Summary Of Close Encounters Of The Amphibious Kind
“Close Encounters of the Amphibious Kind” by Tammy D. Lee and Jane L. Lubischer discusses a lesson that integrates physical science, focusing on the concept of sound, and life science, focusing on how sound is created in nature. This lesson concentrates on frogs, how they make sound, how the sounds they make are different, and the purposes of these different sounds. I will reflect on this article by summarizing it, discussing the standards accompanying it, and how I would implement this lesson in my future classroom. When discussing how I would implement this I will focus on modifications, processes, skills, and knowledge to be cognizant of, preconceptions and misconceptions to address, safety issues to address, how to include a math component,
…show more content…
and how to connect this lesson to the students’ lives and real world. This lesson connects the creation of sound to how sound is used in nature, specifically with frogs.
To begin the lesson, they played a game called “Guess who makes that sound?”. This game included the teacher playing various sounds of different species of frogs without showing the student the video. The students were then supposed to guess the type of animal making the sound, many guessing crickets and rarely guessing frog. The teacher then showed them the video part to connect the call to the frog, which created a discussion about how frogs make sound and if all frog calls sound the same. Throughout the lesson the students use a KLEWS chart (K for know, L for Learn, E for evidence, W for wonderings, and S for Scientific Principle). During this part of the lesson they write what they know about frogs and frogs’ calls in the K or Know column, included in this column was that frogs are near a pond or a lake. From this discussion they added information to the L-Learning column as well. They next thought about what they had questions about and place them in the w-wondering column. They did this in groups of four to together find out questions they have. Questions that arose were “Do you think frogs are really talking to each other?” and “What are the frogs saying to each other?” (Lee & Lubischer,
2014).
Then they transitioned to focus on what frogs are saying to each other, which was discussed in student groups. Some of their ideas were that frogs talk to other frogs when they are in trouble, lost, or just to say hello. The groups then listed their three categories on a tree map. The next step in exploration was for the students to explore various materials for creating different calls. Each group of students was tasked with creating a call for each message of your “frog”. Example materials used were balloons, beads, blunted nails or wooden dowels, wooden skewers, various sized cups, various sizes of rubber bands, and different types of plastic containers. When exploring these materials, the student and teacher discuss how sound is made in general and how sound was made with the object that each student had. After creating each call, they wrote how they created that call on their tree map under the corresponding purpose (Lee & Lubischer, 2014). The next stage of this lesson is the explain stage. This is when each group shares how they communicate each message. The students demonstrated their sound and explained how it was made. Next, they added information discovered when creating their calls. into the L, S, and E columns of their KLEWS chart. The conversation also moved from how sound works to how sound work in frogs. From the videos watched earlier in the lesson, they noticed that frogs’ necks inflate like a balloon. From this observation they discussed the mechanics of how a frog makes its call, which was added to the “L” section of the KLEWS chart. This conversation led to a question to be addressed in the extension: “How does living in a group help frogs survive?” (Lee & Lubischer, 2014).
To explore this question, they played a game outside. The game is that you are a biologist studying frogs and your question is: will a female frog get the mating call easier and quicker if one male frog calls or a group of male frogs calls? To investigate this, 2 students in each group will have a special part of the role of biologist and female frog. The rest of the students are male frogs and other species of frogs living around the pond. The object of the game is for the blindfolded female frog to find their species from the mating call. The biologist times how long it takes the female frog to find the male frogs of her species and records the data. The faster the time the greater chance of mating. First, they had individual trials, where the frogs made their calls individually, and then the group trials, where frogs formed groups and made the call together. After performing the trials, they found that the times for the group portions were much lower than the individual times. What they learned and Science Principles discovered were recorded on their KLEWS chart. After the lesson, the students were then evaluated on their KLEWS chart (Lee & Lubischer, 2014). This lesson covered two standards. The first standard being standard 1-PS4: Waves and their application in technologies for Information transfer with the performance expectation of 1-PS4-1: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. This standard is for K-2, so before this the student most likely will not have much prior knowledge of sound. The other standard is 3-LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics with the performance expectation 3-LS2-1: construct an argument that some animals from groups that help members survive. This standard is a 3rd through 5th grade standard. Previous knowledge students would have would be knowledge of how plants have relationships with water, other plants, and animals. I thoroughly enjoyed this article and lesson. It was very dynamic and hands on, which I liked because it made it more interesting and engaging. I would use this in my future classroom with the same framework discussed in the article. I would begin with the frog call audio, have the students create their own frog calls, and play the game to find other frogs, all while using the KLEWS chart. Depending on the grade level and knowledge level of my students, I would make certain modifications. One thing I may change would be to create the “Guess who makes that sound” game more engaging by having the pictures of different animals and frogs on the board and then trying to match the animal with the call. Then after we had listened to all the calls and assigned an animal to each call we would reveal the actual answers. Depending on my students, the “Guess who makes that sound” game could be done individually on Chromebooks, if the students could not handle it behaviorally. If I were implementing this lesson in Kindergarten or First grade, I would have first discussed sound using pitch forks to have a foundation for the rest of the lesson. Also for the younger grades, I would change the female frog finding a mate to trying to find where the food is at because mating can be awkward, especially for a Kindergarten class. Lastly, if I were to use this lesson in second or third grade, I would differentiate for the levels of students in the class when it came to creating frog calls using materials. If I had students that would struggle with this I could give them pictures or diagrams of possible items to build. For gifted students or higher-level learners, they could create a plan or blueprint with their item to practice planning and engineering.
and how to connect this lesson to the students’ lives and real world. This lesson connects the creation of sound to how sound is used in nature, specifically with frogs.
