Inquiry Project

Life Science: Standard-1.LS.3

This lesson plan focuses on the question: Should zoos be allowed?

Students will go on a field trip to a zoo to explore and strike interest, and in the end, in groups, they will create a shoe box model of one specific animal and what their habitat would look like in a zoo vs. in the wild. Then the students will create an argument based on whether the wild or the zoo is better.

Part 1:  Driving question:

• What are your three initial driving questions?

• 1 Should people be allowed to own pets?

• 2 Should zoos be allowed?

• 3 Should people be able to eat animal products?

• What is your one, final driving question?

Should zoos be allowed?

• Background information of this driving question:

The ethical question of zoos will be brought up while learning about other animals from other countries as well as ours. The learning benefits of zoos will be compared to the ethical background of retaining animals in different habitats rather than their homes.

• Why do you think this is a good driving question?

Try to answer these 4 questions. (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)

• Does the DQ warrant in-depth study? -It can warrant in-depth study because there is not a definite answer which requires each student to research more about the topic in order to support their side or claim.

• Is the DQ an authentic and relevant issue/problem for my students? Yes because student’s parents may take them to zoos and they might start questioning why the animals are in a place they’re not supposed to be.

• Is there more than one plausible solution to the DQ? Yes because there are other possible solutions based on opinions combined with facts available.

• Does the DQ provide opportunities for students to evaluate, analyze, present, and defend their solutions? Yes because the students will need to analyze their own opinions while also doing research on the animals and zoos and the zoo’s effects on the animals.

Part2: Grabber

• What is your grabber?

We will take our students on a field trip to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo.

• Why do you think this grabber is beneficial and how it  aligns with your driving question?

• Does the story, article, video, announcement, role play, or other resource hook the learner into asking more questions about the topic? Yes because children like zoos.

• Does the grabber capitalize on novelty and / or high emotion situations? It can because people care about animals and can become very passionate about the morality of holding animals from their natural habitat to make a profit.

• Does the grabber establish authenticity & relevance? Yes because zoos exist and many families take their children to zoos for fun.

• Make sure to explain in detail how this grabber would be used.

As the topic if animal health is brought up, we will go on the field trip. After enjoying the field trip, the question will be brought up to the children to make them truly analyze their experience as well as the animals.

Part 3: Culminating activities: List all your activities here:

1) Activity 1

• What is your first activity?

We could have them create a model of an animal where half is in its natural habitat and the other half is its habitat in a zoo. By doing that, they can see the similarities and differences of the two living spaces for animals. They could work in groups 2 or 3. The students could use shoe boxes, clay, figurines, markers, paper, glue, etc.   List the name of your activity here. And explain how it would be implemented  in the class, describe the process, such as how to group your students, when to present information to your students, what resources you will use, what students will create or share, etc.

• Why do you think this is a good activity for PBL?

• Try to answer these 4 questions.  (But you should not answer them with yes or no, instead explain the details and convince me that you’ve met these criteria)

• How is the activity authentic? It requires hands-on learning to help the students learn about and solve a real-world problem because students go to zoos all of the time with their families. They can connect with this project because they have experienced it themselves in real life.

• Does the activity provide students with the opportunity to present and defend problem solution? Yes, they can compare the two sides and either pick which environment is better or how zoos could improve and explain why.

• Does the activity require student collaboration? Yes because it is a large project in a group setting.

• How will I judge what students have learned from the activity?

• You will need to create a rubric for this step and potential example materials as well.

2) Repeat the information above for any additional activities you want to add.

Rubric