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TeachNet Disseminator Grant      << Back to all Grant Winners

Adopt A Pet

Subject: ELA, Science, Mathematics, Technology

Grade Level: Middle School, gr.6-8

Materials: Computers with Internet access, LCD projector, screen, AppleWorks Word Processes or Word software, Inspiration or AppleWorks Draw software, AppleWorks Spreadsheet or Excel software, and PowerPoint or AppleWorks Slide Show or Keynote for Macs.

About: Students learn how to use the Internet, improve their creative writing skills, design a graphic organizer, learn about the caring for and cost of a pet, create a spreadsheet and graphs, interpret data from a graph, and as a culminating activity create a PowerPoint Presentation. If the computers do not have PowerPoint, Macs can use AppleWorks Slide Show or Keynote for Macs.

Students are required to create a 6-slide Power Point Presentation/AppleWorks Slide Show/Keynote For Macs about their pet.

The Adopt A Pet project allows students to improve their creative writing and math skills, enhance their ablility with the use of the Internet and technology, explore the world of domestication, and increase their awarness of caring for a pet.

This project intergrates the different disciplines which relate to everyday life skills for the adolescent learner. It shows students how to be responsible for a pet and the items they need in order to own and care for their pet.

 Objectives
Students research their information about a domestication of an animal.
Students choose a pictures of either a dog, cat, hamster, bird, rabbit, or fish as their pet.
Students produce a creative autobigraphy about their pet with vital information.
Students construct a family tree about domestication of their animal.
Students write several facts about the concepts of wild and domesticated animals.
Students research the Internet to find out the different prices and costs of items that their pet would need for one week.
Students create a spreadsheet and graphs with the information about the cost of their pet. They interpret their information with the graphs.
Students write five facts that they have learned about their particular pet that they have chosen. They explain the responsibility of owning a pet.
Students design a PowerPoint Presentation or AppleWorks Slide Show or Keynote for Macs with all of their information as a culminating activity.

Websites
This website is student friendly, free, and has the appropriate pictures for students to use for their project.
www.pics4learning.com
Wikipedia is very student friendly and includes links to other sites. This website is used for the domestication of animals and presents a broader view of information for the students.
www.wikipedia.org
Petco allows students to pick and choose their different items for their pets.
www.petco.com
Petsmart allows students to choose items and compare prices with Petco. Students can investigate the different items for their pets.
www.petsmart.com

Standards
Students access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
grades: 6 , 7, and 8
Technology
Students apply the knowledge and thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life problems and make informed decisions.
grades: 6, 7, and 8
Technology
Students understand mathematics and become mathemaically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, applying mathematics in a real- world setting, and solving problems through the intergrated study of number systems.
grades: 6, 7, and 8
Mathematics
Students understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical developement of ideas in science.
grades: 6, 7, and 8
Mathematics
Students read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.
grades: 6, 7, and 8
English Language Arts

Day 1: Pick Your Pet
Objectives
Students identify which pet they would like to adopt or own.
Students research the Internet for a picture of the pet.
Students write an autobiography about the pet.
Materials
Computer, LCD projector, and screen
Students can use a notebook and a pen to take down information.
Software, Mircosoft Word, or AppleWorks Word Processing applications
Procedures
Students identify the animal that they want to adopt.
Students expand their knowledge by using the Internet to find a picture of their pet. They use the website www.pics4learning.com.
The teacher shows them how to bookmark the website and use two applications at once.
The students open Mircosoft Word and drag the picture from the Internet to the Word Processing page. Students can also highlight, edit, copy, click onto the new document, and paste the picture.
Students name their pet and write a creative autobiography about it. They include how the animal got its name, hobbies, family, birthday, and things that the animal likes to do. This can be done in two or three paragraphs.
Students center the picture and use a readable font.
Homework
Students identify any work that needs to be revised and define a "family tree".
Assessment
Assessment by teacher rubric.

Day 2: My Family Tree
Objectives
Students distinguish the difference between a "wild" and "domesticated" animal through research on the Internet.
Students construct an animal "family tree" with relatives from the "wild" animal kingdom. They can either use the Inspiration or PowerPoint program or AppleWorks Draw.
Students match pictures of the "wild" family with their text from the Internet. They either click and drag the picture or edit, copy, and paste the picture onto the graphic organizer.
Materials
Computer
Software: Inspiration or AppleWorks Draw, or Mircosoft Word for PowerPoint.
Procedures
Students research the difference between "wild" and "domesticated" animals. Students use this information in their family tree.
Students construct a family tree for their pet with cousins from the wild animal kingdom in Inspiration.
Students apply pictures from the Internet to supplement their family tree. There should be a title of the family and the "wild animals" labeled on the tree.
Homework
Modify any work that needs revision and look up either online or in a dictionary the words "wild", "domesticated", and "origin".
Assessment
Teacher rubric.

