Sorting by NYSLS MST & Grade Level 5
 

Title
Synopsis
  Show Some Backbone and Teach Invertebrates Using this unit, the students will gain information about the similarities and differences between the various invertebrate phyla. Through the use of easily acquired craft supplies, students will construct biologically correct models of a member of each phylum. Computers will be used in an assessment activity.
  Student-made Web Pages...Show Off Their Work! Designed to teach students how to create a web page using Netscape Communicator's Composer and can be used by students in grades 3-12 to present their projects or research on their school's web page. Designed to be taught in a lab setting and will be used by the technology teacher in coordination with the classroom teacher.
  Central America Students will read, research, learn, and present information on the countries of Central America, its features, and a brief history of each country.
  Rock, Rap, and Roll Students will research three styles of music (Blues, Rap, and Latin),write an abstract on the style assigned and prepare an oral report that will be delivered to the class. Students will also compose a song in their assigned style using the Rock, Rap’n Roll software, and will be performed for the class as part of the oral presentation.
  Come Fly With Us Collaborative inquiry in Math, Science and Technology with paper airplanes. Students will be involved in inquiry and analysis activities. The unit invites students to inquire, discover and explore connections collaborately.
  Roving Thru The Universe How might you determine the relative size of our solar system compared to the size of your local community? Why is it important to learn about the solar system? How can math be related to the understanding our solar system?
  Mealworms' Responses to Stimuli Students will demonstrate an understanding of the process of scientific inquiry and sensory perceptions of the mealworm.
  Astronomy How are living organisms adapted to live in certain regions of the earth? How does the rotation of the Earth effect day and night? What effect does the revolution and the slant of the Earth have on the seasons at certain latitudes north and south of the equator?
  Dream a Dream: Reach a Goal Developing dreams and achieving goals that we set for ourselves.
  This Land is Your Land: Geology & Geograph* Essential Questions: How does the geology and geography of an area determine how people use the land? How does the earth's crust change?
  Electronic Spreadsheets & Iditarod 2000 To integrate computer technology in the Dream/Ranch a Goal Learning Unit.
  Amazon Rainforest Essential Questions: What defines a rainforest? What are the layers of the rainforest and how are they unique? Why are the rainforests important?
  May The Fastest Toy Win This learning experience best fits into the intermediate level physical science course.
  It's a What? A Children's Guide to Arthropods of The purpose of this learning experience is to use computer technology to develop a student generated arthropod guide of specimens collected by students in and around Indian Creek Nature Center in Rensselaer Falls, NY.
  Pollution and the Environment A fifth grade science unit designed to make students aware of the major environmental threats facing the Earth such as water pollution, air pollution, acid rain, global warming, and ozone depletion.
  Maple Sugaring: The Science Behind the Sweet How can we tell the exact point when sap becomes maple syrup?
  Astronomy: Welcome to Our Universe Science unit divided into 3 chapters: The Earth-Moon-Sun Relationship, The Solar System,and Stars.
  Research/Biography Students will use directed online sites through a WebQuest designed in PowerPoint to be an Intranet Library Resource.
  So You Think You Got A Problem Students engaging in problem-solving process.
  Hot Topic Hot Topic is a learning experience where students focus on a topic, in this case an environmental issue, and utilize Hyper Studio, a dynamic and exciting multimedia software program, to create a presentation that supports their point of view.
  Cooking Up The Weather : Sun, Wind and Water Students will be immersed in this integrated learning unit through instruction/activities in a variety of subject areas, each day, that lead to a cohesive, in-depth study of the topic of weather. Students will be practicing and applying a variety of skills in multiple meaningful contexts. Each day will flow from one subject area into another with an emphasis on a holistic rather than an isolated approach to the topic.
  Owl Scavenger Hunt Students will get practice using internet technology for a specific purpose (scavenger hunt)
  The War With Grandpa This learning unit is based upon the book The War With Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith. It will be used in an after school program of third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The novel will be read orally to the students as a group with the unit to follow. This unit is designed to give the students practice in using a digital camera and computer technology for the specific purpose of sequencing. Other related activities will accompany the technology.
