This COMPLETE ready-to-go project based learning experience All About Ants, has everything you need to meet NGSS and ELA standards. It's a fun, hands-on approach to work on close reading, research, note taking, and presenting skills. Everything you need for a successful PBL project is here!
Here is what is included in this resource:
Teacher Lesson Plans, Outline, Standards, & Answer Keys
Teacher Presentation Slides to Introduce Ants: Slides include how ants are classified as insects, a video about ants around the world, and an overview of the ant life cycle. Slides are PPT but can be used in Google Drive as Google Slides too.
Ant Life Cycle Scavenger Hunt: In this activity, students will search for cards hidden around the classroom with various parts of the ant life cycle. They will use a worksheet to read the description and identify the picture that matches the description. Teacher instructions and an answer key are included.
12 Small Group Close Reading Articles, Guided Note-Taking, and Digital Presentation Project: Students will be paired up and assigned a unique ant to read about with their group. There are twelve different close reading articles included, each with an amazing ant for students to read about. Groups will focus on key vocabulary words as well as specific habitat, animal features, and predator-prey relationships within their text. The group will then use the information from their reading to complete a guided note taking form. Lastly, students will use a worksheet to assign individual roles to each team member and prepare a digital presentation of their ant. Ant selection paper strips, group tracking sheets for the teacher, close reading articles, guided note taking forms, rubrics, digital presentation roles & checklist form, digital presentation note cards for students, and a digital presentation rubric are included.
3D Ant Modeling Culminating Project: Lastly, as a comprehensive project, students will work individually to design and engineer a 3D model of an ant. They will use a worksheet to plan their design and meet specific criteria for their model. In addition, students will complete a worksheet in which they demonstrate mastery over science standards by identifying sense organs in their ants, as well as the internal/external features that help their ant survive in the environment. The models as well as all the other portions of this project are a great way to show off student work and learning for Open House! 3D ant modeling instructions, parent letter, student worksheet, and rubric are included.
*These forms and resources have been formatted to fit inside a 3-ring binder so you can display this class project and keep everything organized! Color and black and white versions are included. In addition, each resource has been hyperlinked in the PDF for you to easily locate when you open the file!
Standards Covered:
NGSS Science Standards:
4-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.
ELA Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.A
Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.B
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.C
Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.4
Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.5
Add audio recordings and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.