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media type="custom" key="6618699"v __Student Cohort __ This unit of lesson has been designed for a grade 3 class and caters for a diverse group of students working towards[|Victorian Essential Learning Standards], Level 3. The grade is made up of 20 students, nine boys and eleven girls. There is a Down Syndrome student and two Severe Language Disorder students assisted by an integration aide. This grade is computer literate and experiencec with operating a range of ICT programs. Programs include word documents, Photo Story, Power Point, the internet and Movie Maker. Students can perform tasks such as inserting graphic images and can use word tools to draw and label pictures. Computer availability is a ratio of 3:1, therefore pairing, small groups and whole group activities will be present throughout these lessons.

__Question __ How does rain get from the top of a mountain to the sea and back again?

__Lesson One__ //Introduction// Whole Group Activity
 * Introduce students to the concept of a cycle with the book, "Round the Garden" by Omri Glasir. Discuss various cycles.
 * Students, using the interactive whiteboard and the website, [|Mindomo] will comment on different types of cycles (recycling, composting, butterflies, etc.). Enter information onto Mindomo to create a mind map.
 * Introduce concepts of condensation, evaporation, transpiration, precipitation and percolation. Use the [|Gippsland Water] website to support.
 * Pose question, "How does rain get from the top of a mountain to the sea and back again?"
 * Using Mindomo, create another mind map based on the Water Cycle. Link relevant ideas to the first cycle map to show similarities in cycles. Highlight information and questions that are raised from discussion that warrant further investigation.
 * Inform students they will be working in small groups. Let them know their group numbers, and ask them to start thinking about the Question in relation to the Water Cycle.

Lesson Two Finding out > __Group two and Group three:__ > · Students research local catchment from the mountains to the ocean using [|East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority] website. > · Students investigate rainfall over a 12 month period in catchment area towns, using [|Weatherzone] website and collate this information. > · Aide assistance. > · Students access the website [|FUSE]and using resource number FHH4EC to retrieve water cycle information. > __Group five:__ > · Students will research texts and illustrations, collate and share with class. > > Lesson 3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> > Sorting out > __Group one:__ __Group two:__ __Group three:__
 * Using camera, students investigation schoolyard environment for evidence of condensation, evaporation and preciptation.
 * S<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">tudent with Down syndrome will be in this group as it is an achievable task independently.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">__Group four:__
 * Student's to design a powerpoint which consists of a graphic image of how the water cycle works.
 * Using cross section of local catchment students will input: a) local townships. b) recorded rainfall for one month and c) diagram of water cycle direction.
 * In pairs, import topographic map from [|East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority] into Word Document, label it. Print and enlarge to A3 poster.

__Group four:__ __Group five:__
 * Student's to design a Wiki (which will be previously set up), collate information from Lesson 2 and enter details into Wiki site. Aide working with this group.


 * Students invesitgate rainfall over a 12 month period in the Dargo region using Weatherzone. Put data into a bar graph for display using the FUSE resource.

__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lesson4 __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">//Collate and conclude and reflect// Students in their groups __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">List of ICT resources __
 * Create Photostory.
 * Power point to be presented to school at assembly.
 * Put mapping activities in newsletter and onto wiki.
 * Put graph in newsletter and onto wiki.
 * One group to oversee final presentation of Wiki, so that collated information is organised.
 * Raindrop book. 'The many adventures of Drippy the Raindrop, To the Mountains and Back' (Joel Kinbell, 2003) to be shared with whole class as a conclusion to the unit.

