Information+Literacy

 **__ Meteorology Unit Plan Update 2 __** **Grade Level:** 6th **SOL Science Objectives:** 6.1 a-k, 6.3 a-e, 6.5 d, 6.6 a-6 **Technology Competencies:** C/T 6-8.4, C/T 6-8.5, C/T 6-8.6, C/T 6-8.7, C/T 6-8.8, C/T 6-8.9 - Tools stations – move from station to station, drawing, describing tools job, & naming it  ·   Internet ·  PowerPoint ·  Wiki book ·  Excel ·  Word **__Adaptations__** ·  One on one assistance if needed ·  Visual aides ·  Group work (mixed ability) ·  Printed notes available
 * Teaching Activities: **
 * 1) PowerPoint Lecture – Basic terminology
 * 1) Using the tools Lab – measure temperature, air pressure, humidity, wind speed & direction
 * 2) Web quest – Scholastic’s Weather Detective
 * 3) Interactive Computer Activity – Scholastic’s Weather Maker
 * 4) Mapping fronts – use NOAA and weather channel data to map fronts as the move across the country
 * 5) You’re the weather man activity – Scholastic Website
 * 6) Cloud lecture
 * 7) Cloud activity – assemble cloud spotter wheel, than go outside and record what you see
 * 8) Group project – each group given different weather phenomena to research
 * 9) Conditions/cause
 * 10) Precipitation
 * 11) #/yr
 * 12) damage/effects
 * 13) Jigsaw compare and contrast – group members divided up and teach new group members what they learned while filling in a compare and contrast chart
 * 14) Group from #9 creates a wiki page as part of our class meteorology wiki book on there weather phenomena
 * 15) Test – choose one of the following: write/draw cloud formation, draw & name weather tools, name & describe 3 weather phenomena
 * 16) Individual Unit Project – (start at beginning of unit, may last longer than unit) – Choose a weather related topic ( I will have a list of ideas) – decide if researching or experimenting – must have a write up, which would vary depending on what you do
 * __ Technology Tools needed: __**

This unit is basically all inquiry based, minus a couple of lecture sections. It is very hands on and interactive. Students will use weather tools to calculate temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction. They will all use Scholastics Weather Watch to discover how natural events and human activities influence weather and also to investigate how temperature, pressure, and humidity change weather conditions. The students will also observe and draw what they see. There will be a group research project where the students will investigate weather phenomena and then we’ll use the jigsaw method to compare and contrast weather phenomena with their classmates. The big activity will be an individual long term project. The students will have a wide choice of topics and then they will research or experiment, or do both and then present their findings in some method to the class. Resources: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/ http://www.education.noaa.gov/tweather.html http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/met_calc.html
 * __ Weather Unit Plan Update __**

__** INQUIRY MODEL AND LEVEL ACTIVITY **__ ** Science NetLinks: Spaceship Earth Lesson ** [|**http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?DocID=295**] **__Question:__ The Scenario** A spaceship and its crew have been accidentally transported to a far galaxy, beyond radio communication. Your mission is to design and mount a rescue. Your rescue ship will be in space for at least 20 years, or until you graduate from high school. You will not have the ability to carry all of the consumable things that you will need with you (i.e., food, water, etc.). You can assume that NASA engineers have developed an on-board energy and propulsion system that will take you as far as you need to go–and get you home again, with lights and heating/cooling all the way. You can assume that you have artificial gravity and protection from harmful radiation. You can also assume that re-supply is not going to be possible: you must bring everything with you (see Cardinal Rules below). You (the class) are the crew.

