Launching Environmental Changes

I launched the Environmental Changes workshop yesterday.  Students came to the carpet with their science journals and started this entry

Day 1: Everglades read aloud (10/25/10)
Learning Point: Impact of changes in the evironement to plants and animals.

I then had students do a 30 second jot of any animals or plants they thought lived in the Everglades.  I was surprised that in each class there were at least three students who said they didn't know what the Everglades were.  After I displayed a map of Florida highlighting the Everglades, they seemed to know what I was talking about.  They paired and shared this jot and we made a collaborative list.

Jot: Animals you think live in the Everglades
alligators, cranes, crabs, snakes, lots of different birds, etc.

I then had them make a triple T-chart with the headings: Animals, Environment, Changes.  I gave them directions to record any animals, environments (habitats), and changes they encountered in the read aloud.  After the read aloud, they did another pair share, and collaborative list.  I was hoping they would be more specific in this list and my hopes were met. 

Triple T-Chart:
Animals: panthers, racoons, alligators, herons, anihingas, lizards, various types of fish, water moccasins, etc.
Plants: orchids, sawgrass, sawgrass islands, mudflats, river, Lake Okeechobee, etc.
Changes: settlement by man, over hunting of animals, overharvest of orchids, pollution from fertilizers and pesticides, draining, etc.

They enjoyed the activity and seemed very engaged if not thinking critically.  Today, in our spare time because of several school functions planned for the day, they will create concept maps for what they know about how animals and plants are impacted by changes in their environment.  They will do this in groups.  They table teams are made by Gardner's multiple intelligence levels.  More later and pics to follow!