Topic: In the meadow and in the field

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core Curriculum

Grade IV
VI. The natural environment of the immediate area. Pupil:
11) observes and gives names of typical meadow and cultivated field organisms, gives their meaning to humans;

General aim of education

Students observe and give the names of typical organisms found on the meadow and compare the field with the meadow.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• compare conditions prevailing in a meadow and field;

• indicate the reasons for fertilizing the fields;

• recognize selected species of field and meadow plants;

• recognize selected animals living in fields and meadows.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher asks students what organisms are found in the meadows..

• The teacher explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

Realization

• The teacher discusses the principles of work and safety during field work on the meadow with the students..

• Students receive a job card (attachment 1) and under the supervision of a teacher look out onto a nearby meadow. They follow the instructions in the work sheet..

• After returning to the classroom, the students present drawings made during field activities. Each drawing receives a number. The students are watching the work. The names of the organisms recognized on them and the numbers of the drawings are recorded in the notebooks. The authors of the drawings read the names of the species they presented. The perfect grade is awarded to the author who most accurately gave back the observed organism, which allowed the largest number of students to recognize the drawn object..

• The teacher displays an interactive illustration and explains why grass is the most characteristic meadow plant..

• Students independently solve an interactive exercise..

• The teacher asks pupils to draw up a table comparing differences between the field and the meadow. Volunteers present the effect of their work, the teacher corrects possible mistakes..

Summary

• The teacher asks students to finish the sentence: „I would like to learn more about ...”..

Załącznik nr 1

Worksheet

Follow the instructions below.

1. Find five grassland plants in the field. Use a book of plants to determine their names and write them down.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………...

2. Take photos of plants, sign them (plant name, your name and surname) and send via e‑mail to the teacher.

3. Choose one of the identified plants and draw it. Keep the rules of the biological drawing.

4. Use entomological net to capture any arthropod. Put it gently in a container with a magnifying glass and identify using a book of insects. Then, using a tablet, photograph it and let it out onto the meadow.

5. Draw the arthropod on the basis of the photo. Keep the rules of biological drawing.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

In the meadow and in the field

In summer it's nice to go for a walk in a meadow. So many colours, shapes and smells! In the neighbouring field, the wheat is no longer so colourful. However, it is home to and is a source of food for many organisms. By creating vast fields, we have, by chance, provided them with the ideal place to live.

Before people cut down the majority of forests on our country's terrain, these natural grasslands, or meadows, occurred only in valleys which were regularly watered by rivers, and on high mountain slopes. Trees couldn't grow there, because in the valleys floods destroyed them, and in the mountains the soil was too thin for their roots to be able to grow deeply enough.

Now, meadows are present over almost the whole of Poland. Forests do not grow back again, mainly because they are either mowed too regularly for hay, or farm animals graze on them. In the meadows, many species of grass and other green plants grow.
Grasses quickly establish themselves in new terrains, since their roots and underground stalks grow very widely. They also store nutrients created in their leaves, protecting them from being eaten by herbivores. At the same time, their roots can be used to reproduce – in this way, grasses build a dense turf. Neither being bitten by animals nor being mowed destroys this plant; on the contrary, it stimulates the grass to grow better.

Many forests have been converted into farmland. These fields are different to meadows. In meadows, there is a huge variety of plants, whereas in a given part of a field, only one species of plant is grown every year. As a rule, the crop grown in the field is changed in the following years, while in a meadow the same plants grow for many years. Fields are ploughed every year, and meadows are never ploughed.

The most important trait that makes fields different from other environments is the need to regularly fertilize them. In fields after harvesting, there are not enough remains for decomposers to create humus. Therefore, the soil becomes poorer. In fields, many treatments are carried out, such as spraying with chemicals to remove unwanted plants, animals and fungus. Organisms that are unnecessary for or unwanted by agriculture are killed in this way.

Certain meadows (both natural ones and those created by man) are used to graze such animals as cattle, horses, sheep and goats. The plants here are not only eaten but also trampled and naturally fertilised by the animals' excrement. We call areas used in such a way pastures.

Many different plants live in the meadows in Poland. They provide feed for farm and wild animals. Many grasses can be found here, as well as clover, peavines and dandelions. Sorrel and buttercups appear in humid places. Such meadows are mown once or more times a year. In dry, poor habitats (rocks, sand and rubble) grasslands are formed, on which sheep graze. In fields, the plants which are cultivated grow, as well as other plants which spread there by themselves, without the help of man. Field margins are an important component of fields – strips of green between the fields, on which plants that are typically found in meadows grow.

Numerous species of animals can be found in meadows, the most commonly occuring among them being invertebrates. Among insects, grasshoppers and the crickets which chirp in the evenings, must be named. There are also many butterflies, ants, bumblebees and many different spiders. Amphibians (for example, the common frog and toads) also live here, as well as reptiles – snakes and lizards. Pheasants and quail nest in meadows, and yellowhammers, goldfinch and buzzards search for food. Small mammals can also be found in meadows: mice, moles and hares.

Significantly less animals live in fields used for farmland. It is most often the same animals that live in meadows. They come in search of easily available food. Storks and crows can often be found. During spring and autumn migration, large flocks of geese can be found in fields. Wild boar and deer often feed in fields close to forests. In spring, the skylark's song can be heard over the fields – a bird which nests on the ground. Fields are the ideal environment for insects, which feed on the species cultivated. Two examples are the potato beetle and butterfly caterpillars.

• In the past, meadows occurred naturally in Poland only in river valleys and high in the mountains.

• By cutting down forests, people contributed to an increase in the area covered by meadows and fields.

• Cultivated fields are home to numerous species of plants and animals.

• Many species of perennial green plants, invertebrates and vertebrates live in meadows.