About This Lesson
Focus:
In this unit, students explore the young lives and current professional careers of two researchers, Kyle and Jamie. Kyle studies the lives and ecology of many species of ants. Jamie is involved in retrieving data from satellites that informs decisions of land use. Students start out by seeing incidents of the young lives of each of these people and they then see the current, active lives of both. They see how inspiration, experiences, and challenges in life can lead to decisions that lead to exciting, rewarding careers in science and technology. Students will also learn how scientists from the past inspired these researchers. Along the way students learn scientific facts that are an integral part of the lives of these science/technology researchers.
- Who are some of the people that inspired these two researchers when they were young?
- What experiences first awakened scholarly interest in these two people?
- How did going to school help both people recognize their interests and achieve their goals?
- How did going to college help these researchers become mature thinkers?
- What are some of the many kinds of ants and how do they vary from one species to the next?
- Are ants helpful or harmful?
- How can we protect ants and help them thrive in nature?
- How do people use satellites to create maps of the earth?
- How does mapping land changes help people manage land effectively?
- What scientists from the past have inspired these researchers?
Number of Lessons: 4
Instruction Time:
- Each Chapter is designed to be completed in one 30-45-minute class period.
- Some single-day activities and performance tasks might require setting aside a longer block of time.
- This Unit should be completed in about 4-5 classroom days.
- A complete list of Materials needed to complete the unit is provided in Online Resources.
- Activity pages and answers are included in the Teacher Guide.
- Online Resources contain a wealth of additional teacher support.