  Journey This learning unit is based upon the book Journey by Patricia MacLachlan. It will be used in an after school program of third, fourth, and fifth grade students. The novel will be read orally to the students as a group with the unit to follow. This unit is designed to give the students enrichment activities that focus on the book and related concepts.
  Fifth Grade State Fair This learning unit provides a unique opportunity to study the United States as mandated in the New York State Grade social studies curriculum. The primary purpose is for students to discover through multiple research techniques specific information in a three-part project on a chosen state. The culmination to this unit will be an afternoon Fifth Grade State Fair to be enjoyed by students, faculty, and family.
  Graphing What is the purpose and/or objective of graphing? In what ways do we construct clear and accurate graphs to depict information in our lives? In what ways do we use graphs to depict information and/or solve problems in our lives?
  Women in the Civil War Grade 5-8 ELA women of the Civil War
  How to DO Just About Anything This unit will incorporate technology and ELA in various subject areas on writing "How To's", and then presenting the finished product. The lesson will be first done with a small group of Consultant Students, who will then become group leaders to the full classroom.
  Solar Unit 299. This unit incorporates many curricula areas, by joining them with a common theme, solar energy. Each aspect of the lessons is designed to use the students' own knowledge and then explore beyond it. The unit uses both individual and team building lessons. The students learn from these experiences their strengths and weaknesses within themselves. This in turn can also direct a student to different career choices.
  O Canada This three week interdisciplinary unit on Canada addresses numerous New York State standards in a hands on, student centered manner. Its centerpiece is a WebQuest that allows students to experience researching on the internet in a controlled manner. Students will be immersed in reading, writing, researching, and creating, as they learn about America's neighbor to the north.
  Food Pyramid The lesson was developed for the learning standards because of the need to integrate as many curricula areas as possible for both academic and motivational rigor. I learned a great deal in preparing this unit.
  Healthy Eating Students will evaluate their own diets and electronically log their daily entries. During daily lessons students will learn about the food pyramid and different types of diets and how they relate to long term health. Students will research various diets and report out both verbally and in writing. Power Point will be used as a way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of what constitutes a proper diet.
  What's the Matter? This is a learning unit on matter that takes approximately 2-3 weeks and is appropriate for fifth grade students. Students will research an element, study the states of matter of water, and research the contributions of a scientist, specifically someone who has had an element named for him or her.
  Weather Watch This is a learning unit on weather that takes approximately 4-6 weeks and is appropriate for fifth and sixth grade students. They will be asked to learn about how weather patterns interact, what a meteorologist does and what types of information they study to make a forecast, and to research one of the six types of severe weather studied (hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, flash floods, heat and drought, and lightning). They will also be asked to demonstrate their knowledge by preparing and presenting a mock weather report.
  Wacky wheels and Marvelous Machines Simple Machines: How do simple machines make-work easier? What effects do simple machines have on everyday life? How do forces affect work? How could you construct and use a compound machine to make a simple task easier?
  Colorful Writing This Learning Experience will take about 3 weeks to complete. The students will be learning the different types of figurative language so that they can use them in their writing to make it more interesting and descriptive. The students will then be using what they have learned about figurative language to describe their family's characeristics in a slide show presentation.
  Cinderella Really Gets Around! Create meaningful lessons for Upper Elementary students that integrate Language Arts lessons with lessons in world geography and culture. Some of the 3000 + variants of the Cinderella stories that exist from around the world provide an interesting way to teach language arts skills, as well as world geography and culture. Activities will be interactive and student centered where the students will have opportunities to apply their knowledge in a variety of interdisciplinary tasks that are appealing and definitive.
  Under the Canopy This rainforest unit is an integrated summer reading program designed to reinforce language arts skills with an emphasis on reading and writing. The summer program is designed to help students at risk meet the N.Y. State standards. This unit is literature based and spans a period of four weeks incorporating reading, writing, and technology skills for students who have just completed grades one through five. It will also expose the students to the geographical and scientific significance of a rainforest habitat. This theme based approach to learning a broad topic allows students functioning at a wide variety of levels to work together cooperatively, learn from each other, and have fun together. At risk readers take on the role of the "mentor" or "teacher" when paired with younger students and they are then able to build their self-esteem . These students are rarely able to be the experts with their peer group so this becomes a very positive experience for all the children. In addition, the younger students love the attention from their older classmates. All aspects of the summer program center around the rainforest theme including reading, writing, listening, and speaking projects, art activities, guest readers, and even snacks are woven into the theme. "Under the Canopy" is sure to be a swinging good time for all!
