ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding:Tropical rain forests are an important part of our ecosystem.
Goal(s):1. Students will know what a rain forest is and why it is an important ecosystem. 2. Students will know the animals of the rain forests. 3. Students will know the importance of protecting the rain forests.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. What is a tropical rain forest? 2. How is a tropical rain forest structured? 3. How many and what kinds of animals inhabit tropical rain forests? 4. Why are tropical rain forests important?
Objectives:1. Students will be able to research rain forest animals. 2. Students will recognize the structure of a rain forest. 3. Students will know the basics to create a PowerPoint presentation of animals of the rain forest.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?
1. Quiz: Animals of the Rain Forest; identify rain forest layers, plants and animals found in each layer, natural habitat and diet. 2. Quiz: matching definitions to key terms of unit; canopy, leaf letter, forest floor, epiphytes, emergent layer, habitat, understory, lianas
What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding?
1. Prompt: The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry is read aloud to the students. 2. Students will write in their readers response journal about losing something they have lost because it was taken away from them. 3. Debate the topic- Why rain forests are important, preservation methods that can be used to save one of the world’s most precious natural resources.
What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?
1. Animals of the Rain Forest-PowerPoint slide show presentation. This group project will include animals from all layers of the rain forest. Key elements learn through research will be included. 2. Poetry Break!-Students will create a poem written from the rain forest animal’s perspective. 3. Rain Forest Murals-Students will draw, paint, and color a mural of the layers of the rain forest.
What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?
1. Teacher observations of group activities using holistic rubric. 2. Checklist-students self-assess the PowerPoint presentation. 3. Reflection form to be completed by students about entire unit. 4. Group evaluation.