Nicholas R. Perrone
Lesson Details
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Grade: 7
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Time/Duration: 45min./1 Day
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Curriculum Focus: Technology / Science
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Topic: Bald Eagle eye sight & resolving power
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Lesson Summary
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Prior to this lesson, students would have learned about the physical structure of the eagle eye in comparison to the human eye.
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Objectives: "Students Will Be Able To…" (SWBAT)
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SWBAT use technology tools to enhance learning
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SWBAT use a spreadsheet or online graphing program to analyze student data
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Materials/Preparation
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Eye chart website (similar to one from a doctor's office; search "eye chart" in a search engine website)
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Measuring tape, step meter, or meter stick
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Desktop computer w/ desktop publishing program for each student
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Sign with four different sized objects or words in each of the four corners of the paper (the paper should be sectioned off into four equal areas); pictures on paper should be different lengths from 1 to 4 inches
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Blank papers (one for each student) folded into four equal sections - students will use these to identify what they see from a distance
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Measure out (or have a small student team do this) a series of short lines or markers extending every 10 feet from a wall or fence until approximately 100 feet has been covered
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Motivation/Engagement
Read the following anecdote: Imagine you are a salmon swimming peacefully up an Alaskan river. You struggle up waterfalls, dodge the heavy footsteps of grizzly bears, and even manage to slip through the nets set out by local fishermen. Just when you think your worries are over, you are grabbed right out of the water and pulled high up into the air. As you gasp for your last few breaths you wonder where this thing came from; after all, you were looking out for all your predators, right?
Wrong; no matter how alert you are as a fish, you are no match for the keen abilities of one of the most efficient predators around: the eagle.
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Hold up the eye exam chart and ask for a volunteer to do a mock-exam: cover up one eye, read as many letters as possible.
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Post the eye chart webpage you located and allow them to navigate to it. Have student pairs stand away from the computer screens to do vision tests.
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Ask, "What if you were an eagle, how would your eyesight allow you to see differently?"
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Instructional Input/Explanation
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Begin first journal activity by opening up a word processing program and typing out the answer
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Model how to log onto Britannica Online Encyclopedia; give students time to remind each other about eagles and their amazing ability of sight
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Guided Practice/Exploration
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Take the class outside, far away from the posted sign
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Instruct the students to begin walking toward the sign until they know they can identify one or more areas on the sign - this is called their resolving power, the first point at which one can identify an object visually. When students stop, they should draw what they see, write what they read, and note the approximate distance from the poster where they identified the area.
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Circle up the class to review distances students were to identify the various pictures and words. Using a computer spreadsheet program, have students input the distances into their computers. Graph out the various distances for each object to see graphically which object was easier or more difficult to see.
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Explain how far an eagle could have been from the same poster to identify the objects (to calculate: multiply the average distance from the class by 8 since eagles can see approximately 8 times as far). Time permitting, graph the eagle results of the same information and compare with the student results.
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Conduct a class discussion about the eagle's amazing ability to see
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Closure/Conclusion
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Students will state one thing they would do with eyesight as strong as an eagle's.
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Extension/Enhancement
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The next lesson could allow students to determine which eye is their dominant eye and go into detail about peripheral vision.
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