle. Let’s come up with a group cheer to celebrate each group after each group performs.

All groups perform their dances/ cheers and the whole class cheers after each one.

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What patterns do we notice in our life cycle models and dances?

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Animal Survival

Why do you think monarch butterflies migrate and hibernate in a swarm?

Our community of scientists did such great work working together in groups. By working in a group of four, we each only had to draw one stage of the life cycle instead of all four. By performing our dances together, we learned from each other’s moves and models and made our work collectively stronger. Humans are not the only animals that form groups to survive and thrive.

Today, we are going to learn more about butterflies, specifically the monarch butterfly and actually get to observe inside a hibernating and migrating swarm of monarch butterflies. After we watch this amazing clip inside a swarm of monarch butterflies, we’ll share what we notice and wonder. Are you ready to jump into a swarm of monarch butterflies? Play video: Inside a Monarch’s Swarm.

Migrate - move from one area to another with the seasons

Hibernate - spend the winter resting

Swarm - a large group of flying insects

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What do you notice and wonder about this swarm of monarch butterflies?

NOTICE	WONDER

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Some animals form groups that help members survive.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate ants and their inspiring teamwork!

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What group behavior is helping these ants survive and thrive?

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What group behavior is helping these ants survive and thrive?

Start at 2:20

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Observing ants _______________________ is evidence that some ants form groups that help members survive.

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Explain how some animals form groups that help members survive.

gaggle of geese

school of fish

swarm of bees

herd of elephants

colony of penguins

mob of meerkats

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#15 - Thinking Interdependently (Teamwork)

I can work with a team and learn from others!

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Group Work

Brainstorm ideas why your assigned animal group forms a group to survive.

Choose one group member to share

We are the ______ (gaggle of geese, school of fish, swarm of bees, herd of elephants, colony of penguins or mob of meerkats) and we form groups to _________

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Do plants form groups to help members survive, also?

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The Legend of the Three Sisters

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What do you notice and wonder about the Three Sisters Garden - the corn, beans and squash? Why do you think they help each other survive and thrive in a group?

Pair Share

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Show students the handout about the Three Sister’s Garden and the different planting methods. The Iriquois method (mound style of planting) is the one most schools would most likely be able to have room for. The first step is sprouting the corn seeds to reach about 4 inches before planting in the ground at the well of the mound. See this handout for more specific directions to go through with the students if you are able to plant a Three Sister’s Garden at your school.

Let’s sprout our corn seeds - the first of the three sisters. What do plants need to survive and thrive?

How can we help our our corn seeds in our classroom or at our school survive and thrive? Plant corn seeds with students. If they have different ideas, try planting the corn in differen places - inside and outside, in the window, in the center of the classroom, etc. Make observations about how they grow in different environments.

Great work helping our corn seeds survive and thrive, biologists! Let’s check in on our caterpillars and see how they are surviving and thriving in our classroom. Do they need any help? How are they doing? Let’s observe.

What questions do we have about our caterpillars? Teacher records questions.

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John Muir Laws: Asking Questions

(stop at 10:53)

LET’S SEE

Answer these by direct observation.

COULD IT BE?

Write down possible answers and ideas.

LET IT BE

Without evidence, science can’t answer these, but they are fun to explore.

?

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Let’s Try It! Nature Journal #3

Observe your group’s plant or animal with your group.

Write down as many QUESTIONS as you can think of

Let’s see
Could it be?
Let it be

Does your plant or animal form a group to survive and thrive?

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Celebrating Our Questions

Let’s See	Could It Be?	Let it Be

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Circle One ‘Let’s See’ Question You Can Find the Answer to Through Observations

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Question to Investigate	What We Did	What We Figured Out	Connection to Phenomenon	Questions We Have Now
Why do animals form groups to survive and thrive?	We created life cycle dances for our plants and animals. We identified what stage of the life cycle the plants and animals we observe are in. We explored why monarch butterflies migrate and hibernate in swarms. We also looked at group behaviors of ants, geese, fish, bees, elephants, penguins, meerkats and trees.		Monarch butterflies migrate and hibernate in swarms as an adaptation for survival during their growth and reproduction. They return to the habitat where they were born.

Phenomena Wall: ANCHOR: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

INVESTIGATIVE Phenomena: The Life Cycles of a butterfly, frog, chicken and red pepper

Essential Question: How can we help life survive and thrive at our school?

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Question to Investigate	What We Did	What We Figured Out	Connection to Phenomenon	Questions We Have Now
Why do animals form groups to survive and thrive?	We created life cycle dances for our plants and animals. We identified what stage of the life cycle the plants and animals we observe are in. We explored why monarch butterflies migrate and hibernate in swarms. We also looked at group behaviors of ants, geese, fish, bees, elephants, penguins, meerkats and trees.	Some animals travel in large groups for survival as a behavioral adaptation. For example, the monarch butterflies hibernate in swarms to stay warmer. Ants work as a team to be much stronger than they would be individually. Plants communicate and compliment each other.	Monarch butterflies migrate and hibernate in swarms as an adaptation for survival during their growth and reproduction. They return to the habitat where they were born.

Phenomena Wall: ANCHOR: Life Cycle of a Butterfly

INVESTIGATIVE Phenomena: The Life Cycles of a butterfly, frog, chicken and red pepper

Essential Question: How can we help life survive and thrive at our school?