> [|Water cycle Kids Zone], [|Water cycle U tube video] , [|From the mountain to the sea] template, [|Water Cycle Song] , [|Water Cycle Song] , [|Earth guide] , [|The Water cycle – Enchanted Learning] , [|Create Your Own Graphs and Charts] and [|Weatherzone]. > > > > <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">__Enhancing Student Learning__ > > > __<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reflect on resources in regard to question __ > <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">The question is aimed to encourage student investigation of the natural processes of the water cycle and relevance to everyday life and local environment. The resources that are used in this unit are chosen to enhance students' understanding but also to intrinsically motivate students to learn, to use investigative skills, skills of illustrating, producing and displaying their knowledge. Today’s society demands computer literate skills, and by incorporating the suggested resources into the unit, students gain knowledge of the water cycle whilst advancing their skills in technology. The resources employed are engaging and visual. The interactive whiteboard is able to capture whole class attention and through the planned lesson give ownership of the task. The Mindomo resource allows the students to visually organise their ideas regarding the question - they are able to view links to different ideas and create further investigations by highlighting important concepts and questions. The investigative approach that the camera activity allows and then the publishing of the material acquired into Photo Story, gives ownership and aids intrinsic motivation. The group work that is incorporated into this activity promotes collaborative working environments. Managing the Fuse resource is encouraging students to research and locate appropriate information. Accessing websites that are relevant to their local area is enabling students to become more aware of the environment in which they reside, and increases their understanding and appreciation of their local area. Thus, meaningful links are created between the concept of the Water Cycle and the way in which it occurs in their immediate surroundings. The collating of their information using various forms of publishing formats such as graphing, newsletters, Photostory, Powerpoint, wiki sites and word document are all tasks that have relevance to everyday life and are skills that students can build on throughout this unit. In relation to the question, these publishing resources allow the information to be represented in various ways, which would appeal to different learning styles. The resources that have been chosen for this unit have been carefully selected for their content, relevance and age appropriateness for the student cohort. > > __<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reflect on the implications of learning sequence for teaching practice __ > > <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The learning sequence in this unit starts with the introduction to the subject. This unit is being introduced by talking of cycles in general. The picture story book "Round the Garden" by Omri Glasir, is shared to encourage students to reflect on prior knowledge to assist them to get their knowledge ready (Professor John Munro, personal communication, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">January 28, 2009) for the unit. The topic question would then be asked and this then would enable the teacher to undertake a formative assessment of the lesson to gauge student knowledge by the information that they are volunteering and the questions that they are asking. This process is important to the scaffolding that the teacher may have to perform or the cementing of knowledge that students may need. At this point, concepts that are essential to the continuation of the learning sequence can be introduced, such as evaporation, condensation, transpiration and precipitation. Students would create links between these terms and express examples of them in everyday life. The implications of creating links supports their learning and creates a foundation and understanding before launching into further investigation. > The second learning sequence in this unit is the finding out, which is very inquiry based and student centred. Here a teacher must be able to oversee a variety of activities that are taking place in this unit. The class will be very busy in their activities and the teacher will need to ensure that group dynamics are working to maximise learning outcomes and that those students whom require assistance are grouped with the aide to ensure support when required. Computer research groups will need to be monitored as in this age group students navigate their way out of a site easily, when staying on task is important. The use of the Fuse network is designed to minimise this from occurring. > The third learning sequence is the sorting out phase where teacher guidance and collaborative class skills are important for collating the information. The final stage of the learning sequence is concluding and publishing which again students will branch out into busy but engaging activities. This learning sequence is a format that is easily followed and students are able to comprehend the order logically. It teaches students that to produce a meaningful piece of work steps must be followed. For teachers, it allows a unit to flow from one step to another in a meaningful and productive manner. Students are aware of what they are trying to achieve, that there is a purpose for their tasks, and that they have satisfactorily responded to the initial question. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">The different presentations of information also reinforces learning for students in interesting ways. By enabling the students to use various ICT resources as a means of publishing information, this implies that the students are able to organise and display relevant information in relation to the question. This allows the teacher to assess the ability of the students to use the resources effectively as well as to assess whether or not the question has been answered suitably, and that the students have gained a solid understanding from their investigation.
 * [|FUSE] resource Number---FHH4EC which incorporates
 * Photo story
 * [|Mindomo]
 * Power Point
 * Word
 * Interactive white board
 * Digital Cameras
 * Wiki
 * [|East Gippsland Catchment Managment Authority] website
 * Mindomo enhances students learning by allowing students to visualise their ideas and create links between their ideas. They can draw attention to any questions that arise from their thinking and highlight important aspects which may need further investigation. Using Mindomo, students demonstrate previous knowledge and lay the foundation for further investigation.
 * Using the interactive whiteboard students can create links between other cycles and the Water Cycle. By creating visual links students formulate ideas and theories on which to base their investigation.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Wikis enable students to work collaboratively to collate information into a well formed, flowing publication. A wiki is available to others in the school, presenting information which may be of value to others, thus giving students a sense of pride and ownership in their work.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">Photostory enhances student learning by assembling and organising visual images. Music and written content can be added to make Photostory a powerful visual tool. Students can then view their work without being overloaded with text.
 * Power Point enhances the students learning using visual presentations designed to display information with added features. The students are able to enter information, add images, change visual colours and display into a slideshow for presentation.
 * The digital camera is a resource used by students to collect visual data. It enhances learning by allowing the students to capture images and print them out for a project poster, or import them into Power Point, Photostory and other resources.
 * The FUSE website offers students resources to investigate and collate information for a given task or inquiry lesson. The resource package used is called ‘The water cycle grade 3’ and has been constructed specifically for this unit. The resource has an I.D number FHH4EC and students can access this via that code. The package utilises music, web pages, relevant educational film clips through You Tube and a teacher constructed template called 'From the Mountains to the Sea' for the students to collate and record information for a task in lesson 3. Students can sort relevant information and tasks without wasting time on search engines and finding irrelevant data.
 * The word document enhances learning by use of the word processor as well as using drawing tools for labelling, inserting visual images and organising data.