Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Classification of Organisms

Content Area: Life Science
Grade Level(s): 5th grade

Content Standard Addressed: S5L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to group organisms
using scientific classification procedures.

Technology Standard Addressed: 1. Creativity and Innovation- Students demonstrate creative thinking,
construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

Selected Technology Tool: Bubbl.us & Padlet

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bubble.us: https://bubbl.us/
Padlet: https://padlet.com/

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☐ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☐ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration:

☐ Infusion Level: Students may work at a higher Bloom’s Level, but they do not have any “Voice or Choice”
during the activity and most of the decisions are made by the teacher.

☒ Integration Level: We would like to see ALL lessons/activities reach this level. The project is student-
driven. Students have “Voice and Choice” in the activities, selecting the topic of study and determining the
technology tool to demonstrate mastery of the standard. The teacher becomes more of a facilitator.
☐ Expansion Level: The projects created are shared outside of the classroom, publishing student work and
promoting authorship. This could be reached by showcasing the project on the school’s morning
newscast, posting the project to the classroom blog, or publishing via an outside source.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

The Universal Design for Learning has multiple principles including providing multiple means of
representation, providing multiple means of action and expression, and providing multiple means of
engagement. I chose to use both Bubbl.us and Padlet as my Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools. Bubbl.us
and Padlet will support all students because they will be able to collect and share content based on whatever
learning level they are at. Padlet allows for multiple means of expression through the use of written words,
pictures, links, and more. Students will have the freedom to choose what and how they share on the
organism of their choice. The activity provides multiple means of engagement through whole class
instruction, the collection of information from books, and the collection of information from online sources.
Students will be working alone and as a class. Students can collect information from whichever source best
fits their needs or a combination of sources. The activity provides multiple means of representation because
the teacher will present information on classification through explanations with visuals and written and
spoken words. The tools enhance learning because students will gather information in a fun way, and they
will get to share fun facts on the Padlet as well. Students will be far more engaged than if they were just
learning this content from a textbook.

Lesson idea implementation:

SBooker, 2020
 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
At the beginning of the lesson, I will ask the students if they know how organisms are classified. They might
know the kingdoms that organisms can fall under such as animal, plant, fungi, protist, and bacteria. At this
point, I will introduce them to key vocabulary such as phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. I will
also ask them if they know the scientific name for any organisms, and I will help them make the connection
that the name displays the organism’s genus and species. As a class, we will go through how you will
determine what information you look for at each of the classification levels to classify the organism. Learning
all of this material could take a few days to a few weeks depending on how in depth you are able to go with
each of the groups such as fish, amphibian, reptile, etc. Students will have a chance to do research of their
own on an organism of their choosing. At this point, learning will be student-centered, and they will be
collecting information on their own. The teacher will serve as the facilitator.

Students will create their own concept map that displays how they would classify their organism based on the
information they collected. The students’ learning is differentiated because they will be collecting information
in a variety of formats such as from books with words and visuals, websites with videos. The information
students collect will also be differentiated because they can choose to go broad or in depth with their
information based on the learning levels of the students. The students’ learning will be assessed through the
creation of their concept map. The teacher can provide feedback to the students before, during, and after the
creation of their product. There will be no formal assessment. The students are pushed to a higher level of
thinking (Bloom’s evaluation level) as they prioritize or determine what information will be useful for their
concept map. They will make informed decisions and summarize their thoughts in the concept map. Once
students have shared and received feedback on their concept maps, I will conclude the lesson by
incorporating another Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tool. The students will post something fun or interesting
they learned about their organism during this process to Padlet. The students can use links, pictures, or videos
to explain their fun facts. Here, students will be able to see fun things that the other students learned!

Reflective Practice:
I feel that having the students create their own product on Bubbl.us deepens their understanding of
classification because it requires the students to really evaluate the information they collect and determine
what information is relevant to create their concept map. The activity helps the students reach a higher level
of thinking rather than having them just know and remember the content. The lesson provides several ways
for students to interact with each other. Padlet also enhances the activity since the students pull fun
information that they want to share from all of the information the students gather. If I wanted to extend the
lesson to reach more tactile learners, I could bring the students outside to observe and touch organisms all
around them such as plants near the playground. Overall, all of the students will benefit from this lesson and
gain a solid understanding for classification.

SBooker, 2020