LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

A Visit to a North Carolina Aquarium

Students will visit the website for the North Carolina Aquariums and choose one aquarium to visit. They will gather the information requested on the worksheet as if their family made an imaginary trip to the chosen aquarium. They will use this information to write a story about their imaginary trip.

A lesson plan for grade 5 Science

By Linda Murray

Learn more

Related pages

  • Intrigue of the Past: Teach your students about North Carolina's fascinating past. This edition contains lesson plans about the fundamental concepts, processes, and issues of archaeology, as well as essays for the teacher with detailed information about four periods in North Carolina's ancient history.
  • Seasons change: This lesson introduces students to the characteristics of the changing seasons and allows students to see how plants, animals, and people adapt to the changes.

Related topics

Help

Please read our disclaimer for lesson plans.

Legal

This page copyright ©2008. Terms of use

Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • locate information on a North Carolina aquarium.
  • record requested information on a worksheet.
  • create an imaginary story, “My Family’s Visit to a North Carolina Aquarium.”
  • share the story with a partner or small group.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2.5 hours

Materials/resources

“My Family’s Visit to a North Carolina Aquarium” Worksheet (attached)

Technology resources

Internet access and a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer

Pre-activities

Students will have studied the NC Coastal region.

Students have had some experience using a web browser to visit a site on the web.

Discuss relevance of being able to use a variety of materials to gather information.

Activities

Activity 1:
Students will visit the NC Aquariums web site and choose which Aquarium they would like to visit. They will use the worksheet to gather information about the aquarium. (The worksheet attachment can be downloaded and read in Microsoft Works by using RTF, Rich Text Format.)

Activity 2:
They will then use most or all of this information to write an imaginary story, “My Family’s Visit to a North Carolina Aquarium.”

Activity 3:
Students will present their story to a partner or small cooperative group for editing suggestions.

Activity 4:Students will edit the story and prepare a finished copy.

Assessment

The activities in this lesson will be evaluated on the basis of student participation individually and/or with their partner or cooperative group. The assessment of the written work will include 40% on the worksheet and 40% on the story with 20% on participation.

Supplemental information

North Carolina County Clips
http://www.itpi.dpi.state.nc.us/counties/default.html
Student would find the information on the NC Lighthouses most interesting

Related websites

North Carolina Aquariums
http://www.ncaquariums.com/

Comments

Students could work individually, with partners, or in a small cooperative group. Instead of a story, students might prepare a poster about their imaginary visit. Another alternative would be to use the information to make a photo album of their visit. Students could draw pictures for the photo album or create them in a draw program on the computer such as Kid Pix II or Microsoft Draw.
The class members could contribute to a data base of information on the aquariums so that comparisons could be made. The worksheet attachment was created in Student Writing Center and saved as a rtf (rich text format). It can be opened with Microsoft Works also.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Computer Technology Skills (2005)

Grade 5

  • Goal 2: The learner will demonstrate knowledge and skills in the use of computer and other technologies.
    • Objective 2.13: Plan, discuss, and use search strategies with two or more criteria to find information for assignments/projects/products about the Western Hemisphere. Strand - Telecommunications/Internet

Science (2005)

Grade 5

  • Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals.
    • Objective 1.01: Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment).
    • Objective 1.03: Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.