Organisms
Lesson 16
Taking a Look at Ourselves
Students APPLY what they have learned about organisms to a new organism–themselves. They think about ways humans are like plants and animals and organize their ideas with a graphic organizer.
3. Lesson set up and Management
SYSTEMS GLE 1.1.6 Understand characteristics of living organisms: identify observable characteristics of living organisms and observe and describe characteristics of living organisms.
SYSTEMS GLE 1.3.8 Know that most living things need food, water, and air: observe and record that most living things need food, water, and air and observe and record or demonstrate that plants need light.
INQUIRY GLE 2.1.1 Understand how to ask a question about objects, organisms and events in the environment: Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events based on observations of the natural world.
- Students understand that humans are organisms by observing and describing humans.
- Students understand that humans are organisms by comparing humans to other animals and plants.
- Students write explanations for what they have observed about humans and other organisms using words and drawings.
3. Lesson set up and Management
Materials:
- Copy the list of ways animals and plants are alike from earlier lesson discussions onto the blackline master "Ways Animals and Plants are Alike," writing one way per section. Then copy enough of these filled in masters for each group to have to manipulate and make copies of the filled in blackline master for groups with four students in each group.
- Copy the Venn diagram from page 190 or box & T-chart for each group of four.
Student Management:
- In this procedure, students go through the process of sorting the ways plants and animals are alike in terms of how those ways apply to humans. Have each student THINK silently for a minute the work with their groups to organize their thinking by manipulating the "Ways Plants are Alike" cards, and then share the group results with the class when they have completed the task.
- Place students in groups with classmates that they haven't worked with throughout the unit. This will give the teacher a new perspective as they observe student discussion and will give students other ideas they may not have considered.
- Some possible responses are listed in the Organisms Teacher's Guide to give teachers an idea of the direction the discussion should take. These include
- Ways People are similar to Plants and Animals
- We are living.
- We need food, water, air and living space.
- We grow.
- We need a place to live.
- We can die.
- Ways People are Different from Plants and Animals
- We look different (body structure for example).
- We wear clothes.
- We talk.
- We are very intelligent.
- Ways People are similar to Plants and Animals
- Guide students to consider more similarities and differences than just appearance. Elicit responses to indicate thinking about needs, growth and life cycle, movement, etc.
- This lesson is a culminating assessment opportunity. Consider class discussions, science notebook observations and drawings, and group products to evaluate:
- How well students were able to apply their experiences in the unit to humans.
- Whether students show growth in their ability to make comparisons among different organisms.
- If students could use a Venn diagram or box & T-chart to document similarities and differences.
- How well students can explain why humans are like other organisms.
- There are other assessment options for this unit, including a post unit assessment on pages 193-199 in the Organisms Teacher's Guide.
Writing Support:
- Try providing a prompt for students rather than the "fill in the blank" format suggested in the bulleted items. The prompt could be: Tell two ways that you are like a plant and two ways that you are like another animal.
Math Support:
- Have student explore the variety of combinations of hair color and eye color. Have them draw and color one hair color on each of three index size cards (one brown, one yellow/blonde, one black). Then have them draw eyes of different colors on each of three index size cards (one blue, one brown, one green). Have them manipulate the cards with partners to find out how many possible combinations of eye color and hair color there can be.