Ecosystem Study

Who better to explain the process of our recent Ecosystem study than one of the students. Lindsey wrote this paragraph on the class Ecosystem Weebly site to share our learning:

 Our class has been researching about ecosystems around the world. First we each got a word that relates to ecosystems in some way. We studied what our words meant and found some examples of the word. We made a dictionary out of our words. Next, we drew our words in fancy font and colored inside of it. Then, we made a web that had ecosystem in the middle and all the other words connecting to it. Then we were each assigned an ecosystem with one or two other people and given a packet that had things like animal life, plant life, threats, interdependent relationships, conservation, and much more to research. We had to get good information from reliable databases, web sites, and books to fill out the packet. When we were done gathering information we began to write our own informational pieces about our ecosystem. We learned how to write to inform others. We used a writing rubric to help us write each paragraph and showed the expectations for emerging, developing, achieving, and extending.  After that, we edited our writing. We then typed our ecosystem writing and transferred it to this website as a way to share our learning. Next, we worked in groups to research an ecosystem in the United States. We created pages to share information about each ecosystem, threats, and ways to conserve the ecosystems. We hope you enjoy!

I loved having the opportunity to watch the students collaborate and diligently work together to create their individual Weebly pages.

The students learned how to design their pages, add text, photos, and slide shows to their ecosystem page. After a handful of sessions in the computer lab, the students had the opportunity to share the Weebly with their peers. The students did a wonderful job sharing their research and learning on the Weebly. Please be sure to check out each group's page on the site. They are very proud of their work, as they should be!

 The next steps in our Ecosystem study are as follows:

• Create a combined list of threats and ways to conserve each ecosystem 
• Write and produce Public Service Announcements about conserving ecosystems 
• Share Public Service Announcements with our peers
• Create a map of each ecosystem studied in the United States 
• Reflect on the study and share our learning through dialogue and writing