4 science integration unit

8/22/2019 4 Science Integration Unit

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Creative Dance Unit on Water Cycle

Grade: Fourth Written by: Chelsea Alley

Unit Objective: By the end of this three lesson unit, students will be able to demonstrate

their understanding of the stages and cyclic nature of the water cycle through physical

performance, verbal response, and planning, writing, and mapping. Through this,students will also demonstrate an understanding of theirrole and responsibility in relationto preserving the water cycle.

Utah Core - Science

Standard 1: Students will understand that water changes state as it moves through the water cycle.

Objective 2: Describe the water cycle.

b. Describe the processes of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation as they relate to thewater cycle.

d. Construct a model or diagram to show how water continuously moves through the water cycleover time.

e. Describe how the water cycle relates to the water supply in your community.Utah Core

Dance

Standard 2: The student will identify and demonstrate movement elements in performing dance.

Objective 2: Expand dance vocabulary with movement experiences in space.

d. Explore spatial concepts by drawing patterns.

Standard 3: The student will improvise, create, perform, and respond to movement solutions in the art form

of dance.

Objective 1: Explore the process of making a dance.

c. Explore with a partner the spatial relationship of meeting, parting, and passing.

Standard 4: The student will understand and demonstrate dance in relation to its historical and cultural

origins.

Objective 3: Make connections between dance and other disciplines.

c. Create a dance project from the sciences.

Materials Needed: Hand Drum; CD player; CD with creative dance music, water cycle

chart, butcher paper and markers

Vocabulary Words: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration,

accumulation, spatial relationship, meeting, parting, passing, spatial pathways, levels

Assumptions: It will be assumed that as fourth graders, students will have a few years of

previous exposure to creative dance through an elementary program and will be at a

normal development level for their age.

Assessment: Throughout the unit, informal assessment will be constantly forming the

direction of the class. At the end of the unit, students will be assessed in their ability to

identify and perform stages of the water cycle as well as reflect on our role as individuals.


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Creative Dance Lesson Plan on the Water Cycle

Grade: 4th

Length: 45 minutes Written by: Chelsea Alley

Student Learning Outcome: By the end of this 45-minute class, students will be able to

identify and demonstrate their understanding of the stages of the water cycle by physicalperformance with levels and shapes.

Behavioral Expectations/Warmup: (5 minutes)Four Corners Warmup1

st: Space; 2

nd:Concentrate; 3

rd: Respect; 4

th: Have fun!

Experience/Identify: (5 minutes)The earth has a limited amount of water. That water keeps going around and

around and around and around and you get the idea, in what we call the "Water Cycle.

Lets explore each stage of the Water Cycle through movement. Spread out and find

your own space in the room. For today, you are each going to be a water particle, lets

see how you move through the cycle!

Explore/Investigate: (20 minutes)

When you hear the music, begin moving on a low level in a smooth, sustainedway. Right now, this movement is representing a lakeIm looking across this room and

I see all your bodies making up one body that could be a lake. When you hear the drum

beat, begin moving closer to the centerline of the room. Maintain that smooth, sustainedmovement! You have now moved into a river! I am at the head of the river; follow me

as I show you the pathway our river will take through the room. We are still moving on a

low level and rivers move faster than lakes. Try some rolling and sliding as well.Freeze! The sun has just come out. This time when you hear the drum, spread out and

begin to slowly rise. Slowly, slowly, you are moving to a higher and higher level.

Freeze when you get to your highest level possible. Does anyone know what we as water

particles have just done? Evaporated! You have become a water vapor that rose until itwas hanging in the air.

Now, we have all these water particles in the high level throughout this room.

When you hear the drum, begin to move closer together. This is different than fallinginto a line; this is everyone moving into the center point. You are no longer flowing

water on the ground, how would a small water particle move in the air? Try spinning and

twirling, maybe explore some air moments. How can you make it different than waterflowing in a low level? The air is getting colder. If you get close to someone, join forces

and begin moving together. Continue doing so until you are one group moving in the

center of the room. Freeze! What process did you water particles just go through?

