Endangered Manatees

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Central Focus/Big Idea: To what big idea/unifying science concept does your idea align?
Think about how you would teach this standard in multiple lessons- how would it build?
Subject of this lesson: Science, Ecosystems
Grade Level: Fourth Grade
NC Essential Standard(s): 4.L.1 understand the effects of environmental changes, adaptations,
and behaviors that enable animals to survive in changing habitats.
Next Generation Science Standard(s):
4ESS32.
Constructingexplanationsanddesigningsolutionsin35buildsonK2experiencesand
progressestotheuseofevidenceinconstructingexplanationsthatspecifyvariablesthatdescribe
andpredictphenomenaandindesigningmultiplesolutionstodesignproblems.
21st Century Skills: Collaboration: The students are working with a partner to come up with
adaptations, and work on the assignment. Information Literacy: The students have to research
about the subject before they complete the assignment.
Academic Language Demand
I chose explain because the students are required to explain the reasoning behind why
their adaptation with help save the manatees.
Analyze

Argue

Categorize

Interpret

Predict

Question

Compare/contras
t
Retell

Describe

Explain

Summarize

Scientific Vocabulary: Endangered and Adaptations

Instructional Objective: The students are going to learn what endangered means. The students
are going to learn about a specific animal called the Manatee. They are going to learn why the
Manatee is endangered. The students are also going to learn about adaptations, and how these
adaptations could help save the Manatee or other endangered animals. The students are going to
know all of this information by the end of the lesson. During the formative assessment the
students will be able to answer why the Manatees are endangered, and what an adaptation could
be. The students will show mastery from the summative assessment when they write 4-6
sentences about the adaptation they came up with, and they show a picture of the manatee and
the adaptation they wrote about, or they receive a 90% of the assessment.

Prior Knowledge (student): The students should be able to talk about to briefly talk about what
they know endangered means in their own words. Some of the students may even be able to
name an endangered animal.
Content Knowledge (teacher): The teacher will need to know what endangered means, and why
the manatee is endangered. They will also need to know what an adaptation is.
For example:
Manatees are endangered mostly because of humans. They are endangered from eating trash,
habitat destruction, and watercraft strikes. Manatees also lack insulating blubber to keep them
warm. An adaptation for the lack of insulating blubber would be a sweater or jacket the Manatee
can wear to keep it warm during the cold (these are the type of adaptations we are looking for the
students to come up with).
Accommodations for special needs (individual and/or small group):
Ranked by ability level (Red/ lower group- Yellow/higher group)
Red: The directions will be printed out for each student, and there will be a teacher assistant in
the room during their activity.
Blue: The directions will be left on the Smart Board for the students to refer to.
Yellow: The directions will be left on the Smart Board for the students to refer to.
Materials and Technology requirements:
Smart Board
Lined paper (15) (Students are working in pairs)
White paper (15)
Crayons, markers, colored pencils (enough for 15 pairs)
Chrome Books (enough for 15 pairs)
Total Estimated Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Source of lesson: Help from fourth grade teacher
Safety considerations: Teacher will have the Chrome Books, and supplies on the students table
or passed out so that the students are not rushing around the classroom.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5 Es. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. If you will be relying on technology (e.g., a YouTube
video), describe your back up plan thoroughly. Imagine your most novice colleague needing to
teach from your plan. Dont just answer the questions. Additionally, I expect you to include
possible questions you could ask for each section. This needs to include higher-order questions.
Engage: The teacher will start out with the Power Point and ask the students what they already
know about Manatees. The teacher will have the students write down what they know in their
Science notebooks. The teacher will then use the beach ball as a talking stick and ask the
students to pass the ball around the room, and whoever has the ball can say one thing they know
about Manatees. After a few students talk the teacher will ask, Did you learn anything new from
your classmates? Why do you think Manatees are dying? (This is a question just to think about
for now).
Explore: The teacher will then show a short video to the students about Manatees, and also
about why Manatees are endangered. After the video the teacher will ask the students What did
you learn from the video? Was there information in the video that you already knew Do you
have an idea of what endangered means by watching the video? The teacher will then have the
students write in their Science notebooks what they learned about Manatees from either their
peers or from the video.

Explanation: The teacher will place the students into pairs. Each pair of students will have a
Chrome book. The students will use prior research knowledge to research with their partner
anything they want to know about Manatees, or why Manatees are endangered. The teacher will
ask the students to write down in their science notebooks any information they think in important
about the manatees. The teacher should be walking around the class asking students questions.
What is one reason Manatees are endangered? What does endangered mean? What new fact
do you know about Manatees in general? If the student does not have an answer to a question
this would be a good time for the teacher to have the students research this information with their
partner.
Elaborate: Students will create a Super Manatee with adaptations to help them stay alive. The
teacher will give the directions for the project to the students. The directions will also be left on
the Smart Board for the students to refer back to. The students need to come up with a adaptation
with their partner and write 4-6 sentences about that adaptations. The students will also draw a
picture of the Manatee with the adaptation. Before the teacher sends the students off to complete
the assignment they will show the students an example of an adaptation and the Manatee with the
adaptation. The teacher will be able to walk around the room and ask the students about the
adaptation they came up with, and how they think that adaptation will help the Manatee stay
alive.

Evaluate: The students will be evaluated on the Super Manatee activity (4-6 sentences about
their adaptation and the picture of the adaptation). The teacher will also assess the students with
questions throughout the lesson:
What does endangered mean?
Why are Manatees endangered?
What is a fact about a Manatee?
What is an adaptation?
How will your adaptation help save the Manatees?