I was able to utilize the program SMART Notebook to create an interactive unit review activity on the subject of Reptiles and Amphibians. I imagine such an activity being used to conclude the unit, perhaps as a mini-celebration, since it includes game-style review of all of the relevant content. It is a fun, collaborative, and interactive activity that still has a great deal of room for assessment. It includes a little bit of math and a lot of reading comprehension in addition to the science content knowledge. I envision students taking turns coming up to the smart board to take part in these activities. None of the activities are passive, so students will be engaged even though some of the content will be familiar.
The first slide is a quick "brain warm up" activity which asks students to build the reptile museum by filling the "cages" with the correct amount of the correct animal. To determine the correct amount the students will need to use their multiplication facts. I used the infinite cloner tool so that each animal can be replicated infinitely and so the correct number may be dragged into the cages without cluttering up the screen. This is a quick and easy warm up that would get students thinking, especially if this review celebration was held after lunch or on a Friday!
The next slide is a simple sorting activity. The students are asked to sort the various creatures based on whether or not they are reptiles or amphibians. Because I used clip art, each animal is labeled so that there will be no confusion. While the images of the animals move when touched, the labels do not so the screen will not become cluttered as students take their turns. I began the actual content review with this activity because it is the most basic.
For the next activity, students are asked to use the word bank to fill in the parts of the frog lifecycle. There are more responses than there are answers, so it is possible to mislabel the diagram. Because of that, the activity is self-checking. If the label the student drags to the picture is correct, a check mark will appear. If it is incorrect, a red X will appear and the student has the opportunity to remove the incorrect label and try again. Once a label is used correctly it cannot be used more than once.
The next activity utilizes a die, which adds a touch of randomness. The student is asked to approach the board and tap the die to roll it. Once rolled, one of six animal names will appear - three reptiles and three amphibians. The die has been set to not repeat an animal unless all animals have been rolled. Once they roll an animal, the student is then asked to move the label to the amphibian or reptile column in the accompanying chart and tell the group why that animal belongs there. In theory, the chart can then be cleared and more students can participate, citing their own reasons why they sorted their animal where they did.
Next, I created a crossword puzzle for the students to solve as a group. Each clue describes either an animal or a vocabulary word. The clues use academic vernacular so that they must have an understanding of the language and the content in order to solve the puzzle. The puzzle can be filled in using the smartboard's pen so that students can write directly on the puzzle. To check their work they need only press the 'solve' button and the solutions will appear.
The next two activities are similar, but one is specifically on the topic of reptiles and the other is specifically on the topic of amphibians. Each activity includes eight "fact" tiles which, when clicked, reveal a fun or interesting fact about either reptiles or amphibians. The students are asked to come up to the board, select a tile by tapping it, and then read their fact out loud to the class. I think the students would have a lot of fun with this, and I imagine it would spark a lot of interesting discussion which would allow them to use their science vocabulary. The sources for all of the facts are cited at the bottom of each board of tiles.
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