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VIRGINIA ECONOMIC EDUCATOR AWARDSElkton Elementary SchoolRockingham County Public Schools Author:Building The Elkton Zoo: Establishing a Community of LearnLESSON PLAN 2021
LESSON DESCRIPTION:Building The Elkton Zoo: Establishing a Community of Learners from the Ground Up, was a zoo-themed economics unit that lasted approximately four weeks, involving a grade level collaboration of 4th and 5th grade students. Despite a global pandemic, students transformed into active members of a new virtual zoo society, helping to plan and build a virtual zoo, while simultaneously learning to budget and collaborate as a collective body of consumers and producers. Students worked in pairs to research and develop interests in particular jobs and animal habitats. They used real life practice as they prepared and interviewed for their position at the Elkton Zoo. Students quickly learned the value of keen economic planning, forming a cooperative committee to achieve consumer goals, and “money sense” regarding earning money. Students were able to earn money when they had completed their job and performed at their most productive self. Some students used their job as a chance to produce products that would help them with their daily earnings. Each student was able to spend their earnings as they acted as consumers pay-ing their daily rent and purchasing their animal habitat necessities. By implementing this unit, it became necessary to educate each student pair to assess how important it was to care for an animal while concomitantly working a position. Stu-dents had to make appropriate decisions with their peers to reach their common goals of building a working zoo community. During this process, students worked a job at the Elkton Zoo, while also providing for one of the animals. The students had hands-on oppor-tunities to learn the significance of budgeting and planning using daily expense sheets, checking into the bank, and earning job performance income.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolAuthor: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolAuthor: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolLEVEL:ElementaryMATERIALS:In this document are all materials used in a class Zoo Society. The materials list corre-sponds with the Instructional Process Lesson Plan for the Zoo.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nmT96acc2AvN5NYDHLNG9rB8Ud3_L3VGzaPStxkFASI/viewTIME REQUIRED:4 weeks (20-30 minutes per day)Building The Elkton Zoo: Establishing a Community of Learn
LESSON DESCRIPTION (continued):Implementing The Elkton Zoo into our 4th and 5th grade classrooms came from a desire to explore a student-led environment involving economics and student collaboration while emphasizing the Rockingham County integration of the “5 C’s.” Critical thinking skills were necessary for students to make decisions. For instance, the students were required to make important economic decisions based on their animal habitats. The cre-ativity of The Elkton Zoo allowed the students to imagine themselves as zoo employees in helping to build and maintain their animal community. Collaboration and communica-tion were important components for the success of this economic unit. Without working together and communicating with one another, their zoo would probably not ever have been functional.Throughout the zoo unit, students learn and practice skills related to corporations, em-ployment, labor, profit, money, payroll, and salaries by participating in their roles of em-ployment each day and receiving an income to pay the bills that correlate with animal care. During their time of employment with the zoo, the concepts of commodities, goods, and services are reinforced by making choices and purchasing and paying for various costs that arise. Different jobs received different salaries and different animals had vari-ous costs for their care. Additionally, the zoo experiences various unforeseen costs (baby deliveries, surgeries, natural disasters, etc.) that have a financial impact on the economic status of the animal caretakers. Throughout their time of employment, students encoun-ter multiple opportunities to make economic choices that directly affect the budgets and savings or debt and loans the students may face.ECONOMIC OR PERSONAL FINANCE TOPICS:• Budget• Commodity, Goods, and Services• Corporation• Credit, Debt, and Loans• Economic Choice• Employment, Money, Payroll, and Salary• Labor• ProfitSOLS:ENGLISH4.1 & 5.1 The student will use effective oral communication skills in a variety of settings.b) Contribute to group discussions across content areas.h) Demonstrate the ability to collaborate with diverse teams, while sharing responsibility for the work.4.4 & 5.4 The student will expand vocabulary when reading.d) Use vocabulary from other content areas.