March Madness Books & Biology Bounce into Curriculum
Teachers are tapping into March Madness in the classroom. Grade 3 students created a favorite books bracket. Meanwhile, mammals are battling it out for a title in middle and upper school.
Seventh grade and Environmental Science AP classes are completing March Mammal Madness brackets, through an annual Arizona State University challenge. It pits mammals and organisms against each other (virtually, of course) to determine a champion animal based on different factors. This year, the bracket includes mammals and organisms in four different categories: "Tricky Taxonomy," "Red, in Fur," "Of Myths and Monsters," and "Sea Beasties."
Students research each animal and organism on the bracket to learn about its general traits, size, defense mechanisms and temperament. ASU hosts the battles on Twitter, where students can follow along and check their own brackets. Seventh grade students are using this research to learn about adaptations and natural selection while the Environment Science students are delving deeper into the traits such as parental care types, threats and specifically how humans threaten the mammal.
"We are opening our minds to the millions of animals in the world, and exiting out of our comfort
zone of the most well-known animals in our head," Lanie Tietjen, grade 7, said. "Learning about
biodiversity is very important to the animal kingdom. We are learning about so many specific organisms
which we didn’t know even existed!"
To get your own bracket and learn more about March Mammal Madness, click here.
Grade 3 Book Bracket
Books battled it out for a championship title in grade 3 this week. Students filled brackets with their favorite literary titles and voted daily to determine which books would advance. They had to present text evidence to indicate why they chose their book.
Grade 3 teachers kicked off the reading activity dressed in their basketball gear on Monday, March 1. On Friday afternoon, students heard from a special guest with real March Madness experience, Barstow varsity basketball coach and former University of Kansas and professional basketball player Billy Thomas. By Friday afternoon's title match, students were excited to learn if a Blue Chip classic or a Cinderella story would claim that one shining moment. The winner of the third grade March Madness Book Edition is "Finding Winnie, the True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear," triumphing over "Substitute Creacher," "I Dissent," and "The Raft" in the grade 3 final four match-up.
Back
Students research each animal and organism on the bracket to learn about its general traits, size, defense mechanisms and temperament. ASU hosts the battles on Twitter, where students can follow along and check their own brackets. Seventh grade students are using this research to learn about adaptations and natural selection while the Environment Science students are delving deeper into the traits such as parental care types, threats and specifically how humans threaten the mammal.
"We are opening our minds to the millions of animals in the world, and exiting out of our comfort
zone of the most well-known animals in our head," Lanie Tietjen, grade 7, said. "Learning about
biodiversity is very important to the animal kingdom. We are learning about so many specific organisms
which we didn’t know even existed!"
To get your own bracket and learn more about March Mammal Madness, click here.
Grade 3 Book Bracket
Books battled it out for a championship title in grade 3 this week. Students filled brackets with their favorite literary titles and voted daily to determine which books would advance. They had to present text evidence to indicate why they chose their book.
Grade 3 teachers kicked off the reading activity dressed in their basketball gear on Monday, March 1. On Friday afternoon, students heard from a special guest with real March Madness experience, Barstow varsity basketball coach and former University of Kansas and professional basketball player Billy Thomas. By Friday afternoon's title match, students were excited to learn if a Blue Chip classic or a Cinderella story would claim that one shining moment. The winner of the third grade March Madness Book Edition is "Finding Winnie, the True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear," triumphing over "Substitute Creacher," "I Dissent," and "The Raft" in the grade 3 final four match-up.
-
-
Coach Billy Thomas knows a thing or two about March Madness. He shared his experiences with third grade on Friday, march 5.
-
March Mammal Madness is an activity in which Sarah Holmes' grade 7 and Environment Science AP students learn about and select nature's fiercest mammals and organisms.
-
Grade 3 March Madness Book Edition.
-
Third grade teachers kicked off the bracket challenge in style on Monday, March 1.
-
