Unit Plan: Field Study – Farm

Science / Grade 4

Big Ideas

Science

  • All living things sense and respond to their environment.

Essential Questions

Students will keep considering…

  • How do living things sense and respond to their environment?
  • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
  • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants and animals?
  • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

Evaluative Criteria

N/A

Monitoring Progress

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

  • Class discussion
  • Group and pair discussions

Resources

AUDIO

TEXTS

  • Chicken Anatomy 101
  • Farm Animal Info Sheets
  • Farm Facts
  • Laminated Farm Animal Senses Info Cards

VIDEO

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. Create a plan of action to address a chosen (environmental) problem or issue (SS 4).

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

EXECUTE THE LEARNING PLAN

LEARNING EVENTS:

  • These learning events/activities are suggested activities only. 
  • In some cases the plans are not fully completed lesson plans. 
  • The teacher may choose some lessons/activities to span over several lessons. 
  • Teachers may add, revise and adapt these lessons based on the needs of their students, their personal preferences for resources, and the use of a variety of instructional techniques.

Learning events are enriched for students when teachers consider the “WHERE TO” acronym and guiding organizer by Wiggins and McTighe.

> Click here for more information on WHERETO

<h2>Where To</h2>
<table style=”height: 1175px;” border=”2″ width=”813″ cellpadding=”8″>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>W</strong>here:</td>
<td width=”212″>Where are we going in this lesson Why? What is expected of my students during and after this lesson?</td>
<td width=”378″>• Present the performance task to students early in the unit • Post essential questions; students can generate their own questions as well • Check for  misconceptions</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>H</strong>ow:</td>
<td width=”212″>How will I hook and hold student interest during this lesson?</td>
<td width=”378″>• Use a provocation as an entry point • Present students with a mystery or challenge</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>E</strong>quip:</td>
<td width=”212″>How will I equip students for expected performances? How will I make sure to teach the foundational skills so that they can understand and complete tasks?</td>
<td width=”378″>• Access understandings and experience with solid instructional practices • Consider strategies that work for divers e learners • Incorporate literacy 44 strategies</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>R</strong>ethink and Revise:</td>
<td width=”212″>How will I help students reflect, rethink and revise their ideas, writing, and tasks?</td>
<td width=”378″>• Have students rethink the big idea • Have students reflect on  their learning  to build understanding</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>E</strong>valuate:</td>
<td width=”212″>How will students self-evaluate and reflect on their learning after each lesson/task?</td>
<td width=”378″>Some ideas for self-evaluation include:
<p style=”padding-left: 30px;”>• Ticket out the door • Rubrics and checklists • Formative assessments and feedback</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>T</strong>ailor:</td>
<td width=”212″>How will I tailor learning to varied needs, interests and styles? (refer to the NVSD Adaptations Checklist).</td>
<td width=”378″>• Differentiate to your students with the product, the process and the content</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width=”67″><strong>O</strong>rganize: <strong> </strong></td>
<td width=”212″>How will I organize and sequence the learning in each lesson and transition to a new lesson?</td>
<td width=”378″>• Start with the end in mind</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan=”3″ width=”657″>Please note that the order in which teachers present this to their students is not mandated to the order of the acronym.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>
<p style=”text-align: justify;”>

The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions.

  • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
  • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
  • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
  • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

Lesson 1 - Introduction

The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions:

  • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
  • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
  • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
  • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

 

Introduction (Lesson 1)

Welcome to the teaching farm at the Outdoor School Program at the Cheakamus Centre.

There are four main components to the Farm Field Study: the introduction/lesson and three experiential learning sections for chickens, goats and pigs.

The theme of the Grade 4 Farm Field Study is “The Senses”. Encourage your students to notice their own senses as they sense and respond to the farm and the farm animal as they participate in this field study. Students will also learn about some of the sensational senses of the farm animal at the Outdoor School (chickens, pigs and goats) and how they use these senses to sense and respond to their environment.

Note: There is a set of teacher keys to access all the farm areas, which can be obtained from staff onsite at Cheakamus Centre. The main classroom for the Farm Field Study is called the “Farm Lab” and is located upstairs in the barn. In this area you will find: chalkboard and chalk; tables and a class set of chairs; instructional posters; animal sense cards; and a Farm Study binder with instructional resources. There are no washrooms at the farm. The closest washrooms are located inside Melody Hall.

On your way to the Farm:

It is a great opportunity to have your students Walk and Talk about their background knowledge about farms and farm animals. Ask students to pair up and as they walk to the farm, have them talk about: What is a farm? What role does a farm play in their community? Do they know where the closest farm is located to where they live? Share their answers as you arrive at the farm.

    Station 1 - Farm Lab

    The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions:

    • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
    • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
    • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
    • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

    Station 1. Farm Lab

    The Farm Lab classroom is a good location to begin the Farm Field Study. Here you can orient the students to the components of the farm and explain that it is a teaching farm, not a working farm. This is also a good time to do any planned lessons or activities you have prepared for your visit. For example, this is a great time to circle your students up to ask them to share their names and their favourite animal. You can ask students to identify which animals are domestic and which ones are wild. What is the difference?

    As you visit each of the animals, use the laminated farm animal sense cards to share information about the animals senses with students.

