Parkwise - What Do You Know?

Brainstorm as a class what students already know and what they want to learn about Dall sheep.

Before you begin: Read the background information: Dall Sheep Taxonomy, Dall Sheep Fact Sheet, Vertebrate Fact Sheet. The information provides vocabulary and general information about the relationship of Dall sheep to vertebrates, mammals, and general characteristics of ungulates.

Procedure:

Introduce students to the unit by telling them they will be learning about Dall sheep, in particular, Dall sheep found in northwestern Alaska. They will learn how the sheep live, where they live, what people know about them, and how people affect them.

Write at the top of the board or chart paper, “What do we know about sheep?”. Underneath this list five categories: appearance (how sheep look), life history (how and where sheep live), importance (how are sheep important to us?), other information and “ Let’s find out!”.

Ask students to brainstorm (open discussion) what they know about each heading. All ideas need to be recorded for encouragement and participation. If there are questions, put them on the “Let’s find out” sheet. Use probing questions to encourage the depth of their knowledge such as “If a sheep is a mammal, what makes a mammal a mammal?”

Adaptations: Grades K-4, an alternative to open brainstorming is to have students draw a picture of what they think a Dall sheep looks like on blank paper. Have the students try to answer the headings by drawing what they think a sheep looks like and where they might live. After the pictures are drawn, the student can explain their artwork and hang them in the room. The whole class can then brainstorm on how and why Dall sheep are important to us.

Extensions: Grades 3-12, an extension would be to ask each student to write questions for each category that they would like to be answered about sheep by the end of the unit(s). The questions should be answered by the students as they learn the answers during the unit. Answers could become part of classroom storyboard or part of a unit summary project.

Suggested Assessment:
Since this a brainstorming activity to find out the level students are at in “what they know”, they should not be assessed on how much they know. Suggested assessment would be to include this activity with whole unit and make notes on student participation in brainstorming session and overall involvement in discussion.

Credit:
Adapted from What do you know about geese? - Teach About Geese, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1988. Office of Public Use and Information Environmental Education, Anchorage, Alaska.