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolSOLS (continued):ENGLISH (continued)4.7 & 5.7 The student will write in a variety of forms to include narrative, descriptive, opin-ion, and expository.l) Utilize elements of style, including word choice and sentence variation.4.9 & 5.9 The student will demonstrate comprehension of information resources to create a research product.b) Collect and organize information from multiple resources.c) Evaluate the relevance and reliability of information.f) Demonstrate ethical use of the Internet.5.2 The student will create multimodal presentations that effectively communicate ideas. a) Effectively use verbal and nonverbal communication skills to plan and deliver collab-orative and individual, formal and informal interactive presentations.MATH4.6 & 5.5 The student will a) add, subtract, multiply, divide, and estimate with decimalsb) create and solve single-step and multistep practical problems involving addition, sub-traction, and multiplication of decimals, and create and solve single-step practical prob-lems involving division of decimals.SCIENCE4.1 & 5.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in whicha) distinctions are made among observations, conclusions, inferences, and predictionse) predictions and inferences are made, and conclusions are drawn based on data from a variety of sources4.5 The student will investigate and understand how plants and animals, including hu-mans, in an ecosystem interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include a) plant and animal adaptationsb) organization of populations, communities, and ecosystems and how they interrelatef) influences of human activity on ecosystems5.5 The student will investigate and understand that organisms are made of one or more cells and have distinguishing characteristics that play a vital role in the organism’s ability to survive and thrive in its environment. Key concepts includeb) classification of organisms using physical characteristics, body structures, and behav-ior of the organismc) traits of organisms that allow them to survive in their environment.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
SOLS (continued):SOCIAL STUDIESVS.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis and re-sponsible citizenship, including the ability tob) determine cause-and-effect relationships VS.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of life in the Virginia colony by d) describing how money, barter, and credit were usedVS.9 The student will demonstrate knowledge of twentieth- and twenty-first-century Virginia by a) describing the economic and social transition from a rural, agricultural society to a more urban, industrialized society, including the reasons people came to Virginia from other states and countries.PROCEDURE:This link provides the Instructional Lesson Plan for the Elkton Zoo Society.• Lesson 1: Introducing the Zoo. • Lesson 2: Revealing Partners. • Lesson 3: Interviews for Zoo Positions / Planning Process. • Lesson 4: Job Assignment and Animal. • Lesson 5: Animal habitat Research / Habitat Design. • Lesson 6: Construction of Habitats. • Lesson 7: Move in Day! Lesson 8: AssessmentZOO INSTRUCTION UNIT PLAN:Lesson 1: Introducing the Zoo | Day 1 | 30 - 40 MinutesIntroduce the Zoo: Show: Zoo 360 Video http://www.viewpure.com/Zq4HjpoHxkk?start=0&end=0Discussion Questions: What would it be like to have a zoo like this? If you could work at a zoo what job might you apply for? What animal would you want to care for?Show Zoo Map: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QZJHYzby9vBAdEB4qDbjEHay10CqPPQp5x-CSgR2rKc/view *Teacher Notes: This map is shared between the 4th and 5th grade classes. It could also only be used for one class if there is not a class to collaborate with.The Challenge:Say: This map shows the virtual zoo that we will collaborate on to create a working zoo community. Each of you will receive a partner, an animal, and a job in order to meet our functional goal. As you work towards our goal, you will be paid for your job performance each day. Your animal will need to be cared for and you will need to prepare for any un-foreseen circumstances that might arise.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolAs we continue through our zoo process you will need to prepare for a job that interests you. Show the slides of Job Descriptions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LM5-dadsd9GFvjvUfN8OpxBnV_BK1qoTKszSsBdEanY/viewOnce your income is earned each day, you will have the funds to pay for the expenses of your zoo animal. Here are a few of the items you could purchase from the supply store.Introduce The Supply Store: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wi4z9IIDPxMdfl3bFr2_wyG3BBB1BCD31eP-a80U0es/view*Teacher Notes: Each animal has its own slide that provides prices for their specific ani-mal’s daily needs or wants.Have students begin to think about what job they would like to interview for. Allow them to explore the Zoo Map, Job Descriptions, and Supply Store. Linking these documents to a Google Classroom, Seesaw, or internet platform that students have access to will help students have easy availability.Lesson 2: Revealing Partners | Day 2 | 20 - 30 Minutes*Teacher Notes: • Choose partners prior to class. Partners are chosen based on teacher preference. We choose partners based on working relationships: Who would work well together and challenge one another. • Due to the pandemic, we had to choose partners within our grade level classroom. If it was a traditional school day, classes could partner up with a 4th or 5th grade student. This would allow students the opportunity to work with a student from another grade level.