Grade K CRM 5 Animals TEKS K.10A, K.10B Lesson 1

Observing and Describing Animals

Essential Questions What does it mean to be alive? How does our planet support life? Where do organisms get their energy? How do organisms depend on their environment

and their structures to survive? What changes do organisms go through in their life

cycle? Why do organisms resemble their parents?

Enduring Understandings All organisms have basic needs to survive. Basic needs can be met through interactions with

living and nonliving things. Energy is passed from the Sun and soil into plants

and from plants into animals, and back into the soil.

Organisms have inherited parts that help them meet their needs.

Organisms change over time.Intended Learning OutcomesStudents will know: Different animals have external characteristics

that help them live in different kinds of places. Animals have parts that can be identified and

named. Animals have and use parts to help them live in

their habitat.Students will be able to: View pictures or videos of animals from different

habitats to determine similar characteristics. Sort animals into groups with like characteristics. Draw and label animals and their parts. Use pictures to identify animal parts.

TEKSK.10: Organisms and environments. The student knows

that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to:

K.10A: Sort animals into groups based on physical characteristics such as color, size, body covering.

K.10B: Identify parts of animals such as head, eyes, and limbs.

Essential Vocabulary adult / adulto animal / animal baby / bebé basic need / necesidad básica body covering/ cubierta del cuerpo breathe / respirar drink / beber eat / comer egg / huevo feather / pluma fur / pelo, pelaje grow / crecer, cultivar habitat / habitat head / cabeza leg / pierna living thing/ seres vivo nonliving thing/ objetos inerte parent / padre, madre, reproduce / reproducir shell / concha, caracol shelter / refugio skin/ piel tail / cola wing / ala

Language Objectives:Use lessons to learn and practice using new vocabulary about animals.

ELPS:2F-Listening- Listen to and derive meaning from a variety of media to build and reinforce concept and language

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attainment.1C-Learning Strategies- Use strategic learning techniques such as concept mapping, drawing, memorizing, comparing, contrasting, and reviewing to acquire basic and grade-level vocabulary.College and Career Readiness Standards:Intellectual curiosity-Engage I scholarly inquiry and dialogue. Accept constructive criticism and revise personal views when valid evidence warrants.21st Century Skills:Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the environment and the circumstances and conditions affecting it, particularly as relates to air, climate, land, food, energy, water and ecosystems.Prior Learning: Organisms have different characteristics, and these characteristics help them live in their environment. Organisms have life cycles. Animals have basic needs to stay alive. Animals grow and change. Adult animals have young.TOC (Think/Observe/Conclude) or KWL (Know/Want to Know/Learned)Encourage oral language by using TOC strategies: put kids in small groups and encourage them to come up with 2-5 things they agree about the topic of study or content. Students in this small group report to the whole group in 3 minutes. The purpose of this activity is to go deeper into the subject.I think…I observed…I conclude…

Teacher ManagementEstimated Time for Completion: 5 days

Materials:Throughout the lessons:Discussion rules/protocolsScience Notebook TemplatesPencils, Pens, and colored pencils for recording in notebooksPrepared KLEW Chart (What Do We Think We Know, What We Learned, What our Evidence Is, What We Wonder)Access to projector/innovation station, internet resourcesPlastic animals –including fish, birds, arthropods, reptiles, amphibians, and mammalsPhotographs of a diverse selection of animalsVariety of non-fiction books about animals that include detailed color photographs

Additional Materials:Day 1: none additionalDay 2: none additionalDay 3: Multiple copies (in color) or alligator/crocodile and frog/toadDay 4: Arthropod examples, Pill bugs, hand lenses (lupas)Day 5: Plastic animals*/photographs of mammals and non-mammals ( See portfolio)

Advanced Teacher PrepDay 1: Set up stations for children to explore (books, national geographic website, plastic animals, class pets if applicable)Day2: Prepare a set of diverse animals/photographs for each small groupDay 3: Prepare a copy of the alligator/crocodile and frog/toad for each pair of students.Day 4: Prepare photographs of arthropods. GO OUTSIDE BEFORE SCIENCE LESSON AND COLLECT ENOUGH PILL BUGS FOR EACH STUDENT. Place pill bugs in clear containers in which children can observe them easily.

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Day 5: Prepare papers or trays labeled “mammals” and “non-mammals.” Prepare a diverse set of animals/photographs for the guessing game.

