Living Bay Online Curriculum

All download files are in Microsoft Word format.

Part 1 - After learning about the structure of plot in fiction, students determine the plot structure of "How the Armadillo Got Its Name" by matching story cards to a plot chart.

Part 2 - Students learn about diffusion and osmosis through a simulation activity with paper bags as "cells" and cubes as "water".

Integrated Summary - Given cards which describe steps in photosynthesis and cell respiration, students determine the plot of a cell at work by matching the cards to an "Algae Cell at Work" plot chart.

Part 1 - After reading the story "The Elephant's Child" students describe characters from the story as the Bi-Coloured-Python-Rock-Snake would describe them, with a translation of the snake's "big word" descriptions. Emphasis is on vocabulary that describes traits other than appearance.

Part 2 - Students learn about classification systems by attempting to create classification keys for various kinds of algae.

Integrated Summary - By reading descriptions of the six major divisions of algae, students determine what the five or six key traits are that were used to create these divisions. Emphasis is on describing characteristics not just appearance.

Part 1 - Students read the story "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin" and identify descriptive phrases that convey the setting, both time and place. Absurdities and incongruities are part of Kipling's descriptions, and thus part of the study of setting.

Part 2 - Through experimentation, students study changes over time in the process of aquatic succession.

Integrated Summary - Students research development issues, looking at the effect of policy on change over time in our local environment.

Part 1 - Students learn the difference between theme and a moral by first determining the moral of "How the Camel Got His Hump," then discovering the difficulties of attempting to state a moral for two given poems.

Part 2 - Students learn fundamentals of selective breeding such as recessive and dominant traits and genes through a simulation in which the students attempt to breed disease resistant oysters.

Integrated Summary - Thought provoking issues such as ecological management are the scientific equivalent of theme in literature. Students make choices and decisions about how to manage the oyster industry in the face of disease and environmental stress.

Part 1 - First students read "How the Whale Got Its Throat" and review the elements of fiction. Then, as a class, the students work through the specific steps to write a story entitled "How the Oyster Got Sick."

Part 2 - Through a simulation card game, students learn about the nutrient cycle, including the transfer of food and energy through the food chain. The effects of eutrophication are discovered.

Integrated Summary - Students apply their knowledge of the elements of fiction, including theme, and their understanding of algae and oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, to write a story entitled "How the Oyster got Well."