Day 3: Wild vs. Domestication
Objectives
Students define the terms "wild" and "domestication".
Students prepare a mini report on "wild" vs. "domestication" for a PowerPoint presentation or Appleworks Slide Show, or Keynote for Macs.
Teacher illustrates the difference between a PowerPoint presentation and a report.
Materials
Computer, LCD projector, screen, internet.
Software: Mircosoft Word, Mircosoft PowerPoint, or Keynote from the Mac computers.
Procedures
Students research the Internet using wikipedia and other links about "wild" vs. "domestication". Students need a total of three paragraphs on this topic.
Students transfer and set up all of their information into a PowerPoint presentation. This is composed of five facts that students format with bullets on the presentations.
Students revise and design their work for the presentation by using pictures from the Internet.
Homework
Compile a list of the different items that your pet will need for one week. Include bowls, cages, food, leashes, pads, bedding, beds, etc.
Assessment
Teacher rubric.

Day 4: Spreading Knowledge
Objectives
Students construct a spread sheet by using the Internet to list their items for their pet.
Students investigate the different ways of creating graphs.
Students interpret the various graphs that they created and analyze which one is the easiest to read.
Students discover the importance of color theory for a presentation.
Materials
Computer, spread sheet application, LCD project, screen.
Procedures
Students compile the items they need for their pet by going online using www.petco.com or www.petsmart.com. They compare supplies and prices, and bookmark both websites.
Students construct their spread sheet with their supplies. The columns read: Item, Price For One Item, Number Of Items, and Total. Students list all of the information.
Students produce the following graphs: bar, pie, line, and stack.
Students identify the legend/key, title, colors, clip art, and gradients for their graphs.
Students interpret which graph is the easiest to read all of the information.
Homework
Students list 5-6 facts that they learned.
Assessment
Teacher rubric.

Day 5: Evaluating My Pet
Objectives
Students analyze all their work and draw conclusions about how to take care of their pet.
Students give examples of how much it would cost to take care of their pet for a week without any vaccinations.
Students decide if they would ever own a pet from the information they gathered from the websites and the graphs they created. They include four to five facts.
Students complete all aspects of the project to create a 6-slide PowerPoint presentation.
Materials
Computer, LCD project, screen, PowerPoint or AppleWorks Slide Show or Keynote for Macs.
Procedures
Student creates a PowerPoint/AppleWorks Slide Show/Keynote presntation for Macs.
Slide One Title card, name of lesson: Adopt A Pet, name of pet, picture of the pet, first and last name of student and class. All slides have transitions from slide to slide. All slides have animations on text and pictures.
Slide Two Title of the lesson, name of the pet, picture of the pet, the pet's autobiography written in the first person. This work was done in Word Processing. Click, drag and resize all material to fit slide. Add animations.
Slide Three Slide of the family tree from Inspiration. Put title on card, Family Tree. This work was done either in Inspiration or AppleWorks Draw. Click, drag and rezise all material to fit slide. Add animations.
Slide Four "Wild vs. "Domestication". Title on card, Wild vs Domestication. This work was done in Word. Use bullet format with four to five facts. Click, drag, and resize all material to fit slide. Add animations.
Slide Five Spreading Knowledge is the title on the card. This work was done in the Spreadsheet section. Click, drag, and resize all material to fit slide. Add animations.
Slide Six Evaluating My Pet is the title on the card. This work was done in Word. In PowerPoint, format a bullet for each fact. There should be four to five facts on the card. Add animations.
Homework
None
Assessment
Teacher Rubric

Rosalie Cooper

rcooper7@schools.nyc.gov

Elizabeth Blackwell MS 210 Queens
93-11 101st Avenue
Ozone Park, NY 11416

Rosalie Cooper has been teaching in the New York City Public System for over 30 years at the middle school level, teaching various disciplines. Over the years, she has won numerours grants including the UFT Mini, Learning Technology and Impact. Her classes were featured on "Five Alive". She was the yearbook advisor for 15 years and is a Gold Key Recipient from Columbia Scholastic Press Assoication. At present she teaches technology in the Mac lab.

 

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