January 3, 2001

Insects/Cockroach

Learning Links: Cockroaches — Facilitator Page

 

Concept: Use Cockroach buddy poem to illustrate how facts gained through research can be incorporated into a writing activity that creates visual images. Learners also can use this knowledge to create their own buddy poems.

Goals (Measurable): Learner will enjoy the process of performing with other people. Learners will work as a group to tell a story.

Objectives (Not measurable): Learner will be able to state three facts about roaches.

Materials/Supplies needed

• Copies of cockroach buddy poem on Student Page

Activity

• Have two people read the poem for the group, or divide the group in half and have all learners participate by reading one half or the other
• Discuss content. What can students learn about roaches from this poem?
• Challenge students to research a plant or animal on their own and work (independently or as a group) to create their own buddy poems

Resources

• Fleischman, P. (1985). I am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices. New York, NY. HarperTrophy.
• Fleischman, P. (1988). Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. New York, NY. HarperTrophy.

Standards (Note that these are only some of the possible standards one could cover with this activity. Depending on how each person uses the activity, it may be used to support different standards.)

• Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) - Science
  • Students develop skills of asking questions, gathering information, & communicating findings.
  • Students identify components of the natural world to which organisms may respond.
  • Students identify adaptations and characteristics, understanding that they help species survive.
  • Students understand that a change in the environment can affect the survival of individuals and species.
  • Students recognize the interactions between organisms, such as predation, parasitism, and mutualism.
  • Students understand the interdependence between organisms and their interactions within an ecosystem.

• National Science Education Standards - Content Standards

  

  • Unifying Concepts and Processes
    • Form and function
  • Science as Inquiry
    • Characteristics of organisms
    • Organisms and their environment
    • Structure and function in living systems
    • Diversity and adaptation of organisms
    • Interdependence of organisms
    • Behavior of organisms
  

  Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.