Several of the activities are designed for children to work in small groups. It is helpful to have a system ahead of time to limit transition times during the activities.

This may be a good time to schedule a trip to the zoo, farm, or nature center for Week 5 of CRM 5. Or schedule a visit from a veterinarian (or dog trainer) for Week 5 of CRM 5.

Anchors of SupportDisplay of animal photographs with labelsDiagrams with pictures and labels of animal groupingsKLEW Chart

Safety ConsiderationsUsing live organisms with children requires special safety considerations—for both children and the specimens. The most important precaution is to make sure that children wash their hands after handling organisms, their food, and their habitats. Read more about safety precautions (including safe classroom pets) from the CDC’s page about Animals in School and Daycare Settings.

Literary ResourcesHere are a few suggestions, but there are many books about animals in school libraries.Reptiles and Amphibians by Roger PriddyWhat Makes a Bird a Bird? By Mary GarelickWhat’s It Like to Be a Fish? By Windy Pfeffer.Why Frogs Are Wet By Judy HawesFrog or Toad: How Do You Know? By Melissa StewartWhat is an Arthropod? by Bobbie KalmanI Am a Pill bug by Yukihisa TokudaDiscover Mammals: Fun Facts for Kids by Rose AldenThe Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals by Nancy White and John Speirs

Technology Resources How Plants and Animals Live, Cómo viven las plantas y los animales by Tristan Nicholas (Gr 1) Habitats, Hábitats, by Arlene Block (Gr 1)iPad Apps: How Do (visuals and sounds for processes, including dog feeding pups and other animal processes)Birch Aquarium Fish CamAnimal Planet Bird CamAnimal Planet Pacific Reef CamThe Magic School Bus Explores the World of Animals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsZCSoG8bvYToads, Frogs, Pollywogs: the Amphibian Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti0HDtRY8u4Reptile Rap (very outdated but the chorus is catchy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_wFtlug3jkhttps://getkahoot.com/https://padlet.com/http://www.polleverywhere.com/Suggestions for beginning or end of unit: Create a Poll and allow student to utilize a device like an IPhone, IPad, Smartphone, etc. These sites, Kahoot, Padlet, Poll Everywhere, allows teachers to create a poll for students to respond to. Show a group of students how to respond to the poll by passing around the device throughout the day if only one device is available, these students in turn will show the rest of the class. By the end of the day, as an exit slip strategy, review the poll results with the whole class. This should only take a few minutes and allows for a quick review of content learned.

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Science Fusion Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) ResourcesBig Book of Science Vocabulary p. 23Student Edition pp. 109-114Inquiry Flipchart p. 22Assessment Guide p. AG 73Picture Sorting Cards 10, 13, 16, 23, 26, 28, 32, 38Science Songs CD, track 1, 2 Log in > Student Access> Unit 9 > What are animals like?

Background Information for TeacherScience Lessons in Kindergarten should have 80% hands-on investigations or inquiry, which is 36 out of 45 minutes. If you have visiting animals from the SHRC, please modify to focus on your live specimen. Animals are a fascinating topic for young children; rare is the kindergartner who does not have a favorite animal, and many children are knowledgeable about animals through reading books, visiting the zoo, or owning a pet. Some children may fear animals, however—especially those considered wild or violent, those that creep and crawl, or those that make loud noises. The experiences suggested in this lesson and the ones that follow should capitalize upon the interest of the already knowledgeable children and encourage comfort and curiosity in children who are nervous around animals.A-Z Animals provides a general overview of classification. The animal kingdom is divided into about 40 (scientists are still fine-tuning!) phylum. Phylum are further broken down into classes. With the exception of arthropods, all groups that are a focus in this week’s lessons are classes. Arthropods are a phylum. The reason to focus on arthropods as opposed to insects is to dispel the misconception that many children have that any crawling creature as an insect; arthropods include not only insects, but also other creepy-crawlies like spiders, millipedes, etc. (as well as lobsters!). The groups focused on this week are but a sampling of the many groupings included in the animal kingdom. Encourage, above all, students’ ongoing curiosity to keep exploring, researching, and wondering on their own beyond this week and beyond the classroom!

