ALEX Lesson Plan Resources

ALEX Lesson Plans  
Subject: English Language Arts (3 - 5), or Science (3 - 4)
Title: Animal Adaptions for Grades 3-5
Description: HyperSlides are digital lessons/units that help students learn the material in a way that is engaging and inquiry-based. Students will work together to complete a HyperSlides unit centering around animal adaptations for standards in grades 3-5. Students will work creatively and collaboratively with a variety of Course of Study standards that engage students through using Google Slides and Hyperlinks to assist in the understanding of animal adaptations. This project will take several class periods to complete. After an introduction to the Hyperslides, students are encouraged to work at their own pace, but Hyperslides can be assigned on a daily basis. This Lesson Plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.

Subject: English Language Arts (3), or Science (3)
Title: Can an Animal's Traits be Influenced by the Environment?
Description: The lesson will begin with the teacher leading a discussion related to animal traits and the environment using a T-chart graphic organizer. The students will have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with a partner, and then the teacher will introduce the essential question of the lesson: “Can an animal's traits be influenced by the environment?” Next, the teacher will show students a video clip and nonfiction text related to the arctic fox, which is an animal that experiences a seasonal change in its fur color, and record information about the fox’s traits and habitat on a T-chart graphic organizer. Then, students will research a different animal to determine how its traits can be influenced by its environment using digital or print sources and take brief notes. Lastly, students will develop an explanatory text in a claim-evidence-reasoning format that includes an illustration to help convey their scientific ideas clearly. This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

Subject: English Language Arts (3), or Mathematics (3)
Title: Dam Engineering
Description: In math, students will draw a T-chart to represent dam and flood data obtained from their reading resource. Students will select the information they wish to use from the reading resource (their opinions). Students will then use rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch to measure lengths and construct a scale model of their own dam, which they can later construct in science. Students will represent data in a graph and use measurement data by measuring lengths using rulers marked with halves and fourths of an inch. Students will test their scale dams and make changes as needed.  This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit. 

Subject: Digital Literacy and Computer Science (3), or English Language Arts (3), or Science (3)
Title: Engineered Solution Dam Evaluation Journal and Presentation
Description: Students will create a Google Doc utilizing their school-based account or the class-created account provided by the teacher. Students will electronically journal their thinking throughout the process of the hands-on group science activity about designing and evaluating a dam to reduce the impact of a flood. Once the activity is complete, students will share their Google Docs with a peer or assigned group in order to discuss the findings of the experiment and clarify any unclear statements claimed in his/her journaling. Students will compile journal entries to create sequential writing appropriate to the task. Students will then create a presentation of their journaling with Google Slides, Prezi, Animoto, or a similar electronic presentation tool. This unit was created as part of the ALEX Interdisciplinary Resource Development Summit.