Lesson 4.2: Conclusion

NGSS

Objective

Students will learn about warm and cold blooded organisms as they use data to determine the result of their experiment. 

Materials

Per Student:

• Piece of paper or notecard

Per Class

• Chart (either written on the board or prepared on a poster)*

*Image to reference under the "Activity" section of this lesson plan

Prep

• Create the cold and warm chart on the board or on a poster
• Open up the power point

Procedure

Introduction:

10 Minutes: What are Cold and Warm Blooded Organisms

-Start with a discussion 

• Will a child in a warm climate become a teenager any faster than one who grows up in a colder climate? If you lived in Alaska would you grow up any faster or slower than you would in California?
• What about Milkweed Bugs, do they grow faster in different temperatures?
• As you can see the outside temperature affects humans and Milkweed Bugs differently. We are now going to watch a video to explain why this happens.

-Play the video titled, "Warm or Cold Blooded Animals" linked below.

-Introduce warm-blooded organisms with the powerpoint.

• Like humans, warm-blooded animals internal temperature stays the same regardless of the temperature of the world around them.
• This means that their environment does not affect their growth.

-Then introduce cold-blooded organisms.

• Explain that unlike warm-blooded animals, these creatures are affected by their environment.
• Explain that when it is cold outside, cold-blooded organisms like snakes are less active and therefore do not grow as much as they would in the heat.

-Ask the students to recall the question that they were asking at the beginning of the experiment.

• Does a Milkweed Bug grow faster in warm or cool temperatures?
• Think about this question, as you observe your Milkweed Bugs because I will be asking for the answer in a couple minutes.

Explanation:

10 Minutes: How to Convey the Results of their Experiment

1. Pass out the insects and their trays to the students. You may ask the "Supplier" to do this.
2. Give students a couple minutes to observe their bugs and look to see in which container the insects were larger.
3. Give students a few more minutes to record these observations in their Insect Journal.
4. After the students have had time to observe and record their observations in their Insect Journal, go around the room, asking each table group which environment their insect grew faster in. Record these answers on the board with your table graph. See below for an example.

Activity:

5 -10 Minutes: Results of their Experiment

-Once all the students have recorded their finding on the chart. Discuss the results by asking students the following questions:

• In which temperature or environment did the Milkweed Bugs grow faster or become the largest? 
• Based on these results do Milkweed Bugs grow faster in warmer or cooler temperatures?
• Based on these results do you think that Milkweed Bugs are cold or warm blooded organisms? The answer is cold-blooded, because temperature affects their growth.

Above image: "T-hart" of students data

Left image: Cool Temperature 

Right image: Warm Temperature

Closing:

5-10 Minutes: Conclusion

• Have two students from each table go up and place their insects in the large container. Have only one table group go up at a time.
• Have each table group work together to dispose of the water and food in the garbage.
• Have each table group work together to clean their plastic containers and dishes with wet wipes provided, throwing away their trash when they are done.
• Pass out papers or notecards for students to write goodbye letters to their Milkweed Bugs!
• Thank the students for their hard work and for a successful experiment!