To begin the lesson, they played a game called “Guess who makes that sound?”. This game included the teacher playing various sounds of different species of frogs without showing the student the video. The students were then supposed to guess the type of animal making the sound, many guessing crickets and rarely guessing frog. The teacher then showed them the video part to connect the call to the frog, which created a discussion about how frogs make sound and if all frog calls sound the same. Throughout the lesson the students use a KLEWS chart (K for know, L for Learn, E for evidence, W for wonderings, and S for Scientific Principle). During this part of the lesson they write what they know about frogs and frogs’ calls in the K or Know column, included in this column was that frogs are near a pond or a lake. From this discussion they added information to the L-Learning column as well. They next thought about what they had questions about and place them in the w-wondering column. They did this in groups of four to together find out questions they have. Questions that arose were “Do you think frogs are really talking to each other?” and “What are the frogs saying to each other?” (Lee & Lubischer,
2014).
Then they transitioned to focus on what frogs are saying to each other, which was discussed in student groups. Some of their ideas were that frogs talk to other frogs when they are in trouble, lost, or just to say hello. The groups then listed their three categories on a tree map. The next step in exploration was for the students to explore various materials for creating different calls. Each group of students was tasked with creating a call for each message of your “frog”. Example materials used were balloons, beads, blunted nails or wooden dowels, wooden skewers, various sized cups, various sizes of rubber bands, and different types of plastic containers. When exploring these materials, the student and teacher discuss how sound is made in general and how sound was made with the object that each student had. After creating each call, they wrote how they created that call on their tree map under the corresponding purpose (Lee & Lubischer, 2014). The next stage of this lesson is the explain stage. This is when each group shares how they communicate each message. The students demonstrated their sound and explained how it was made. Next, they added information discovered when creating their calls. into the L, S, and E columns of their KLEWS chart. The conversation also moved from how sound works to how sound work in frogs. From the videos watched earlier in the lesson, they noticed that frogs’ necks inflate like a balloon. From this observation they discussed the mechanics of how a frog makes its call, which was added to the “L” section of the KLEWS chart. This conversation led to a question to be addressed in the extension: “How does living in a group help frogs survive?” (Lee & Lubischer, 2014).
To explore this question, they played a game outside. The game is that you are a biologist studying frogs and your question is: will a female frog get the mating call easier and quicker if one male frog calls or a group of male frogs calls? To investigate this, 2 students in each group will have a special part of the role of biologist and female frog. The rest of the students are male frogs and other species of frogs living around the pond. The object of the game is for the blindfolded female frog to find their species from the mating call. The biologist times how long it takes the female frog to find the male frogs of her species and records the data. The faster the time the greater chance of mating. First, they had individual trials, where the frogs made their calls individually, and then the group trials, where frogs formed groups and made the call together. After performing the trials, they found that the times for the group portions were much lower than the individual times. What they learned and Science Principles discovered were recorded on their KLEWS chart. After the lesson, the students were then evaluated on their KLEWS chart (Lee & Lubischer, 2014). This lesson covered two standards. The first standard being standard 1-PS4: Waves and their application in technologies for Information transfer with the performance expectation of 1-PS4-1: Plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials can make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate. This standard is for K-2, so before this the student most likely will not have much prior knowledge of sound. The other standard is 3-LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics with the performance expectation 3-LS2-1: construct an argument that some animals from groups that help members survive. This standard is a 3rd through 5th grade standard. Previous knowledge students would have would be knowledge of how plants have relationships with water, other plants, and animals. I thoroughly enjoyed this article and lesson. It was very dynamic and hands on, which I liked because it made it more interesting and engaging. I would use this in my future classroom with the same framework discussed in the article. I would begin with the frog call audio, have the students create their own frog calls, and play the game to find other frogs, all while using the KLEWS chart. Depending on the grade level and knowledge level of my students, I would make certain modifications. One thing I may change would be to create the “Guess who makes that sound” game more engaging by having the pictures of different animals and frogs on the board and then trying to match the animal with the call. Then after we had listened to all the calls and assigned an animal to each call we would reveal the actual answers. Depending on my students, the “Guess who makes that sound” game could be done individually on Chromebooks, if the students could not handle it behaviorally. If I were implementing this lesson in Kindergarten or First grade, I would have first discussed sound using pitch forks to have a foundation for the rest of the lesson. Also for the younger grades, I would change the female frog finding a mate to trying to find where the food is at because mating can be awkward, especially for a Kindergarten class. Lastly, if I were to use this lesson in second or third grade, I would differentiate for the levels of students in the class when it came to creating frog calls using materials. If I had students that would struggle with this I could give them pictures or diagrams of possible items to build. For gifted students or higher-level learners, they could create a plan or blueprint with their item to practice planning and engineering.