Cardinal Rules for Rescue Mission Spaceship Planning: **What do human beings really need? And what do they want?** __ Understanding: __ This lesson would be used to wrap up a unit covering the Earth as a system. The students would understand what that means already and also understand recycling and the greenhouse process. They will have also built shadow boxes representing various areas of the spaceship. __ Experimenting: (although experimenting could be deadly in this case!) __ Each student will be given several worksheets where they have to list what human inputs and outputs, plant inputs and outputs, animal inputs and outputs, and water sources and uses. The next step would be then to tie all these together. __Solving & Summarizing:__ The Naming Ceremony A twenty-year mission in a custom-built spacecraft deserves a little ceremony. To celebrate the conclusion of the design and construction phase, you might have a little naming ceremony for the spaceship. We like the name "Spaceship Earth" for obvious reasons. The class may decide on something that sounds more spacey, like "Galactic Super Cruiser," or racy, like "Cosmos Express." It doesn't really matter, but make sure the cookies and punch are tasty!
 * Nothing goes in. Nothing goes out.
 * Every output must be an input.
 * Every input must come from an output.
 * This is the point at which you can ask them to draw parallels between their self-sufficient spaceship and earth. Try to bring them to suggest the following points: **
 * Life support is complicated.
 * In order to work properly, everything must be interconnected.
 * Every output must be an input to something else. Otherwise, the material that makes up the output simply piles up, becomes a pollutant, and may become a hazard. Also, you run out of inputs!
 * The earth is a closed system, just like the spaceship.

Bring closure to this lesson and assess student understanding with the following questions: > (Hint: Think about intangibles such as social interaction, forms of expression, diversity in experience. Also consider spices, fragrances, clothing, exercise facilities, medical facilities and band-aids, music, libraries, and maybe pets.) __ Take Technology into your hands:  __ ** __ Show off your work:  __ **__Inquiry Level__ ** __ To make this a:  __ //Structured Inquiry (1)-// We could break the class into groups. Then give each group a box of supplies. Their task would be to experiment with all items and then make a flow chart for each item. The flow chart would start with the item as the input and then finish with the item’s outputs and where they go once they’re “trashed”. //Open Inquiry (3)-// The students would be given a topic such as “Earth as a system”, they would them formulate their own questions/problems and complete the work needed to resolve their issues. Of course there would be teacher guidance through this whole process. As the inquiry level decreases (0-1) the students do not have to expand their brain as much. They can take the general knowledge they have to solve the problem. However, when the inquiry level gets higher the students must begin to think beyond what they already know. They will have to take their background knowledge and make connections with it, additional research might be needed to solve the problem. These higher levels allow students to “show off” their knowledge and creativity. http://edweb.sdsu.edu/wip/four_levels.htm http://thinkfinity.org/EducatorHome.aspx [|http://science.NASA.gov] **
 * Are there any human needs that are NOT met by the spaceship life-support system?
 * Would you like to serve on the mission? Why or why not?
 * Students can explore the NASA website to see what life is really like in space. They can also put a presentation together about this whole process that also explains what their shadow box represents.
 * We could show their presentation and shadow boxes of in a school display case, on a PTC night, and even post pictures onto a website. The class would decide what they wanted to do with their work.
 * This is a guided (2) inquiry lesson. The students are given a problem (scenario) and then given some ways to go about it, then left to figure out how to solve the problem. The teacher is there to give support or deeper understanding when needed.
 * //Confirmation Inquiry (0)//- We could give them a predetermined list and have them circle what should go on the spaceship and what shouldn’t. There would be definite right and wrong answers. The students would have to use their background knowledge to figure it out.

Information Literacy Teaching Models http://www.virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/models.htm

My Information Literacy Teaching Model

The model I came up with is based on all three models in the above chart. Since I would be in a science classroom, there would be a lot of hands on thinking and learning. Here's what I got:

Q : question, create a question on a topic U : understand, become an expert on the topic by completing research E : experiment, come up with an experiment that will answer your question S : summarize and solve, summarize your results by analyzing what you saw and give some suggestions of how to solve the problem T : take technology into your own hands, use technology programs available to create a "presentation" of your findings S : show off, show off your work (how this would be done would be decided by the teacher)

Information literacy is a combination of digital, information, computer, computer technology, and media literacy. If one has mastered each of these areas, they should be able to efficiently and effectively find information related to their questions, analyze the information they find, and then use that information accurately and critically. Being information literate will make one competitive and successful in the world. **
 * __Information Literacy Defined__



In the classroom, we can use sources like electronic books, audio books, word processing programs, internet communication, search engines, etc., to help our students become information literate. Also, in order keep educator’s information literate and up-to-date on what tools are out there to help in the classroom, schools MUST have ongoing professional development. Technology is constantly changing, so in order to be competitive in today’s world, we must be literate in all topics, which means we have to keep learning. Learning never ends in the competitive technological world!

//Sources://** http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/informationpower/InformationLiteracyStandards_final.pdf http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/reading/li300.htm