Activity 1: What is nature?
Students should draw a picture, take a photograph, or find a visual example that represents their idea of nature. Students should write one to two sentences about why their example is representative of nature. In class, students will display their visual of nature around the classroom. Students will travel around the room in groups of 3-4 and will view the different pictures of nature and create a t-chart with “common features” within the images and “unique features” within the images. We will report out as a class on these features to see what common and uncommon ideas exist regarding nature. I would anticipate some variety in the student’s images, which would generate questions about what constitutes nature. For example, an image might include aquatic life, or another may include humans, which will likely spur additional questions and
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Using observations from the initial visit to Kitty Todd as well as the internet, develop an answer to the question, “Why is plant life so diverse within the Kitty Todd preserve?” Create a visual (Slides, Powerpoint, Prezi, posterboard, website, etc) and report out to your classmates about your initial hypothesis, important observations and what they mean, and additional research used to formulate your response.
As students investigate this question, they will discover the significance and importance of abiotic factors including soil, sunlight, air quality, temperature, etc. on biotic factors.
Activity 4: What is nature? Part 2
Students will reflect on their initial image used in activity one to describe their current perspective of nature. How has their opinion changed and what has caused these changes? Would you change your image? If so, find an image that you think best exemplifies your new perspective on