The teacher can make the lessons presented here even more meaningful and exciting by having specimens for observation. While the lessons presented her do not rely on having classroom pets, access to real animals will heighten any and all learning that happens. If you are not comfortable maintaining classroom pets for the entire school year, consider these options:

Request organisms for 2-week periods from the Living Materials Center at the Science Health Resource Center

Borrowing pets from other classrooms Inviting families to bring pets to school for a visit Creating habitats for animals found outside (e.g. pill bugs, caterpillars, ants, worms) Scheduling a visit to the zoo or a farm Purchasing a low-maintenance pet (e.g. fish, gerbils, tarantula) that a family will adopt at the end of the

unit

Timeline of Concepts and QuestionsDay Concept Question in Child-Friendly Language1 Animals are living things that exist in almost infinite

variety. Los animales son seres vivos que existen en una variedad casi infinita.

What is an animal?¿Qué es un animal?

2 Scientists put animals into groups. Birds are two-legged animals covered with feathers; they hatch young from eggs. Fish are water animals covered with scales; they hatch young from eggs.Los científicos ponen a los animales en grupos. Las aves son animales de dos patas cubiertos de plumas; nacen de

How can we group animals?What makes a bird a bird and a fish a fish?¿Cómo podemos agrupar a los animales?¿Qué hace a una ave ser una ave y a un pez ser un pez?

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huevos.Los peces son animales de agua cubiertos de escamas; nacen de huevos.

3 Reptiles are cold-blooded, scaly skinned land animals that hatch young from eggs.Amphibians are cold-blooded land animals that lay eggs in water, and live in water before maturing into adults and moving to land.Los reptiles son animales de sangre fría, con piel escamosa que nace de huevos. Los anfibios son animales de sangre fría que ponen sus huevos en el agua, viviendo allí antes de madurar a su etapa de adulto para moverse hacia el suelo de tierra.

What makes a reptile a reptile and an amphibian an amphibian?How can drawing help us see the details that make animals unique?¿Qué hace a un reptil ser un reptil y a un anfibio ser un anfibio?¿Cómo nos ayuda hacer a ver los detalles que hacen a los animales ser únicos?

4 Arthropods are hatched from eggs, have more than four jointed legs, and have a hard outer covering (exoskeleton).Los artrópodos nacen de huevos, tienen más de cuatro piernas conectadas y tienen una cubierta exterior dura (exoesqueleto).

What makes an arthropod an arthropod? ¿Qué hace a un artrópodo ser un artrópodo?

5 Mammals are hair-covered warm-blooded animals that drink milk from their mothers when they are young.Los mamíferos son animales de sangre caliente cubiertos de pelo, que toman leche de sus madres cuando son pequeños.

What makes a mammal a mammal?¿Qué hace a un mamífero ser un mamífero?

Misconceptions “Students tend to classify animals (including mammals) using criteria such as movement, number of legs,

body covering, and habitat. These criteria can lead students to classify some animals incorrectly. For example, marine mammals such as whales are often believed to be fish. Some students might believe that only large land mammals are animals.” Source: Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

“Students also develop their ability to classify animals as they age. Students in the primary grades often form animal groups by different status (organisms that fly, organisms that live in the water) and do not use a hierarchical system of classification.” Source: Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

“Research has shown that some students may believe that insects are not animals because the organisms were introduced and studied in separate units. Teachers should be careful to relate such units (insects, birds, mammals) back to a larger discussion of animals.” Source: Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

“Students may have misconceptions about specific mammals due to personal experiences or cultural myths. For example, students may believe that bats feed on blood because they have been exposed to horror movies and stories.” Source: Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears

Animals can be grouped only by similarities in external appearance, behavior, or habitat. (vs. internal structures and processes). Source: Ohio Resource Center

All ocean animals are fish. Source All fish lay eggs. (Some fish give birth to live young, such as guppies and some sharks.) Source

Probing Questions Why do scientist study animals? ¿Porqué los cientificos estudian animales? What makes an organism an animal? ¿Que causa que un organismo se clasifique como un animal? What features and behaviors help us to tell animals apart? ¿Qué características y comportamientos nos ayudan a separar a los animales? How can grouping animals help us understand them?

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¿Cómo es que agrupando a los animales nos ayuda a estudiarlos?

See questions embedded in daily lessons as well.

All lesson resources provided within this lesson are for instruction by ALL teachers.To meet Dual Language criteria, Dual Language Activity 1 and Activity 2 have been identified for the Dual Language teacher.

Arch of Lessons Kindergarten (45 Minute Lessons)

Day 1: Is it an animal?Directed Inquiry- Students are given the question and procedures, but make their own claims and conclusions citing their collected data as evidence.

