Unit Plan: Field Study – Farm

Science / Grade 6

Big Ideas
  • Multi-cellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment (Science 6).

CONCEPTS

  • Systems
  • Organism
  • Interdependence
  • Survival
  • Adaptation
  • Reproduction
  • Interactions
  • Environment
  • Stewardship
Essential Questions

Students will keep considering…

  • What is a living organism?
  • What do all organisms need for survival?
  • What adaptations help the organism survive in its environment?
  • What interactions do you observe –between organisms, and between the organism and environment?
  • How am I connected to the organism(s) I’ve experienced during field studies?
  • What does it mean to be a steward of the environment?
Evaluative Criteria
  • Play Yes/No/Depends, a game of ethics
  • Have a final debrief
Monitoring Progress

Teacher will monitor progress:
Teachers can monitor progress through ongoing formative assessment including but not limited to:

  • Walk and Talk
  • Mind-mapping
  • I notice-I wonder
  • It reminds me of…
Reflection

How will teachers and their students reflect on and evaluate the completed project?

Teacher Reflection

  • What aspects of the field study went well?
  • What did students struggle with?
  • What did you struggle with?
  • What would you add/revise the next time you taught this field study?
  • What connections can I make back to my school learning community? (e.g. Examine human body systems. Compare and contrast with organisms investigated during ODS Program)

Stage 1 – Desired Results

Big Ideas
  • Multi-cellular organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment (Science 6)

CONCEPTS

  • Systems
  • Organism
  • Interdependence
  • Survival
  • Adaptation
  • Reproduction
  • Interactions
  • Environment
  • Stewardship
Transfer Goals

Students will be able to independently use their learning to…

  • Understand an organism using a systems perspective

  • Compare and contrast how a variety organisms rely on internal systems to survive, reproduce, and interact with their environment

  • Use systems thinking to understand the interconnectedness of all living things

  • Connect to place and understand their role and responsibility as stewards of the environment

  • Develop a plan of action to address a selected problem or issue

 

Meaning

UNIT UNDERSTANDINGS:

Students will understand that…

  • A living organism is made up of many interdependent body systems that interact to sustain life.
  • All organisms require food, water, and shelter for survival.
  • All organisms also need energy, which can be traced back through food chains to plants and sun.
  • All organisms have predictable life cycles.
  • Organisms reproduce in a variety of ways including: sexual and asexual reproduction.
  • Organisms have adaptations to help them survive in particular habitats.
  • Adaptations can be visible, invisible (physiological), or behavioural.
  • Organisms interact with each other in a variety of ways including: competition, predator-prey, symbiotic, and parasitic relationships.
  • Organisms also interact with the surrounding environment (abiotic factors) including: energy, water, air and soil.
  • All organisms are connected, including us.
  • My actions (both positive and negative) impact the organism’s ability to survive.

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

Students will keep considering…

  • What is a living organism?
  • What do all organisms need for survival?
  • What adaptations help the organism survive in its environment?
  • What interactions do you observe –between organisms, and between the organism and environment?
  • How am I connected to the organism(s) I’ve experienced during field studies?
  • What does it mean to be a steward of the environment?

> Click here to learn more about Essential Questions

 

 

Acquisition

CURRICULAR COMPETENCIES

Students will be skilled at…

  • Experience and interpret the local environment (Science 6)
  • Demonstrate curiosity about the natural world (Science 6)
  • Make observations in familiar or unfamiliar contexts (Science 6)
  • Make ethical judgments about events, decisions, and actions that consider the conditions of a particular time and place and asses appropriate ways to respond (ethical judgment) (Social Studies 6)

 

CONTENT

Students will know…

  • Goats, chickens, ducks and pigs have internal systems that function together to sustain life

  • Goats, chickens, ducks and pigs are warm-blooded (circulatory system) & have adaptations to temperature of surrounding H20

  • Goats, chickens, ducks and pigs have internal fertilization (reproductive system)

 

CORE COMPETENCIES

Which Core Competencies will be integrated into the unit? 

Positive Personal & Cultural Identity

  • Contributing to community and caring for the environment

Communication

  • Contributing to community and caring for the environment

Critical Thinking

  • Contributing to community and caring for the environment

 

First People's Principles of Learning

The unit will make connections with:

How does the field study reflect Cheakamus Centre Principles (Place, Community, Inquiry, Personal Connections, and First Peoples’ Perspectives)?

  • Teaching in and Learning about Place: students will be at a working farm while they study about systems related to farms and farm animals
  • Engaging Students with Nature-based Inquiry: students will ask and answer questions such as, how is the organism is a system; how do the animals interact; and how do we interact with animals?
  • Making personal connections: students will learn about and experience where there food and food byproducts come from

The following resources are made available through the British Columbia Ministry of Education. For more information, please visit BC’s New Curriculum.

Big Ideas

The Big Ideas consist of generalizations and principles and the key concepts important in an area of learning. The Big Ideas represent what students will understand at the completion of the curriculum for their grade. They are intended to endure beyond a single grade and contribute to future understanding.


Visit the Ministry of Education for more information

Core Competencies

orangecommunicationCommunications Competency

The set of abilities that students use to impart and exchange information, experiences and ideas, to explore the world around them, and to understand and effectively engage in the use of digital media

bluethinkingThinking Competency

The knowledge, skills and processes we associate with intellectual development

greensocialSocial Competency

The set of abilities that relate to students’ identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society


Visit the Ministry of Education for more information

Curricular Competencies & Content

Curricular Competencies are the skills, strategies, and processes that students develop over time. They reflect the “Do” in the Know-Do-Understand model of curriculum. The Curricular Competencies are built on the thinking, communicating, and personal and social competencies relevant to disciplines that make up an area of learning.


Visit the Ministry of Education for more information

Additional Resources

First People's Principles of Learning
To read more about First People’s Principles of Learning, please click here.

For classroom resources, please visit the First Nations Education Steering Committee.