Marvelous marine life: Layer by layer

A unit on Marine Life was implemented in a 5th grade class in an urban area, 12 miles east of NE city. The class is made up of 32 students, 16 female and 16 males. 8 of the students are ELL's and receive ESL instruction daily.;The unit is 28 class days and has 4 major content goals. The overall goal for this unit is for students of demonstrates their understanding about underwater marine life and to construct a three dimensional marine habitat model. The focus of this unit will be for students to identify 5 layers of ocean and the marine life that inhabits them.;The students will apply the science concepts in this unit to construct and three dimensional underwater model demonstrating five layers and the animals. The specifications for the design challenge. The model of an underwater marine habitat must be located in one of the four oceans; this marine habitat must show the five layers of the ocean; Sunlit Zone, Twilight Zone, Dark Zone, Abyss, Trenches; in each layer of this model you need to include a vertebrate, a invertebrate, and one plant, where possible; you must describe adaptations, and defenses of the marine animals in each layer in order for them to survive. The constraints are: The students may only use class time to complete this design challenge; students may only use materials that are in the classroom, or materials that you were asked to bring in for this project; the students habitat must be completed on a piece of foam core; the size of the board must be 24 inches by 36 inches; students marine habitat must also be three dimensional, and represent only one specific ocean; students must represent all five layers of the ocean in this marine habitat.;Students were not familiar with a design challenge concepts. They had not yet experienced this type of project in any unit, but proved to be successful. It is important to incorporate a hands-on design technology project to these students, since they will be having science daily next year. This type of hands-on approach also is important for the ELL students because they can express their idea other then verbally. This gives the students ownership to their project and in turn they become their own teacher.;This unit also focused on cooperative learning and the students' attitudes towards science. By the completion of this unit students understood how science and the natural world affect their everyday lives. They also became more enthusiastic to investigate other science topics. I measured the students' attitudes towards science and cooperative learning through pre and post assessment, interviews, surveys, and student journals.;At the completion of this unit the students' knowledge about marine life had improved. Students showed a solid understanding about the layers of the ocean, and the marine life that inhabits those layers. The students also showed an understanding how design technology is useful, and the connection it had between learning and science.