Engage (20 minutes) and Dual Language Activity 1 “We will be studying animals for the next few weeks. A scientist who studies animals is called a zoologist. So that is how I will greet you each day at science for the rest of our study. Do you hear a familiar word in there? Zoo, of course, we know a zoo is place where we can observe animals, especially those that we do not often see. That word, zoo, will help us remember the word for scientists who study animals—zoologists.”

“Whenever we study something new, I like to find out what you already know…and also what we might be confused about or wondering about as a class. Drawing Detectives: http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/dbi/content/drawing-detectivesAdapted to the theme of animals: Students will describe an animal’s external characteristics and parts. Divide group into pairs. Distribute pens and paper (sticky notes) to everyone. Students could be arranged on the carpet sitting back to back or at tables in chairs back to back. Without speaking, each person should draw three parts of an animal with the intention to help their partner guess the animal drawn. Stress that drawing ability does not matter – it will be the Detective’s job to interpret whatever marks or images are presented to them. After drawing their images, ask each person to take a turn at being a Detective and guessing as much as they can about the animals their partner drew. The partner should remain silent until the Detective has finished. After all detectives have finished, bring 2 or 3 pairs together and ask each person to introduce their partner to the larger group by saying what they have discovered about them.

Additional probing questions: What do all the things you drew have in common? What makes them all animals? ¿Qué tienen en común las cosas que dibujaste? ¿Qué las hace animales? What other creatures would you include as animals? Why? ¿Qué otras criaturas incluirías como animales? ¿Por qué?

Summarize the discussion by repeating ideas you heard. “Here are some reasons we had for knowing if something is an animal. We think animals….[have to move—fly, swim, walk, etc; have to move fast, have to have eyes, have to have bones, etc.].” Fill in several ideas on which the group agrees in the K-column of the KLEW Chart. If children have questions they are wondering about, you can record these as well.

Explore (25 minutes)For the rest of today, children can start their zoologist studies by exploring books and photographs about animals, playing with the plastic animals, observing our class pets, or using National Geographic for Kids website. Students could also classify the animals in Science Fusion Student Edition p. 109-113. Here is the link to live cams from National Geographic.Other stations to set up: Animals Walk/ Swim / Fly (see the portfolio)Inquiry Flipchart p. 22 with word cards or cards for students to put the ways they classify

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Animal Riddles see TE p. 289

Day 2: How can we group animals? What makes a bird a bird and a fish a fish?Directed Inquiry- Students are given the question and procedures, but make their own claims and conclusions citing their collected data as evidence.

Engage: (5 minutes)“Hello zoologists! Did you know there are over a million different kinds of animals in the world? How do scientists keep track of them? There are so many animals for scientists to tell apart. There are more than 86,000 kids that go to school in Austin. That’s a lot to keep track of, too. We are all the same because we are all students, but we are all different, too. How do we organize all the kids that go to school in our city? We have different schools, grades, classrooms, teachers, etc. Scientists do the same kind of organizing with animals. They put them into groups based on things the animals have in common. Today we are going to explore ideas we have for grouping animals. Then, we’ll learn more about two kinds of groups of animals.”

Explore: (10 minutes) and Dual Language Activity 1Provide small teams of 3-4 students with diverse collections of plastic animals or photographs of animals. (see portfolio) Students work together to organize their animals in several different ways. They record at least one sorting strategy in their science notebooks or write an animal riddle to get other to guess the animal.

Conceptual Refinement ( 10 – 15 min.) The teacher pulls students or pushes in for students that need extra support with the concepts.

Explain: (15 minutes)Gather students back together at the rug. Have each team report on one unique way that they organized their animals. (e.g. by color, size, habitat, movement, etc.) Ask clarifying questions such as:

Why did you put the ____________ and the ___________ in the same group? ¿Por qué pusiste el/la______________y el/la____________en el mismo grupo? What did the _____________ and the ________________ have in common? ¿Qué _____________ y el/la ________________ tienen en común? Which animals were hard to put into groups? Why? ¿Qué animales fueron más difícil de poner en grupos? ¿Por qué? Did your team have any disagreements about which group an animal belonged in? How did you solve the

problem? ¿Tuvo tu equipo algún desacuerdo sobre a qué grupo pertenecía un animal? ¿Cómo resolvieron el

problema?

