Recycled Organisms

In Mrs. Bodenstab's 6th grade Science classes, we’ve been learning about the Chesapeake Bay watershed and its inhabitants (a person or animal that lives in or occupies a space).  We were all assigned an animal from the Chesapeake Bay watershed. These animals were the source of all of our research including but not limited to, classification research, food web, and 3D project. The first thing we did was a classification paper. The paper had our assigned animal, and some questions involving the scientific name of the animal. After everybody completed that we went on to the food webs. For the food webs, we researched our animals, predators, prey, producers, etc. Then we put the pictures of these animals as well as labels on a google doc to print. Once they were printed we cut them out, glued them to poster paper, and added arrows. Once we finished our food web, we moved on to the 3D project. For the project, we collected and brought in recyclable material from home (i.e plastic bottles, plastic straws, plastic bags, cardboard, etc).  We were then instructed to choose items from the recyclables pile that would make our animal look like it’s 3D.  We used paint, beads, and other things to make our backgrounds look 3D as well. After we had some idea of what materials we were going to use, we completed a paper asking us questions about these items. (i.e, how long does it take to decompose, how much energy does it take to make the item, etc.)Once we completed that we went right back to work on our 3D projects. It took some weeks to complete, but overall it was a very information-packed, enjoyable experience for everyone involved.