Context:

This artifact was created in GS 4401: Science and Science Teaching in the Elementary School. It was created under the advisement of Mr. Jeff Goodman during the Fall Semester of 2007.

Impact: This artifact enables kindergarten students to meet the following NCSCOS objectives:

Language Arts:

1.02 Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:

demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).

1.03 Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills:

recognize and name upper and lower case letters of the alphabet.

recognize most beginning consonant letter-sound associations in one syllable words.

Science:

1.01 Observe and describe the similarities and differences among animals including:

Structure

Growth

Changes

Movement

Students will also be able to incorporate their own representations of animals from the alphabet. They will be drawing detailed pictures of animals of their choice and will be describing them to the class during a class discussion of the illustrations.

Alignment: This artifact allows me to meet the following NCDPI teacher standards:

Standard 3, Indicator 1: Choosing this book and analyzing the accuracy of the content allows me to show that I have knowledge about basic life science concepts such as diversity of organisms and their environments and characteristics of living things. The class would hold a discussion about the differences and similarities between the animals, their environments, and their life cycles.

Standard 3, Indicator 4: Discussing the natural selection of the zebra in the activity that I designed shows my knowledge of evolution and its impact on learning. The talk was designed to fit into a kindergarten understanding of animals and shows how a zebra's stripes would help it to survive in the grassy "striped" environment in which they live. The talk also discusses how the change came slowly, not immediately as is sometimes a misconception.