Skills

The six basic skills are observation, classification, communication, measurement, prediction, and inference.

Observation: a piece of information learned directly through the senses

Classification: the ability to place objects into groups on the basis of the characteristics (or attributes) that those objects either do or do not possess

Communication: any and all ways people let others know their thoughts

Measurement: there are 5 processes of measurement in an elementary program: length, volume, weight or mass, temperature, and time

Prediction: an individual’s best guess as to what will happen next in a given situation

Inference: a person’s best guess as to why something happened

Let’s look at an activity and see if all the skills are covered…

Grade 4

4.1.2 – Students will use the design process to construct a model of a local or regional habitat and it’s associated populations of plants and animals. 

Design Project:

Have students work in groups to construct a model representing a local or regional habitat of their choice. Remind students to ensure that their models are realistic, including representative populations and the components necessary for the populations to live. The models must also strive to demonstrate the balance in nature. Have students present their model to the class.

Observation: While this activity does not clearly outline the steps the students would take to accomplish their task, there is lots of room for observation in this activity. Students could watch videos to observe their animal in it’s habitat and learn about the way it lives, they could listen to the sounds their animal makes, or feel pelts or feathers that are part of their animal if there is access to those resources.

Classification: There is lots of classifying in this activity. In order to make their habitat realistic they will have to classify different parts of the food chain, different plants, different animals, and even their own animal within its species.

Communication: Students will be communicating with one another the whole time (hopefully) since they will be working in groups. Also, by presenting their project to the class once it’s completed, they’ll need to zero in on their communication skills so their presentation is effective.

Measurement: While students may not be physically measuring a lot of their objects, by making their habitat realistic they will need to have an idea of ratios. The parts of their habitat will need to be relatively proportionate (ex. their bird can’t be bigger than the trees) in order to be realistic.

Prediction: In order to implement prediction, there might need to be some pre-planning happening where students choose their animal and predict things like the animals habitat and diet based on what they know about the animal.

Inference:  This skill could be used when someone chooses an animal that has gone extinct. They could give their best guess as to why that happened. Or look at different features the animals have and infer why they adapted that way to survive in their habitat.

There are usually ways fit each skill into an activity. Sometimes it just takes imagination and creativity!

~Ms. Berg