The Life Cycle of a ButterflyUBD unit to accompany the video podcastBy Sarah Wiggins

Understanding by Design – Stage 1 Desired Results

Grade/Subject: Second Grade/ScienceTitle:

Life Cycle of a ButterflyLength of Time - Unit:

1 – 2 days

Summary of the Unit:

Students will learn the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle through the use of a video podcast.

StandardsNumber Title of Content StandardS2L1 Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.

Understandings:Students will understand or know how to……[Learning outcomes]

Essential Questions:Unit concepts that reside at the heart of the subject. Ex. What was the position of the characters in this story?

The vocabulary for the butterfly’s life cycle.

Identify the stages and the order of the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle.

What is a life cycle?

What are the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle?

Knowledge:Students will need to know:

Skills:Students will need to do:

That living things have a life cycle.

Within the life cycle there are different stages of development.

Different animals, insects, and plants have different life cycles.

Be able to utilize a technology video podcast in order to complete the lesson.

Identify what they know, want to know, and learn from the lesson.

Complete the activities to study the stages of the life cycle.

Independently identify and label all 4 stages of the butterfly’s life cycle.

Understanding by Design – Stage 2 - Evidence of Learning

Performance TaskTitle of Content Standard:GOALStudents will be able to identify the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. ROLEStudents will listen to the video podcast Life Cycle of a Butterfly and follow the directions given. Throughout the video, students will complete formative assessments to help build knowledge about the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle.

AUDIENCESecond GradeSITUATIONStudents will listen to the video podcast and follow along with the narrator to complete the tasks.

PRODUCT, PERFORMANCE AND PURPOSEStudents will understand the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle so that they can better understand life cycles of all things, and realize that a butterfly’s life cycle is an example of metamorphoses. STANDARDS AND CRITERIA Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms.

a. Determine the sequence of the life cycle of common animals in your area: a mammal such as a cat or dog or classroom pet, a bird such as a chicken, an amphibian such as a frog, and an insect such as a butterfly.

Other Evidence(e.g., tests, quizzes, prompts, work samples, observations)

- Students will write in their journal a response to literature that uses inferential thinking to begin thinking about butterflies.

- Students will create study cards that label the stages and use the correct vocabulary words.

- A summative assessment in which students will label the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle will be given at the close of the lesson.

Self-AssessmentStudent Self-Assessment and ReflectionStudents will complete a KWL chart as they progress through the lesson to identify what they are learning.

Understanding by Design – Stage 3 – Instructional Strategies

WHERE IS IT GOING? Students will be guided through a lesson using a video podcast that explains the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle. They will learn the correct terminology and be able to identify the stages.

HOOK THE STUDENTS. The students will be “hooked” by watching the video and seeing a series of video clips that show animals and their young to realize that everything grows and has a life cycle. The video will lead to a butterfly.

EXPLORE AND EQUIP The students will listen to a read aloud that takes them through a butterfly’s life through literature and they will reflect on a statement from the book. This will help them to begin to question how butterflies are “Waiting for Wings”.

Throughout the video the students will learn the vocabulary and complete activities that help them apply the concepts.

RETHINK AND REVISE After creating vocabulary cards and studying the stages, the students will watch a time lapsed video that actually shows the stages of a butterfly from larva to adult butterfly.

EXHIBIT AND EVALUTE Throughout the lesson the students will have their journal and the opportunity to write down what they are learning. Because this is done regularly in the classroom, the students know how to use the journals.

TAILOR TO STUDENTS This assignment appeals to students simply by using the technology. Because the narrator reads directly from the pictures the slower learners are able to connect words to print.

Lesson Plans: Assign students to listen to the podcast and work at their own pace. This can be

individually suited for a student to complete in their own schedule, or scheduled for them. The podcast would need 2 science class periods to complete, but the pace is individual for each student.

Students will pause the podcast and complete the activities.o Activity #1: Create a KWL chart. Use classroom journals to create a

KWL chart. If completing this as a class, discuss their prior knowledge. If using it independently, have students show their journal to get stamped for completion and teacher look over.

o Activity #2: Listen to story Waiting for Wings and write a response to literature.

o Activity #4: Students will fill in and color study cards. These cards can be used later as review prior to assessment or placed in class library to play as a memory game.

o Activity #5: Review the handout that shows the stages of the life cycle. Students can color this to extend the assignment and study this for the summative assessment.

o Activity #6: After students have completed the podcast direct them to revisit their KWL chart to complete it for information learned.

o Summative Assessment: Once students have reviewed the material assign the summative assessment to draw and label the chart correctly… Provide a word bank to differentiate instruction for Spec. Ed. and ESOL students.

Worksheets and Assessments for students:

Practice Cards

Review Worksheet

Summative Assessment

Extra Activity for Independent work

References

Lesson plans adopted from the Understanding by Design model:Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design, (2nd edition) Alexandria, VA:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. ISBN 1-4166-0035-3.

Video Podcast create by Sarah Wiggins: acknowledgements are made at end of video.

Educational standards from Georgia Performance Standards at http://www.GeorgiaStandards.org