Be Nice To Spiders!

Unit Portfolio PresentationAlisa Lee

Unit Summary

This unit will help children appreciate the place spiders have in the world and will lessen the fear of spiders caused by misunderstandings. Spiders are considered humankind’s friend because they help keep the insect population in check. Humans try to destroy them because we do not understand how useful they are. Many people think that all spiders are poisonous, but in general, very few spider bites will be harmful to humans.

Curriculum-Framing Questions• Essential Question

How can something so small be capable of so much?

• Unit QuestionsWhat makes people fear spiders?Do we really need spiders?

How will knowing about spiders help us appreciate them?

• Content QuestionsWhat makes a spider a spider? What do spiders eat? How do spiders grow and change? How are spiders special ?

Spiders Project

This project will help my students develop 21st century skills by:• Collaborating with peers.• Constructing and comparing graphs showing

students’ feelings about spiders-”Like or Not Like” at the beginning of the unit and at the conclusion of the unit

• Solving problems and making decisions about their misconceptions about spiders

• Communicating with others in a newsletter.

Gauging Student Needs Assessment

Purpose of the AssessmentTo gather information about what students already know and what they wonder about spiders. What I want to learn from my students?I want to find out what they already know about the Unit Questions and what they want to learn about spiders.How I have tried to promote higher-order thinking?I ask students to find relationships and draw conclusions about why people fear spiders.How the assessment information helps me and my students plan for upcoming activities in the unit?Students will keep a journal throughout the unit as a documentation of their learning. We will revisit this assessment throughout the unit for students to add new knowledge.What feedback or additional ideas I’d like?I would like help on using technology. I think I need to elicit more higher-order thinking, but I’m not sure how.

Gauging Needs Assessment

• Find ways to get my students more interested in learning science

• Learn about different kinds of technology my students and I can use

• Share ideas with other teachers

My Goals for the Course

Goals for My Students

• To learn how scientists collect and think about data

• To become more independent learners

Request for Feedback

• Different kinds of technology that will motivate my students

• Ideas for helping students take more responsibility for their own learning