  Polygon Search What is geometry? How does geometry affect our everyday life? How are geometric figures classified in our world? What are the characteristics of a geometric figure? "Children who develop a strong sense of spatial relationships and who master the concepts of language and geometry are better prepared to learn number and measurement ideas, as well as other advanced mathematical topics." (NCTM 1989a, P.48)
  The War With Grandpa: Solutions to Family Problem This unit is based on the book The War With Grandpa by Robert Kimmell Smith. The activities correlate closely with the New York State ELA 4th grade test and the standards.
  Info Access in the Library for Electronic Resource Library Reference, Research: Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning.
  Terrestrial Biomes Students will be given pictures that pertain to the biome they are assigned. Using "Word Splash" students will think of five words that come to mind when looking at these pictures specific to their biome. Students will then share and discuss their words within their group. Finally each group will choose three words they feel exemplify their biome to share with the biome to share with the entire class.
  The Lemonade Stand Students will complete The Lemonade Stand worksheet in the classroom which introduces them to the interactive game:The Lemonade Stand. Different vocabulary terms, such as producer, operating expenses, and profit will be explained. Two different charts will also be displayed and explained. The students will have to make some decisions and answer some questions using the Weather Forecast and Financial Information Chart and A Daily Report Chart.
  Mmm, Mmm Good Why are a variety of foods needed in a daily diet? What factors influence food choices? What information is provided on a food label? What are the key nutrients and why are they essential?
  Be a Structural Engineer! Introduce elementary students to some processes involved in designing and building things (focus on structural strength) done through a series of projects. Emphasis is on Learning Standard 5 (tech.), has strong ties to MST Standard 1 (Analysis, Inquiry, and Design), and Standard 7 (Interdisciplinary Problem Solving). General approach to student learning is one of discovery, followed by presentation/clarification of basic concepts. Evaluation takes place throughout the unit by teacher observation of students as they work both alone and in-groups. Formal assessment is tied to the rubrics, which evaluate design, process, and testing of the students' final truss-building projects.
  Energy: May the Force Move You This is a unit on Energy, Force, and Motion designed for deaf students at a grade 5 instructional level
  The Living Seas Students will gather water samples from the Raquette River. The students then obsevered the jars each day for five days, n oting any changes in the color or composition of the samples. After five days, a speciman from each jar was put under the microscope and compared.
  All The Water In The World And Not A Drop To Drink This is a unit that focuses on water and the need to recycle and reuse it in a responsible manner. Students initially learn the distribution of water throughout the world and the finite amount of freshwater available for human use. They then learn and investigate threats to our water supply. As a culminating activity, students are asked to make decisions about the use of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basin waters.
  What Should We Do With This Land? This unit challenges students to think about the pros and cons of land use and development. Students also learn about the introduction of non-native species and the havoc they can produce. As a culminating project, students become civil engineers and design a town including a modified Environmental Impact Statement. . Students then present their town to their class and guests.
  Geometry Trhough Literature and Technology Essential Questions: Where can you find geometric shapes, 2 and 3 dimensional, in your life surrounding? Can a variety of geometric shapes be combined to form 1, 2, or up to 5 other polygons? What is the minimum number of triangles that could be used to form a square, trapezoid, rectangle, and parallelogram?
  Fairy Tales: Take a Critical Look! This unit is designed to promote critical thinking through the use of fairy tales. Students will learn about specific characteristics that exsist within this genre, use critical analysis to do note-taking and present their findings in a power point presentation format. They will then be provided the middle of a lesser known fairy tale in which they will have to think in reverse to reconstruct missing elements of a story so it makes sense.
  Presto! Poetry This four-week unit incorporates web page design into a unique poetry unit. Students will be exposed to twenty different types of poems, required to create a poetry anthology and participate in a poetry reading. Students will learn about alliteration, simile and metaphor, personification and descriptive language.
