Authentic Performance Activities facilitate a student’s understanding of a lesson’s usefulness in real life. They are also an Understanding by Design (UbD) assessment tool. Focus questions act as pre- and post-assessment indicators of the activity’s effectiveness.
Focus Questions:
1. Why do we learn about life cycles?
2. Can you think of any other jobs where knowing about life cycles might be helpful?
3. Can you think of any ways where knowing about life cycles could affect your home and property (flower and vegetable garden)?
You are a zoologist who works for an animal park that features a large pond with turtles of all shapes and sizes. The landscaping department decides to replace the sandy banks around the pond with a decorative rock garden covered in a thick layer of pretty stones and sculptures. Using what you know about the life cycle of turtles, how would covering the sandy banks of the pond affect the turtles’ life cycle? If they decide to make the change, how do you expect to see the population of turtles change over time?
