Zoo Project - Math

by Ana Clara Sisson

Project

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Subject: Math

Grade level: Kindergarten

Essential question: How can numbers be represented in the zoo?

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.3 - Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.4

Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities; connect counting to cardinality.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.5

Count to answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.

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Learning objectives:

Count the amount of animals in the zoo and represent that number with a written numeral.
Create a video showing their responses to the scavenger hunt and answering the “how many?” questions.
Collaborate in a small group to create the zoo, respond to the questions, and create their videos.

Description of the project:

The main focus of this project is math, but students will be working on arts and science as well (the explanation comes below). This project could be divided into two lessons of 50 minutes each. The first 30 minutes would be building the animals and the next 20 minutes the kids would start the activity that they put the animals together into a zoo. The second lesson will be focused on math.
First, the students will create their favorite zoo animal using different materials such as cardboard, paper, clay, paint, etc. The teacher will present a variety of materials and the students will choose what fits them better. This part of the project relates to art, which is part of STEAM, since the students will use their creativity in order to design and create their animals.

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Students will collaborate, which is part of the 21st century skills, to build the classroom zoo. Students will group the different animals according to the type of animal and they will activate prior knowledge to group the animals according to their eating habits and where they live (land or water). This relates to Science, which is part of the STEAM curriculum, since students will use their critical thinking skills in order to decide what their animals need to survive.
For this collaboration part, students will be divided into heterogeneous groups. High level kids will be working with low level kids and ELL students, so they can help each other.
After sorting out the animals and building the zoo, students will stay in their groups and each group will complete a ‘Zoo Scavenger Hunt’ for the math part. Students will be given "how many?" questions based on their artwork.
For the math ‘Zoo Scavenger Hunt’, students will answer questions such as “how many animals do you see?”, “how many tails do you see?”, “how many animals eat only plants?”, etc. The students will discuss those questions within their group. After, they will record each other with their iPads where they answer the question and show the written number on a white board. This will be collaborative and technology based.
The final work will be posted on SeeSaw. This enhances the learning process through the use of technology, since the students will explain their thinking on how they solved the word problem. This is an important skill in the 21st century and also part of STEAM curriculum.
The delivery of the project will be done digitally. Kids will upload pictures and their video recording to SeeSaw, which will allow parents to see the classroom project and interact by commenting on their work.

Evaluation Process:

Students will be evaluated on their video and counting skills, as well as their 21st century skill of collaboration. For the collaboration rubric, I will have the students self-assess by using the PBL Works by the Buck Institute for Education rubric below. I will also talk to the kids during the project about how they are showing these skills.

To evaluate if the students were able to show their counting skills, I will observe the kids throughout the project to see if they are counting correctly. I will also check if they completed the scavenger hunt game and showed in their videos that they could represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20. I will also see that the students were able to accurately count to answer the “how many?” questions and write the number. This will help me know if they understand the relationship between numbers and quantities. Students can also peer review each other's counting to see if the student counted correctly.

For the video, I will look to see that the students are shown speaking clearly and the number on the white board is visible when they are answering the questions. The video should be uploaded properly to SeeSaw to allow the video to be displayed to their parents. I will also observe them using their iPads properly and showing collaboration while creating the videos. This will show that they are developing technology skills as well.

References:

“Kindergarten " Counting & Cardinality.” Kindergarten " Counting & Cardinality | Common Core State Standards Initiative, http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/K/CC/.
“TEAMWORK RUBRIC for PBL: for Grades K-2.” MyPBLWorks, https://my.pblworks.org/.
“Having Fun 3 Dimensionally with Play Dough !! - Lessons.” Blendspace, https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/lS1WHn6dzsNETA/having-fun-3-dimensionally-with-play-dough.
FirstPalette.com. “Box Zoo: Kids' Crafts: Fun Craft Ideas.” Box Zoo | Kids' Crafts | Fun Craft Ideas | FirstPalette.com, https://www.firstpalette.com/craft/box-zoo.html.
“Zoo Animals -- Preschool & Kindergarten.” A To Z Kids Stuff | Preschool & Kindergarten Zoo Theme, https://www.atozkidsstuff.com/zoo.html.
“Let's Design a Zoo! (and Our 15+ Favorite Zoo Books!).” Pink Stripey Socks, 20 May 2016, https://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2016/05/design-a-zoo-kids-stem.html.