• Teach persuasive writing.

• Students will use the computer to write, edit and revise their persuasive essay.

• Teach students how to design their presentation slides by using a story board.

• Teach students how to develop a bibliography and how to cite online sources of information.

• Students will write to the appropriate person and ask permission to use pictures from websites in their presentations.

• Persuasive Essay Assessment:
  • Develops a controlling idea that conveys a judgment;
  • Creates and organizes a structure appropriate to the needs and interests of a specific audience; arranges details, reasons, examples, and/or anecdotes persuasively;
  • Excludes information and arguments that are irrelevant;
  • Anticipates and addresses reader concerns and counter arguments;
  • Supports arguments with detailed evidence, citing sources of information as appropriate;
  • Practice responsible use of information by citing resources.

• Science Assessment:
  • Knows that the behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (e.g., hunger) and external cues (e.g., changes in the environment), and that humans and other organisms have senses that help them to detect these cues
  • Knows that an organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment (e.g., kinds and numbers of other organisms present, availability of food and resources, physical characteristics of the environment)
  • Knows that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms (e.g., some organisms move in, others move out; some organisms survive and reproduce, others die)
  • Knows that all organisms (including humans) cause changes in their environments, and these changes can be beneficial or detrimental

Resources & Materials:

• Group budget on saltwater fish
• Word processor software
• Story board template
• "How to cite resources" information
• One computer with Internet access for each small group (2-4 children)
• E-mail capabilities