Lesson Introduction
In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to
identify and name the objects in the mural, including
the basic needs of life like food, clothing and shelter.
At the same time, students will learn the basic computer
skills needed to work the zoom tool and will be exposed
to the concept of magnification. By "zooming"
around the "town" conveyed by the mural, students
will begin to make initial connections between themselves
and the many natural and human-made things that make up
the environment and that support their lives.
Time Allotment
Thirty to forty minutes
Materials
- Student access to the Internet,
specifically the City Science Mural zoom
tool
- Three blank sheets of paper and pen or pencil (per
set of two students) (If you wish, you can label the
sheets of paper Clothing, Shelter, and Transportation.)
Advanced Preparation
Ensure access to your school's computer
lab
Procedure
A. Tap Prior Knowledge
Away from the computers, ask the students to name for
you food items that they like to eat. Write their answers
on a chalk or white board under the heading "Food."
Then ask them to list items of clothing and types of shelter
(e.g., house, school, apartment, log cabin, cave, tent,
office building, etc.). Write their answers on the board,
each under category headings. You'll probably need to
define "shelter" for your students.
B. Share with Neighbor
Divide the students into groups of four and ask them to
think of different types of transportation (e.g., driving
in a car, riding a bus, riding a train, riding a bicycle,
sailing in a boat or ship, walking, inline skating, running,
flying in an airplane, etc.). Assign one of the students
to be a recorder. If the recorder is able to write the
names of the transportation types, even with misspellings,
great; if not, ask the students to draw quick pictures
of each type. After five minutes, ask each group to share
its ideas with the rest of the class and write the answers
on the board under the heading "Transportation."
Ask the students to remember these four types of items
that we depend on everyday.
C. Hands-On Activity
With two students assigned to each computer, let one of
them manage the mouse and make the other one the recorder.
Because the food items are difficult to find in the mural,
use them to model the "search and find" task
the students will be doing. Show the students where they
can find the toast in the toaster (upper right) and the
corn in the farm field (lower left corner).
Now give the students three minutes or so to look for
clothing items using the zoom tool.
Have the recorders list them on their sheets of paper
(again, spelling the words or drawing pictures, depending
on ability). Then ask the students what items of clothing
they found and share answers with the class. If the students
need a hint to find clothes, tell them to look for the
people in the mural.
Next give the students three minutes or so to look for
types of shelter. Have the recorders keep track of what
they find on a new sheet of paper. Again, ask the students
to share what they found. Then give the students three
minutes to look for forms of transportation. Have the
recorders keep track so they can share their findings
with the group.
Finally, give the students a few minutes to play around
with the zoom function and to pick out some of the other
items in the mural. As they "zoom around town,"
can they find animals, forms of water, things that have
been invented? Show the students how they can access other
features of the site: What's
This?, Meet the Artist,
Find & Link.
D. Introduce Scientific Principle
[Note: Of course, not all of the ideas below are to be
shared with your six to nine-year-olds. This information
is provided to give you as a teacher or parent some "food
for thought" to lead the discussion of scientific
principles.]
Return to the classroom and ask your students for ideas
about why food, clothing, shelter, and transportation
are important to humans. Explain that humans, like all
animals, need food and water to survive. Ask students
where they get their food and water. Even as recently
as one hundred years ago, we got our water directly from
lakes, streams, and wells and grew our own food on nearby
farmland. Today, a complicated network of human-designed
systems that includes pipes, pumps, trucks, highways,
boats, buildings, and machines such as freezers and refrigerators
deliver water and food from across the state and across
the globe right to our door. We depend not only on the
natural world, but also upon the systems we have created
to use the natural world for our purposes.
In the overall span of human life, clothing is a relatively
recent invention. But more important than the reasons
we wear clothing are the sources of that clothing. Most
clothing is made of cotton thread, grown on farms far
away from where we live. Once the cotton is harvested
by machines in the fields, it is transported by truck
or train to a factory where it is cleaned, spun into yarn,
dyed different colors, and then woven into shirts, socks,
sweaters, and pants. In addition to cotton clothes, many
synthetic fabrics made of nylon, polyester and even plastic
are an important part of today's clothing. Although these
clothes are made from chemicals instead of natural fibers,
many of the chemicals originate from natural sources (arctic
oil fields and tropical rubber trees) and return to the
land when they wear out and we throw them away. In short,
each of us is intimately connected to nature and natural
products everyday through the clothes we wear and the
production and transportation systems we have developed
to make and deliver these clothes.
Shelter is often taken for granted. Sometimes we'll spend
only minutes per day "outside" beyond our house,
school, or work place shelters. Humans have found that
shelter is important to keep them safe from both "the
elements" (e.g., wet, cold, or hot weather; storms;
and natural disasters) and from "wild animals."
How many types of shelter did your students find in the
mural?
Transportation has only recently become one of life's
"necessities." Cars, trucks, planes, ships,
and trains help us move food, clothing, and building materials
(even ourselves!) from place to place. Transportation
makes visible the many networks and systems that connect
the natural and human-built world.
E. Relate Activity and Concept
After your explanation of scientific principles, compare
the lists of mural items found by the students with the
lists they developed during "Tap Prior Knowledge."
Were the students surprised by the items they found in
the mural? What food items would they include if they
could make a mural of their own? The artist who painted
the City Science Mural, Thomas
Melvin, wanted to explore all the ways our lives (including
food, clothing, shelter, and transportation) depend on
the natural world and human-made structures and systems.
Did your students like "zooming around town"
by visiting the mural. What would a mural of their own
town look like? What items would it include?
Extension Activity
Ask your students to visit the What's
This? Web page to discover additional items in the
mural. Ask your students to consider why muralist Thomas
Melvin chose the objects that he did. What other types
of food might he have included? What other types of shelter,
clothing, or transportation?
Assessment
- Review the educational goals
for the City Science Mural online experiences.
- Record, review, and compare the lists of food, clothing,
shelter, and transportation items that your students
brainstorm at the beginning of the lesson and during
the zoom activity.
- Observe the students' use of the zoom tool to navigate
the mural and to identify objects from all four categories.
- Note student discussion during the "Relate
Activity and Concept" portion of the lesson.
- Ask for questions at the end of the session and
take note of gaps in learning or of particular insights
or gains in content knowledge or attitudes.
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