• Zoom was used to bring the two classes together during the pandemic. A traditional day, students could collaborate within a particular classroom.Say: Today we will meet the ones we will work together with. This partner will help you make nancial decisions for your animal habitat and also help you perform for your job. This person will become your business partner. Assign Partners: Students will meet their partners and discuss what type of job they would like to interview for. Students can use the Job Descriptions slides to review. Provide each student with a Take Home interview letter that explains to parents what we will be doing for the next few weeks.Interview Letter (Example): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_y5CKWbNSi9RiFmvvZSnM-yuXJR2owZBkpSwYFRlIa4/view*Teacher Notes: Interviews will be set for the remainder of the week. We chose to have our administrators interview our student pairs for their positions. Students were given an interview date that they would have time to prepare for. Other teachers, assistants, stu-dent teachers, practicums...etc. could also do interviews.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Lesson 3: Interviews for Zoo Positions/ Planning Process | Day 3 - 5 | 20 - 30 MinutesInterviews: Students are taken out of the room to a quiet spot to interview. Students interview with their assigned partner. Each assigned student pair will interview for the same position.Interview Questions provided to interviewer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XmRhhAT2OanbgrtOIzpLUqyHTXJZytqaQimEXsL2_X4/viewWhile classmates are interviewing, the other students are watching Live Zoo Cams of ani-mals around the country with their business partner.Looking for...1. Looking at habitat designs and seeing how different animals interact. 2. Comparing and contrasting and learning about different animals’ habits, 3. What are the dietary needs?4. Look at the animal’s social habits. Live Zoo Cam Hyperdoc:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W-S0C694UOwn5A2YKMCMAedRAl6HAKI9p2XSXRfkJBw/view*Teacher Notes: This could vary in days depending on length of interviews and allotment of time. At the completion of interviews, discuss with interviewers and look at notes. De-termine jobs on “who knew/performed best” Lesson 4: Job Assignment and Animal | Day 6 | 20 - 30 Minutes• Have students gather with their partners. • Discuss the importance of the goal of building a community. Why it is important for all of us to work together.• Provide a personal/madeup life experience on interviewing for positions that you may not receive. *Teacher Notes: Due to the pandemic, we used Zoom to bring our two classes together, but this could be done in one classroom together.• To reveal partners, have jobs already chosen. This is where you will reveal the job they received. • Use an online spinner, or a random picking method to choose animals. This is com-pletely random and adds excitement. Example: https://wheelofnames.com/2ag-7pp • Fill in the Template Document (Zoo Partners) based on what is revealed. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jEMVMwPVJebRzOo8jH7jPtYJsqviANnk6nz7EDk9LPU/view*Teacher Notes: Students may be upset they did not receive the position they wanted. Explain that this is a real life experience. We may not always receive what we want, but we can try hard at the one we have and hope for knowledge and experience that will help us perform in future for a better opportunity.Lesson 5: Animal Habitat Research/Habitat Design | Day 7 - 8 | 20 - 30 MinutesSay: Today you will work with your partner to nd important habits, dietary needs, and habitat necessities for your animal at the Elkton Zoo.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolShow: Animal Research Book Template- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LnkF-Pu75AR2MDgXcsk9oWu-m12hoN75OeRZzFFWO7Y/view Say: You will work through this booklet providing as much research as you can find in your own words. Use the Research Hyperdoc provided to perform your research. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ok7XXVQWlwWO5EAlnj2Y3ymjsRibG3V6P2tCa29BGqQ/viewYou may also want to use the Live Zoo Cams to watch the behavior of your animal. Look at their domain and see if there are particular items that you see that your animal may need.