Condensation! Rather than a water vapor, you are now a liquid again in the form of acloud.

This cloud is looking pretty heavy to me. So heavy, in fact, that all you water

particles can no longer stay in the air! When you hear the drum, begin to sink to a low

level softly and lightly. Settle into a low shape. Class, what has just happened?Precipitation! The liquid in the cloud fell to the earth. There are different ways that this

can happen. We just fell slowly and lightly. What kind of precipitation could this be?


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[Snow] Rewind! Everyone come back to the cloud shape. Now, lets try falling with a

speed and direction that would represent rain or sleet. Rewind! What about hail? Fall to

the ground and bounce when you get there. [Try a few times, teacher calling out snow,rain, or hail for each fall]. Freeze in a low level. Where in the water cycle are we right

now? Back on the earth, the water particles gather back together, either underground, or

in lakes or rivers. What is this process called? Accumulation! Once this happens, thecycle is ready to start all over again.

Create/Perform: (10 minutes)

Split into groups of four. You will create a dance that has a beginning middleand end. Choose anywhere to start in the water cycle. Begin with a shape that is

interesting and represents the stage you are in, either connected with the group, with a

partner, or on your own. Remember, we arent acting our or pantomiming, we are using

interesting, creative movement. Move your dance through the high, middle, and lowlevels as you follow the water cycle and end in an interesting shape. Allow groups to

perform, ask viewers to identify which stage the dancers begin and end and look for

interesting movement throughout.

Connect/Analyze: (5 minutes)

What is your favorite level of the water cycle? Is that because you liked to dance

that way or because you like it that way outside? What other cycles do we see in nature?Is there a stage you can identify happening right now outside?


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Creative Dance Lesson Plan on the Water Cycle Part II

Grade: 4th


Student Learning Outcome: By the end of this 45-minute lesson, students will be able to

demonstrate critical thinking and organizational methods through preparing a map formovement and translating it to physical performance. Students will also be able to

demonstrate understanding of spatial relationships and the cyclic patterns in nature

through physical and verbal response.

Exploration/Investigation:

Review the water cycle. Go through again, discussing spatial relationships of water particles. When in

the cycle do they meet together? When do they part? When would they pass

each other? Explore these relationships at each stage in groups of eight.

Create/Perform:

In groups of eight, map out floor and space pathways for their own watercycle. Where and how in the room will they travel? Think about pathways,directions, levels, and spatial relationships. Map out what each person will do

and when in a different color on the paper. Because they are individual water

particles, not everyone will have to be together the whole time. Also considerwhere in the cycle each person wants to start and when they will meet, pass,

and part other dancers. Use this map to create the dance and perform for

peers. Show map first and have viewers watch to identify how the movement

follows the cycle map.

Connect/Analyze: (5 minutes)

What did you learn through planning these maps first, then following them?What was hard about it? What did you like about it?


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Creative Dance Lesson Plan on the Water Cycle Part III

Grade: 4th


Student Learning Outcome: By the end of this 45 minute lesson plan, students will be

able to demonstrate their understanding of the fragility of the water cycle and awareness

of human alterations through organization and physical performance. Students will alsodemonstrate creative problem solving through alterations of their dances.

Exploration/Investigation:

Discuss human activities that alter the water cycleexplore throughmovement agriculture, industry, dams, deforestation, urbanization

Discuss community specific alterations. Sculpture Gardenone partner forms the other into a shape that would

represent altering the water cycle, all the first partners then move through thespace, altering their flow around, through, under the other shaped dancers.

Switch roles.

Create/Perform:

Go back to the maps from Part II. Combine two groups together. Have one groupdecide how to add obstacles that would alter the other groups movement or cycle

plan and vice versa. The original group must figure out a way to alter their cyclearound the added group. Each group then performs twice, once for each group.

Connect/Analyze:

What can we do to minimize altering the water cycle in our communities? Why isit important to allow the water cycle to continue as it normally does? What are little

things we can each do?


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4 science integration unit

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