Into the Redwood Forest UBD (Understanding By Design) Framework: Third/Fourth Grade

Desired Results

Goals of the Program
Students will...
•	Enrich their understanding of a place through inquiry.
•	Experience National Parks as places for learning and recreation and develop a personal connection with their local National Parks.
•	Learn about the interdependency of the communities at Muir Woods.

Transfer
•	Recognize that there is community in nature.
•	Examine the environmental and the social health of their communities.
•	Engage in scientific inquiry.

Meaning
Essential Question:

How can nature teach us about community?

Enduring Understandings: Students will understand that... 

•	People and nature are connected as one.
•	Living things adapt to survive.
•	Interdependency supports resiliency in communities.

Acquisition
Students will know...

•	The life cycle of a coast redwood tree.
•	How plants and animals interconnect in a habitat.
•	How the Coast Miwok connect to the nature in Muir Woods.
•	The many ways living things thrive in Muir Woods.

Students will be able to...

•	Describe the life cycle of a Coast Redwood tree.
•	Identify the Indigenous uses of plants found in Muir Woods.
•	Recognize natural, human, and cultural parts of Muir Woods. 
•	Explain how plants and animals interconnect for survival at Muir Woods.

Evidence
Students will show their learning by…
•	Completing the top of page 10 in student journal
…and by doing one of the following lessons on the bottom of page 10 in the student journal (or separate page for more space):
•	Students create a drawing that illustrates the different parts of the communities they are connected to.
•	Students create a short story and drawing that welcomes people to a student’s community and introduces them to different community features.

CA Next Generation Science Standards
3-LS2-1: Some animals form groups that help members survive.
3-LS4-3: In a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3-LS4-4: Determine whether environmental changes can affect the types of animals and plants in a place.
4-LS1-1: Plants have internal and external structures that function to support survival.

CA Common Core Standards
Speaking and Listening:
1.3 & 1.4: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussion (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led).
Writing:
3.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly
4.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

CA History-Social Science Standards
3.22: Discuss the ways in which physical geography, including climate, influenced how the local Indian nations adapted to their natural environment.
3.42: Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of [individuals], including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in [public] life.

Learning Plan
Summary of Key Learning Events and Instruction
•	Pre-trip Preparation: Teacher facilitates lessons 1 - 5 to introduce students to vocabulary, environment, and the cultural history of Muir Woods. Lessons 1 - 5 are found in the teacher curriculum.
•	Pre-trip Presentation: During pre-trip presentation, National Park Service staff conducts a classroom lesson, introducing the inquiry process (or reinforces if the class has been using inquiry methods) through small group work and an interactive investigation of objects found at Muir Woods. This process mirrors what students will do in the field session at Muir Woods.
•	Muir Woods Field Trip: NPS staff welcome the students and conduct a 3-hour inquiry-based lesson on the redwood forest community and cultural history. Students are engaged by using their senses to investigate the redwood forest.
•	NPS staff, educators, and adult chaperones accompany the students in the investigation of the redwood forest. Students use their IRF student journals while learning in the forest. 
•	Post-trip: Students demonstrate what they have learned by completing the post-visit classroom lessons found in the curriculum.

All materials can be found at:
https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/education/elementary_01.htm

Other resources:
Save the Redwoods League
https://www.savetheredwoods.org/