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W-S0C694UOwn5A2YKMCMAedRAl6HAKI9p2XSXRfkJBw/viewLesson 6: Construction of Habitats | Day 9 - 10 | 20 - 30 MinutesConstruction Day!Say: Today you will get to build your habitat for your zoo animal! All of your hard work and research has paid off. Because of all of your hard work, you will be paid $3.00 to get start-ed. This money will be placed in your bank money bag for spending on the rst day of zoo operations.Directions on how to get started: Go to Zoo Map: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QZJHYzby9vBAdEB4qDbjEHay10CqPPQp5x-CSgR2rKc/view1. On the first slide, you will see your animal. This is the home page.2. Click your animal.3. It should take you to the animal’s habitat page. This page should be blank except for your animal and a green house. The green house will take you back to the zoo map. 4. Remove your animal and house off into the blank space. You do not want to lose them behind your background and materials you add. 5. You should have a blank space. Use the clipart/background slides to add to your habi-tat.6. Please do not place your animal and house back into the document. This will be done by your teacher. 7. Once you have completed your habitat, please see your teacher (CEO of the Zoo)*Teacher Notes: The teacher will screenshot the habitat background and upload the image as a “background” this way the students will not be able to move their backdrop. These items are considered “free” . They have to pay for items placed in the habitat in the future. Once a background has been uploaded, place the animal and “home” tab back into the habitat.Habitat Backgrounds: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1l9qw0U-7Zw4rHYng6u3ArefoAJwp8r5J6fOUxwqFy5Y/viewHabitat Clipart:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A3l2Jxi3QvfFR2rl5ai2dMxPtkFP0jkVXiyPvhL6OWs/viewAuthor: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Lesson 7: Move in Day! | Day 11 - 20 | 20 - 30 MinutesShow Morning Slide: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19gkiptk8Gc6-q4crHcYktj6PbtSFSbkS0WkKnYLm9QU/viewWelcome to the Elkton Zoo! The slide provides the weather for the Zoo and any an-nouncements that are given to the zoo employees. (This will be changed daily based on how the teacher foresees the zoo going). The Process:Students begin working on their jobs. Each job pair is provided a Job Daily Checksheet.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PnRyAAafMn-XeG_UIAIM9pcRnYy7_HMadc3EId954wg/view This is so important to let the students take control of their learning. The teacher is the CEO and facilitator. If a student makes a suggestion about their position on how they can make it better for the Zoo Society, let them take the lead.*Teacher Notes- Zoo Society Job Documents. These documents need to be printed for each student pair prior to the lesson. To help keep materials organized, we provided a folder for each student pair with their documents inside. This was a “folder” they got out once the zoo began. The teacher did keep all of these materials in a particular place. We did not allow Zoo Materials to be in their desks. Daily Expense Sheet: Each student pair will need the expense sheet daily. This sheet includes their rent, fee to the zookeeper, and extras such as food and habitat add-ons. Students will fill these out and hand them to the Supply Store Owners. The Supply Store owners will then take notes based on what each animal will receive and place inside the habitat. They will pass these expense sheets to the Zookeepers. The Zookeepers will then pass back to the owners once they have looked at the habitat and taken note of the di-etary needs.https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1CrAlseJLmoQHpe0ANZOQEety_0v5htUNUT1Ndb2sGFQ/viewStudents will work through their provided documents each day. These documents should be printed and available for the students. Keeping their materials in a folder would be beneficial. These documents will need to be signed by the CEO in order to be paid their salary. Salaries range based on what job the students have. Here is a list of salaries.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fR6EccGKKCfKnIioKpzsCb9Sn4aMA8c697N02jjgUTY/viewZookeeper Daily Checklist:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wH-JuHEoKD9Vc7YaOY4CySJ-toLiCmr6r3pFSs1zMo8M/view• There are 4 sets of Zookeepers. Each set of Zookeep-ers takes care of their designated animal. This checklist breaks it down into what “type” of animals they will care for.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolReporter Newspaper Template:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1n_WpPNUambFNKdjs-rngg4sgSSqEGNmvbfRIwlQfSp1M/view• This template is for the weekly newspaper that will be written by the reporters. This is printed on Fridays for sale. ($0.25)Interview Template:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ttJiuHQv1N7ySLaOKnmRVSRDD-vp8V47zWbe3C6-3Cg/view• Reporters may use this document to keep their inter-views documented and organized.Marketing Provide Posters and Art Materials• These will be displayed around the school and class-room. Veterinarian Vet Invoice:https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Mf84dfJOkHXKiyuYoC-A5qPcXtX-2lU8-Z29CRYYRFhw/view• The veterinarians will use this as their “bill”. The owner receiving this bill will know the total to put on their “expense sheet”.Vet Pricing:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H2PImb6LZoby5SXAaUaSxihYgduPaIzLZIesJCT2g8k/view• This is an example of what medical needs may cost.Vet Checklist:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XWAU5zrf-RomvGB8hOAPAlqB-h10lCB79JvQgSVyVOYg/view• Detailed