THEME: LIVING THINGS

Centennial Place Elementary SchoolVision

Our vision at Centennial Place is a school where all children have a supportive learning environment that meets their needs while preparing them for a global society. As the centerpiece of the learning village, the school features innovative uses of time and space, multi-grade groupings, self-paced learning as well as gender, ethnic, and generational inclusion. The professional staff is committed to the belief that the school exists to serve the child and that each child will be a successful learner. Each child will be encouraged to develop intellectually, emotionally, and socially.

EICVISION STATEMENT

Our vision is to enrich the academic environment for our students through the integration of interdisciplinary learning experiences that incorporate the resources of our community.

Team Members

5th grade teachers (Sean Blass)Science lab (Hassan Rafig)Gifted program (Cathy Archibald)Media Specialist (Jennifer Burke)Instructional Specialist (Barbara Preuss)Coach (Kim Morris-Zarneke)Community /Georgia Aquarium (Brian Davis)

Resources

Georgia Aquarium (Brian Davis)Environmental Protection Division: Adopt-A-Stream (Kim Morris-Zarneke)History Museum & MLK CenterGeorgia Tech - Urban Planning & Civil EngineeringClean Air CampaignAdditional Support: Coca Cola

SCHOOL/COMMUNITY MAP

MAP

Natural SystemComponent ProcessTrees PhotosynthesisPlants ErosionAir Life CyclesSoil EvaporationInsects Water Cycle

Birds Water Shed

Social SystemComponent ProcessSchool building

Economics

Furniture Government

BooksArchitecture

InfrastructureSociology

Faculty/Staff/students

Community

Vehicles

Implementation

5th Grade will be divided into groups Experimenting Investigating Research

FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION

The impact of pollution and the land use practices on the natural and social systems of the community

Organizing Question

In what ways does pollution and current land use practices affect the natural and social systems in our community?

Supporting Questions?

How has our community changed over time?What is pollution? Has pollution increased in our community over time? Why?What do we need to do to better use our outdoor classrooms?What effect does our school building have on the community and the environment?What can you (student) do to improve the natural and social systems in the community?How can you (student) make the community members aware of their impact on the environment.

Learning Objectives: Subject-specific Lessons

S 5.19: Identify & describe the 5 major kingdomsMA 5.1: Round decimals to nearest whole numberSS 5.7: Explain the impact of the physical environment on the settlement patterns and movements after the Civil WarSS 5.10 Analyze the physical and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define regions, interrelationships among regions and change

Learning Objectives:Community-based Investigation

S. 5.17: Student will collect wildlife from the outdoor classroom areasLA 5.6: Students will deliver a planned oral presentationLA 5.9: Students will utilize a process approach to plan an write coherent well developed text that reflects an awareness of audience and purposeS 5.19: Students will compare and contrast the 5 major kingdomsMA 5.7 Students will relate a fraction to a part of a wholeMA 5.18 Students will identify factors and multiples of a given number, including prime factorization

Subject-specific Lesson Plans

Thematic Unit: LIVING THINGS Compare/contrast different kinds of living

things Identify & classify living things How does pollution impact living things

Lesson Plan I

Engage: Discussion of physical features around school versus man-made structuresExplain: Introduction to natural and social systemsExplore: Students will map natural and social areas around schoolExtend: Students will map natural and social systems around their own neighborhoodsEvaluation: Students will present their neighborhood maps

Lesson Plan II

Engage: Classify identified items into natural and social systemsExplain: Discussion of how natural and social systems interrelateExplore: Students will identify and classify natural components found in outdoor classroomsExtend: Students will compare/contrast school environment versus neighborhoodEvaluation: Students will identify natural/social systems on a map

Authentic Assessments:LIVING THINGS UNIT

Student portfolios

Activity/project rubrics

Journal reflections

Student/group presentations

Research papers

Debates

Timeline

Phase I: LIVING THINGSPlanning/Development: June 16-July 18Implementation/Evaluation: 1st quarterPhase II: EARTH SCIENCEPhase III: PHYSICAL SCIENCE

**Service Learning Project: (Pending student input) Rehabilitation of outdoor spaces (i.e. pond/butterfly garden)