  The Fraction Transaction THE FRACTION TRANSACTION: Reducing Fractions for Elementary Students
  Real Life 101 Real Life 101 is an interdisciplinary unit that will take approximately four weeks to complete. This unit introduces elementary students to real life situations, such as applying for jobs, and buying cars. Students are put into situations where they must make decisions and follow through with their choices. This unit is both challenging and exciting but allows all students to succeed.
  Tell Me How This mini-unit will allow children to explore the genre of nonfiction. Students will read a variety of texts and then publish their own How-To Power Point Presentation. Students will be invited to listen to a variety of community members and parents share something that they know how to do, and use this as a basis for their own oral presentation.
  Everything's Under Control Students will use skills they have learned to create a controlled study and will invite parents to a "Mad Scientist Fair".
  What's a Problem? Problem solving activity using skills learned throughtout the unit while partents will use strategies that were taught at the partent workshop.
  Powerful Presentations Students will fill out a short questionnaire about themselves. Ask them to think about how we could present their information to another fifth grade class (write letters, send e-mail, make a collage, send pictures). Teacher shows them a slide show on Power Point about them and the things that they have accomplished this year.
  Birds of the Northeast - An Environmental Unit Learning about the environment is paramount if mankind is to survive on the planet earth. The efficient use of resources and the ability to co exist with the other inhabitants of the planet is essential. The effects of human existence on other species, such as birds often indicate how well we are doing. We must all discover what each of us can do to become part of the evolution of humankind and the evolution of the planet. What will we leave behind? A major theme behind this unit is the understanding and appreciation of the other species of plants and animals that we share this planet with. This is done in an effort to help us, and students, better understand ourselves, themselves, and therefor live a happy and fulfilling life. The only thing we really have is time.
  The Write Byte The Write Byte is part of a writing workshop unit, which is an in-depth plan that teaches students the writing process. The purpose of the Write Byte is to get students excited about writing, learn about authors they have read, and become familiar with the writing process.
  Effects of Environment on Plant Growth How can the scientific method be used to help one make survival-based decisions? How does environment affect plant growth? What types of seeds are needed for survival on a new planet characterized by erratic changes in weather and by soils of widely varying pH?
  SOS SAVE OUR SPECIES None Available
  Charged Up About Magnetism and Electricity Essential Questions: Why is magnetism important to us? Why is electricity important to us? How does an electromagnet work? What impact does an electromagnet have on our lives?
  Let Go of My legos! Essential Questions: How do simple machines effect our lives? How have people used simple machines? How does gravity influence the way we live?
  SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL The topic of this unit is the movement of the earth's crust as it relates to earthquakes and volcanoes. It encompasses the layers of the earth, plate tectonics, as well as earthquakes and volcanoes. Students will explore the relationships between these concepts and will understand how and why earthquakes and volcanoes occur.
  Immigration: Why Did They Come? Students will analyze immigration trends / waves by entering data in a spreadsheet, creating bar and pie graphs, determining the time period of greatest immigration for a given nationality.
  No, Dorothy, this isn't Kansas! Students will learn about hurricanes and tornadoes and read the novel Night of the Twisters. They will make journal entries and write a research report to follow up.
  Heroes of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Heroes are not born; they are people who are shaped by experiences in their lives. This unit will provide students with an opportunity to reflect on what makes a hero. It will also provide students with an opportunity to research heroes of yesterday and today, as well as encourage them to think about heroes for tomorrow.
  Island Investigation Mini research project for intermediate students to learn about one of the larger islands near the community of Clayton called Grindstone Island. Students learn how an island affects the life of people living there. They will also learn that lifestyles on Grindstone Island have changed over time (completed in two 3-4 multi-age classes at Guardino Elem. School-two month long unit designed to totally immerse children in reading, writing, speaking and listening, culminating in a final project. Lessons took about one and one-half hours per day. Daily scheduled reading and writing workshop times were used for this project. Activities related to NYS Standards in Language Arts, Social Studies, and Technology.
  Bones and Muscles of All Creatures Great and Small Students will understand the structures and functions of the human body at different organizational levels. Students will know how organisms are classified into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on similarities that reflect their evolutionary relationships.