records of the care provided daily to the ani-mals.Banker Daily Deposit Slip:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_1pupPswbrDw4MZwpg55fzcoqnU-tQOhgX1oL9ChfhM/view • The banker checks the amounts from the Daily Ex-pense Sheets and writes a deposit slip for each person before depositing the money in the bank.Banker Daily Balances:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eml1UMBoKF1gM3NqceZskJ3UCPAFg7YgwdDd1n7Xn5A/view• The banker uses this sheet to keep records of their classmates’ bank totals. This comes from subtracting and adding income from salaries and expense sheets. Accountant Checkbook Register:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WR1bOjkJqqhk139Io792XqoldomDcZ3Yptz3eSm2Q0o/view• This helps the accountant keep daily totals on the cur-rency. They will double check the math of the bankers.Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolSupply Store Daily Checklist:https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wH-JuHEoKD9Vc7YaOY4CySJ-toLiCmr6r3pFSs1zMo8M/view• There are 4 sets of Zookeepers. Each set of Zookeep-ers takes care of their designated animal. This checklist breaks it down into what “type” of animals they will care for.Janitorial Janitorial Checklist:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CoWCXQ4aMUxEkS9ZcBFUFdz1ymeOI2mjPz3CtIBSEx0/view• The habitats need to be checked daily. The janitorial staff will check each habitat and remove any waste like materials. This will be documented on their sheet. Security Security Checklist:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CjGFbEZQUeg3lKAAL0fWZzsiowyOpD663mEjC2mfsP4/view• Everyone should feel safe at the zoo. The security will check in with animal owners and animal habitats to ensure all are safe. They will document their work on this sheet. Lesson 8: Assessment | Day 21 | 30 - 40 MinutesPrior to assessment day, we removed the animals from the habitat. We placed a note on their screen that explained what they should do for their last day of employment. Exam-ple provided: Congratulations! Your animal has been relocated to a new natural domain. Thank you for all that you have done at the ELKTON ZOO. Please clean out your habitat and see a Zoo CEO for your certicate of Employment be-fore clocking out. Say: With our zoo coming to an end. Please take the time to ll out the assessment piece. We would love to know what you learned from your experience at our zoo and how we could improve it. Assessment: https://docs.google.com/document/d/194vJPdFf4koO03JsljKsGcVQC4l9wTPW4iXsORXZWbA/viewThis assessment piece can be printed or used in an electronic format.
Author: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary SchoolEXTENSION:The Elkton Zoo unit was created and designed to be a hands-on and student-centered experience which allowed for it to be the most meaningful experience for all participants. Throughout the building of the Elkton Zoo, students would provide feedback and sug-gestions. Many times, we were able to incorporate these suggestions into the unit as we went. As students completed the end of unit questions and suggestions, here are some of the suggestions provided that are in consideration for the future:• Recognize an Employee of the Day (or Week). Many companies will recognize an employee of the month or a teacher of the year. This is a possible option to recognize the zoo employee who is dedicated to their job, demonstrates a positive attitude, and serves as a role model for other employees.• Provide raises for jobs if the job is performed well. As students perform their daily job duties, some students began to work harder than they were being compensated in comparison to others who received the same or similar salary. Allowing for possible raises could change the work ethic or possible economic positions of the employees.• Include more staff and class participation throughout the school building. Besides having our administrators conduct the employment interviews, we did not have much external involvement. Allowing school staff or different classes across grade levels to become involved in the Elkton Zoo would allow for the zoo society to thrive in a way that is not possible with a class limitation. Possible involvement could include con-necting with a first grade classroom to have them participate in an activity based on the science SOL of animal habitats and characteristics.• Do something with the leftover money at the conclusion of the Zoo Society. At the end of our unit, students returned all of their remaining money to the bank. In the future, students could be encouraged to work on things related to the zoo they could sell at the end of the unit. Students could set up a Zoo Gift Shop where they display their merchandise to sell to their classmates. Possible merchandise could include: keepsakes, newspapers, posters, brochures, paintings and drawings, books, figurines, etc.Elkton Elementary SchoolRockingham County Public SchoolsLauren ShifflettElkton Elementary SchoolRockingham County Public SchoolsLaura Sunder-RaoAuthor: Lauren Shifflett & Laura Sunder-Rao | Elkton Elementary School