    Station 2 - Chickens

    The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions:

    • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
    • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
    • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
    • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

    Station 2. Chickens

    There are two teaching areas for the chickens. The first is the chick habitat in the “Farm Lab” upstairs in the barn. Here you will find:

    • An egg washing station and instructions
    • An egg incubator with eggs in development
    • Several instructional posters
    • A projector to candle eggs
    • A fridge and egg log for non-incubated eggs
    • An egg scale

    The second location is the hen nesting area in the barn, located downstairs in the doors called “Le Palais des Poules.”

    Start upstairs in the farm lab. Here you can explain about the development cycle of a chick using the poster on the wall for visual reference. There are usually several eggs in the incubator. They should have two dates on them. The top date is the date it was harvested from the hen area. The bottom date is 21 days from when the egg was harvested. Turn off the ceiling lights, turn on the projector beside the incubator, and hold up a more recently harvested egg up in front of the light. The egg will look fairly translucent and have little shading. Then take a few more eggs out of the incubator, each getting progressively older, and hold them up to the light so the students can see how the chick development compares between each egg. Be sure to replace the eggs with the wide round end up (air pocket!). If there are chicks in the cage, students can each hold the chick. Have the students sit in a semi-circle on the floor, so students can pass the chick gently around the circle.

    Then take the class downstairs to visit the hen nesting area and harvest some eggs. On the grass outside, go over behaviour expectations with the students. Inside the hen nesting area, students should be quiet and gentle when reaching into the hen beds. Take the students inside and explain about the lighting. Chicks usually lay eggs in the spring and summer and the lighting is left on to simulate the longer daylight hours. Students can then reach in and take some eggs. If it’s the morning field study, only take half of the eggs so there are some for the afternoon field study to use.

    Take the eggs back upstairs. The warmest egg should go in the incubator. Using the pencil on the fridge, write the current day’s date on the egg. Using the calendar on the wall, count ahead 21 days and mark that date on the egg as well. Gently place the egg in the incubator, pointy-side down and round-side up. This will ensure the developing chick has access to the air sac inside the egg.

    The other eggs should be washed and placed in the fridge. Washing instructions are printed out on the wall above the sink. To wash the eggs:

    1. Use very hot water

    2. Wash eggs individually under running water. Scrub off surface dirt using the green plastic scrubber kept beside the sink.

    3. Sanitize with bleach and water solution (instructions are located on the bucket beside the sink along with the bleach). Dip eggs in solution and let air dry in egg crates.

    4. Once dry, date eggs and place in fridge.

    Record the numbers on the chart on the fridge door.

    After you have finished with the eggs, you can go outside and feed the chickens. The feed is located downstairs in the hen nesting area. There is a bucket on top of the feed container. Fill the bucket up to the fill line on the outside of the container. This is not the chickens’ main meal for the day; it is only a snack.

    Note: If there are two groups doing Farm Field Study at the same time, they should share the amount of feed. This will prevent the chickens from being overfed throughout the day.

    When feeding the chickens, students should lay their hand out flat and let the chickens peck the feed from them. If at any points students are afraid, they can drop the feed and walk away. If children are nervous, they can try feeding the hens first, as they are usually more gentle. When you are finished, direct the chickens back into the pen where they came from.

    Station 3 - Goats

    The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions:

    • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
    • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
    • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
    • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

    Station 3. Goats

    The goat section of the barn is labelled “La Grange”.  Immediately inside the door are some supplies for use for your activity:

    • Goat feed and measuring bucket
    • Brushes (6) in basket
    • Stethoscope (1)

    Start by taking the students into the goat barn and showing them the facilities.  The feed container is located inside the door on the left-hand side.  Fill the bucket up to the fill line on the outside of the container.  This is not the goat’s main meal for the day; it is only a snack.

    Note: If there are two groups doing Farm Field Study at the same time, they should share the amount of feed.  This will prevent the goats from being overfed throughout the day.

    The goats are extremely enthusiastic to receive the feed.   To help keep things manageable, don’t take the feed bucket into the goat pens.  Hand out the feed to the students at La Grange and put the bucket back on top of the feed barrel before heading over to the field.  Instruct students to cover the feed with their hands as the approach the gate, then walk directly into middle of the field before feeding the goats.  If there is a bottleneck at the gate, the goats will crowd the students and some may leave the pen.  When in the goat pen, students should remain standing at all times.

    When feeding the goats, students should lay their hand out flat and let the goats take the feed from them.  If at any points students are afraid, they can drop the feed and walk in the opposite direction of the goat.  The goat’s interest will be with the feed.

    Students can also groom the goats using the brushes in the basket. There is also a stethoscope in the basket.   One at a time, students can place it on the side of a goat and try to hear a baby goat’s heartbeat inside.  Both of these are good activities for students who may be afraid to feed the goats but still want to interact inside the pen.

    Wrap-up and Closing Circle

    The Learning Events should always be prefaced by focusing on the essential questions:

    • How do living things sense, respond, and adapt to stimuli in their environment?
    • What does using my senses in nature look, sound, feel, taste and smell like?
    • How do my senses compare to the senses of other plants & animals?
    • How is sensing and responding related to interdependence within ecosystems?

    Wrap-up

    Once you have visited all the stations at the farm, go back upstairs to the Farm Lab and have students wash their hands.  There are two sinks. Students can place used paper towels in the compost bin in the classroom.

    Note: You can vary the order of the stations as you see fit.

    Closing Circle question options:

    1. What is a farm?

    2. How did I notice (observe) the senses of the farm animals?

    3. What did I notice (observe) in this field study?

    4. How do goats, pigs and chickens sense and respond to their environment?

    5. What animal sense surprised you the most?

    6. What questions do I still have about these animals that live in the farm?

    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.