Francine C. Coss
With the conclusion of the On the Farm theme, the children will begin their study of wild animals. The food chain concept covered in our study of farm animals
will be further expanded to include animals eating plants, animals eating animals and humans eating animals. The wildlife of the surrounding community will be studied first with the introduction of rodents and backyard birds. The expansion will be natural as the food chain is expanded to encompass more and more wild life. Environment will be a factor to be added to the food chain study emphasizing the impact of environmental change on animal and plant life. The rainforest will be studied and trips to the Peabody Museum and the Beardsley Zoo will be taken to enhance the children’s understanding of area wild life and rainforests.
As each animal is introduced into the community wild life study or into the rainforest wild life study, a HyperStudio¨ card will be created (See Item 3). Images of the animal will be scanned using a color scanner in the classroom or a digital photo will be taken of the animal at the Peabody Museum or at the Beardsley Zoo using an Apple¨QuickTake 150 camera during the two class trips. The HyperStudio¨ card will contain a picture or photograph of the animal, a written description of the animal and a link to a food chain card in the same stack. As each new animal card is added to the stack it will be linked to other animals and food chains to further illustrate the complexities of plant life, animal life and the environment. The stack will be used for reference by the students independently. The stack will also be shared with other classrooms studying plants, animals and the environment.
The culminating project for our Animals Animals theme will be the creation of several interconnected food chains for display in the school’s main corridor. The food chains will feature photographs, scanned images, digital images and child-created images of the various animals, plants and foods studied during the wild animal theme. Information previously gathered will be included in the large food chain display. The HyperStudio¨ project will be copied to a floppy disk, printed into a book and copied onto a video cassette tape. The disk, book, and video will be placed in the school library/resource area for use by other classes.
(figure available in printed form)
Unit III: Sample Lesson Plan
HyperStudio¨ Wild Animal Project
Objective:
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To create a HyperStudio Stack containing images, facts and other materials related to class-studied animals.
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Materials:
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HyperStudio Software
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Computer with Built-In Microphone and AV card
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Digital Camera and/or Scanner
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Digital Camera/Scanner Software
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Color Photographs of a variety of wild animals (for use with scanner)
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Color Drawings of a variety of wild animals (for use with scanner)
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Digital images of wild animals (taken during zoo/museum field trip)
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Fact books and class-made fact charts/diagrams from previous lessons
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Preparation:
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Using a scanner, scan each animal photograph and drawing.
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Reduce each image to 2” wide by 2” high (approximately), cropping if necessary.
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Save reduced image, name each image for the name of the animal scanned.
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Using a digital camera, reduce and crop each animal photo.
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Save each digital image and name each image for the name of the animal displayed.
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Create a HyperStudio¨ Stack containing a card for each scanned/digitally photographed animal image. Each card should display facts and links to other cards/stacks.
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Place each scanned/digitally photographed image on its respective card in the stack.
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Using the computer’s built-in microphone, record students reading the facts, etc. as they appear on each card. Follow the HyperStudio¨ instructions for creating a button with sound. *Note:This stack can be accessed over and over again for reference purposes. Copies of the stack can be placed on floppy disks and distributed to the students for home use. If a student does not have access to a computer at home, a videotape can be recorded of the stack and its various links for viewing on a VCR. If a student does not have access to a VCR, the stack and its links can be printed on regular copy paper and bound for home use.
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Also, stacks can be used year after year and are easily edited as needs change.
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Stacks can also be locked to avoid alteration when used by students or other classes/schools. See HyperStudio¨ instructions for locking stack.
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