Ecology is the study of natural interactions. Students will learn how Texas’s numerous eco-regions differ as well as interact to create what is truly a wondrous land of life and change. Man’s impact, past, present, and future, gets noticed so that students become aware of their own imprint on our state. Students will use technology to create a product to add to their individual portfolios and submit a proposal for broadcasting that product to the public.

Students learn why intelligent logic is necessary to simultaneously use and care for the earth’s natural resources.

The students will design-develop-display (3-D) a diorama depicting the habitat of an animal from one of Texas’s ecological regions.

In English, students will proofread and polish (by using revising strategies ratiocination, Count Roller Coaster, BE-extermination, and dictionary-thesaurus use) a script written in science class before it is submitted for podcasting. They will respect “form” and appearance for different types of writing by paragraphing and punctuating correctly, by submitting a clean and easily legible product, and enjoying how “a happy teacher is an easy grader.”

Students will use the MSPaint program to color regions of Texas and label each region with the indigenous plants and animals. Texas from the 1860s—including its role in the American Civil War—to the beginning of the 20th Century—the beginnings of the oil industry in Texas.

Statistics and probability headline this quarter’s math work. With the unit on the state ecology, students will create graphic representations of Texas’s regions, including facts on state waste and recycling. Vocabulary words this quarter include mean, median, mode, range, outliers, and data.

Students will take the information collected through Social Studies and write a 3-4 paragraph script to be used for their podcast. This script should clearly outline the chosen topic, and the writing should be focused. They will be required to elaborate on at least 2 problems associated with their topic and propose a solution.

Students will come to Technology Class with a final script written that conforms to the expectations laid out in science class. We will develop a web page that deals with the chosen topic, record a podcast, and publish it.