Virtual Galápagos
Unit 1 Lesson 2: Tortoise Diets
Tortoise Curriculum Lesson Plan
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
- Goal 1: Students will be able to identify what types of plants the Galápagos domed and saddleback tortoises eat.
- Goal 2: Students will be able to analyze the diets between the two tortoises.
- Goal 3: Students will be able to create and analyze a Venn diagram to categorize and present information about the diets of humans and tortoises.
STANDARDS
Next Generation Science Standards
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
ADVANCE PREP FOR TEACHER KNOWLEDGE
The Galápagos tortoises are herbivores. The saddleback tortoise eats mainly the Opuntia cactus (also called the prickly pear cactus) which grows on arid, smaller islands. The domed tortoise eats low lying grasses and shrubs on larger, wetter islands with more vegetation.
Next Generation Science Standards
- 3-LS3-2: Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
- 3-LS4-3: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
- 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- Vegetation: A general term for plant life
- Opuntia Cactus: A genus of cactus that is also known as the prickly pear cactus. It is the main food for a saddleback tortoise.
- Herbivore: A living thing that only eats plants
- Digestion: The process of breaking down nutrients from food
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Living things need food and water to survive. Living things have particular diets that meet their survival needs.
ADVANCE PREP FOR TEACHER KNOWLEDGE
The Galápagos tortoises are herbivores. The saddleback tortoise eats mainly the Opuntia cactus (also called the prickly pear cactus) which grows on arid, smaller islands. The domed tortoise eats low lying grasses and shrubs on larger, wetter islands with more vegetation.
MATERIALS AND SETUP
- Virtual Galápagos Tortoise 101 module interactive website access
- Virtual Galápagos Fieldbook access for all worksheets and activities
LESSON SEQUENCE
- Introductory video to lesson about tortoise diets.
- Students will be presented with the Tortoise Cafe infographic. Take a class vote, who would eat the Opuntia Salad, who would eat the Grassy Grub?
ENGAGE
EXPLORE
- Present students with the video of tortoise eating
- Present students with the game show questions about tortoise diets before watching the game show video. Allow students to answer the questions using their best guesses before watching the video.
EXPLAIN
- Students watch Galápagos Game Show video and complete guided notes. Go over game show answers as a class.
ELABORATE
- Option for students to complete the Galápagos Coloring Page
- Short video transitioning to the next lesson.
EVALUATE
- Students will complete the What We Eat Venn Diagram
- Students should be encouraged to revisit their Scientific Field Notes to add new pieces of evidence, as well as revise their original claims if needed, based on new information they have learned. This action emphasizes the iterative nature of the Scientific Method (revising claims/hypotheses based on new data/observations).
DIFFERENTIATION
- There are two options for the Galápagos Game Show answer sheet for teachers to choose from based on their students’ needs.
- One sheet asks for written responses while the other asks students to choose between provided answer choices.
- For What We Eat Venn Diagram, it is up to the teacher discretion whether or not to complete this activity as a class or individually.
- If completing the activity as a class, on the whiteboard or poster board, the teacher can draw the Venn diagram, then students come up to the board to write their responses or the teacher can call on students and write down their answers in the diagram.
- Alternatively, teachers may elect to do the Venn diagram activity with the whole class with the teacher acting as the scribe and recording student answers on a larger venn diagram on a poster board for example.
- Grouping for all activities is flexible and up to the teacher’s discretion.
- Students can complete activities by drawing pictures to represent their thinking rather than writing.
- All Fieldbook activities can be accessed electronically or the teacher can print copies for students.
- Additionally, Fieldbook worksheets can be edited by teachers and students for increased accessibility.
ASSESSMENT
- While moving through the Tortoise Curriculum Virtual Galápagos modules, teachers can assess their students’ grasp on using the CER framework by collecting and evaluating each student’s Scientific Field Notes page that accompanies each module (throughout and/or at the end of each module).
- Thus, at the end of Lesson 1 of Module 1, teachers should instruct their students to return to their Scientific Field Notes page to add pieces of evidence, as well as revise their original claims if needed, based on new information they have learned.
- It is important to remind students that there are not necessarily right or wrong answers. Every students’ Scientific Field Notes page can be unique, as the purpose of this step is to guide students through this process of scientific inquiry. It should serve as a space for students to evaluate the viability of their claims.
This unit was designed by Ashley Vescio and Shannon Jedreicich, and edited by Ava Wojtaszek and Sarah Jekel.
You can download the lesson plan here:
Virtual Galápagos
virtualgalapagos.colgate.edu