  In a Family Way Essential Questions: What adaptations would a hedgehog make if it became an egg layer? What is the advantage of egg over live birth and vs. versa? What is the advantage of producing young in litters vs. single infants? What technological advances have been developed to manipulate reproduction? What role will zoos play in the reproduction and preservation of endangered species? Can you think of a better method of reproduction that may be the standard after another million years of evolution?
  Graphing Made Easy This experience is set up to help students learn the appropriate way to construct and analyze bar, line, and circle graphs. They will also learn to set up frequency tables and perform some statistical analysis (mean, median, and mode) on their data.
  Recycling Recycling: Is our present recycling process as effective as it could be? How can we use graphing techniques to analyze both present recycling in our elementary school and recycling after our class information sessions? How can we promote better recycling in our school? How can we reduce, reuse, and recycle paper products in our classroom?
  Amazing Astronomy The purpose of this unit, Amazing Astronomy, is to help students understand how our daily lives are affected by astronomy-the study of outer space and everything in it. From the medical field to air transportation, it is crucial for students to realize the importance of space exploration.
  Environmental Education / Water Pollution Environmental Education: Focus on Water Pollution
  Classifying Animals Extend and refine knowledge about vertebrates and invertabrates.
  Making Healthy Nutritional Choices Why is a study of nutrition essential to a healthy life? How do nutrients help the body? How will the Internet be helpful in this search?
  Meant to Invent: Famous American Inventors Using the Internet, students will research a famous American inventor. They will complete activities to display at a Famous American Inventor Hall of Fame.
  Simple Machine Project Learners will culminate their classroom studies of simple machines by developing a machine of their own, capable of accomplishing a simple task. In addition to researching, planning and constructing their machines, students will make an oral presentation to their class as well as participate in a school-wide science fair. Additionally, students will share their projects.
  What Lies Beneath? This learning unit is designed to give students a deeper understanding of plate tectonics theory, concepts and real life consequences. Topics that will be addressed will include the layers of the earth, mountain formations, plate boundaries, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Throughout this unit students will be asked to work cooperatively to gain information through Internet use, written expression and graphic organizers. At the culmination of the unit students will be asked to create a brochure that states their opinion for which is the most destructive force.
  International Festival We have activities that relate to math, arts and writing. The learning experience has different activities incorporated into one, therefore all learners should be able to find some aspect that appeals to them. The students will be engaged in activities that relate to the learning standards as stated above.
  Rain Forest Animal Habitat Museum A rainforest project that requires students to have a thorough understanding of one specific rain forest animal and its needs.
  Plugging Into PowerPoint Introduction to teaching PowerPoint to elementary students. Students will learn the components of the software so they may use the program to demonstrate learning and for classroom instruction.
  The Civil War This is a five week interdisciplinary unit on the Civil War which addresses numerous New York State standards in a student-centered manner. Students will be immersed in reading, writing, researching and creating as they learn about life during the mid 1800's. The unit is focused on developing an understanding of life as a slave, soldier, leader and civilian during the American time period known as The Civil War.
  Reptiles Essential Questions: What is a reptile? How are they both similar and different to other animals? What adaptations, defense mechanisms, and camouflage have allowed them to change and survive? How do reptiles reproduce?
  Cybernetiquette This learning experience will teach students the basics of safety on the Internet. This learning experience will be a perfect beginning to any Internet activity whether it is within a technology curriculum or other content area. This connects to all areas where instruction will lead to exploration of the Internet. This Learning Experience is tied to the unit called Keypals: Communicating Across the Information Superhighway
  Calendars Have students learn the calendar and how technology can enhance a calendar's use in daily life.
  Key Pals The focus of this experience is to compare the student's own cultural/religious beliefs and traditions of death and funerals with those of another culture. This experience comes near the end of a unit on death and dying. We have discussed the biology of death and dying, we have investigated and debated euthanasia vs. palliative care, we have learned about health care proxies and living wills, organ donation, and we have toured a local funeral home and discussed local traditions.
  My Personal Stock Portfolio The student will read and write for information and understanding (Language Arts #1) students will access, generate, and transfer information using appropriate technology. (Math, Science, & Technology #2) The students will understand mathematics and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning mathematically, by applying mathematics in a real world settings, and by solving problems through integrated study of number systems and data analysis. (Math, Science, & Technology #3)
  Shop Till You Drop How important is math in everyday life?





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