Through this curriculum unit, How Microbes Help Ecosystems, students will develop knowledge of the connections between the Science taught in the classroom and the world around them. They will also be able to use this knowledge throughout the academic and arts curriculum at Betsy Ross and as they transition into high school courses. This unit will be set up so that it can also be modified and adjusted to work for children at all grade levels and for children with specific IEP goals.
This unit will be taught to a sixth grade General Science class of about twenty to twenty five students at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet Middle School in New Haven, CT which is co-taught by a certified regular education Science teacher and a certified Special Education teacher. The students in the class have mixed abilities and experiences because it is a Magnet school. There will be between three to five students who have Special Education IEPs. About twenty five percent of the students in the school come from surrounding suburban schools. Another twenty five percent live in the surrounding neighborhood and the other fifty percent live in other parts of the city of New Haven. The sixth grade science course is a general science curriculum which covers both life sciences and earth sciences.
This unit is intended to deepen students' knowledge of biology, earth science, and ecosystems with a focus on the role of microorganisms in soil ecosystems. In this process I will create a curriculum unit that involves students in hands on projects, research and science journal writing. It is also my intention that students, through participating in the lessons and by producing written work, will be able to apply this knowledge to their participation in the annual school science fair.