“Today your teams did something that all scientists do. You grouped animals by what you observed and know about them. You had to describe the animals so that you could know which group to put them in. Scientists disagree sometimes, too, about which groups animals belong in! When scientists put an animal into a group, they have a special word for it—it’s called classifying. That’s what you did today, zoologists! Now, we don’t have to make up all the groups ourselves. Scientists have made some groups for us already. Look at these three photographs. Hold up three pictures of different birds. What group do you think these birds are in? Birds,of course. What group do you think these three animals are in? Hold up three pictures of different fish. We can add Scientists put animals in groups to our KLEW Chart as something we learned today.”

Elaborate (15minutes)Provide additional opportunities for children to observe and explore birds and fish. Many online resources allow for observation of animals. Here are several:Birch Aquarium Fish Cam

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Animal Planet Bird CamAnimal Planet Pacific Reef Cam

Keep a basket of clipboards, pencils, and drawing paper by the computer station so that students can draw what they notice.

Day 3: Guided Inquiry- What makes a reptile a reptile and an amphibian an amphibian? How can drawing help us see the details that make animals unique? Students are given question, and they make a plan in their small group as to how they might answer the question. Students share out, proceed, and collect and organize their data. As they share out with their group, and make their own claims and conclusions citing their collected data as evidence.

Explain(10 minutes)“Yesterday, we began to explore ways that scientists group, or classify, animals into different categories. We tried lots of different ways in our teams, and we learned that scientist already have some groups for animals, like birds and fish. Today we are going to learn about two more groups that scientist have—reptiles and amphibians. Have you heard of these groups before? What do you think you know about them?” Encourage students to share ideas, acknowledging that these two categories confuse grown-ups, too, and animals within the categories (such as frogs/toads, crocodiles/alligators) can be hard to tell apart.

Read a book, such as Reptiles and Amphibians by Roger Priddy, that will help students learn about these two subgroups of animals. Reptiles are cold-blooded, scaly skinned land animals that hatch young from eggs. (CEC) Amphibians are cold-blooded land animals that lay eggs in water, and live in water before maturing into adults and moving to land. (CEC)

Explore (15 minutes) and Dual Language Activity 2“Now that we have learned a little more about reptiles and amphibians, we are going to look closely at some animals from each group and draw pictures of them. We will look at a crocodile and an alligator, which are both reptiles, and we will look at a frog and a toad, which are both amphibians.”

Provide students with laminated photographs of an alligator and crocodile and a frog and toad:

Use a cooperative learning strategy such as Four Corners http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/dbi/content/four-corners or put students in 4 groups one for crocodile, alligator, toad and frog. Within each animal group, there may be several sub-groups based on your knowledge of the students. “Now your groups will get time to take a closer look at the details of these animals and create one to share with the group.”

Provide smooth green and brown paper as well as crinkled brown and white paper or magazine pages, large white or manila papers as the background and yellow paper for the eyes and teeth. Students can take resources as they see fit to make a drawing and cut out of the animal or for the reptiles, a collage of scales and teeth. Allow students creativity to shine, but guide them to look at and replicate the true characteristics of the animal. As students ask about details in parts of their bodies, you could use your computer centers to search for images, for example, of a close-up of an alligator’s eye.

Conceptual Refinement (10 – 15 min.) The teacher pulls students or pushes in for students that need extra support with the concepts.

Explain (10 minutes)Gather students at the rug with their creations and have students share what they notice about the similarities and differences between the two sets of animals. Be aware of students over-generalizing—for example, all frogs are

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green because the photograph provided was of a green tree frog. Help students phrase their language into “I think…,” “maybe statements,” or into questions to avoid fueling misconceptions. Questions can be added to the W-section of the KLEW chart.

Add several statements to the L-column of the KLEW chart to document what students learned about amphibians and reptiles, how to tell animals apart, or how drawing helps us to notice details. Record the evidence as photographs, a website, a book, or their own experience with the activity as applicable.

Elaborate (5 minutes)Why do scientists study animals? http://www.animalresearchcures.org/whyresearch.htmHow does scientific research improve our lives? Explain to students how a component of the Gila monster venom called exendin-4 was recently investigated for its in treating type-2 diabetes. This peptide stimulates the secretion of insulin in the presence of elevated blood glucose levels.

Also, read about how learning about animals can help us protect their habitat and keep endangered species from extinction. http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/

Consult photographs or books to answer questions that arose, or search for answers online with the class. As you search, model research and use of technology by explaining to children that you are looking for the name of the scientist who wrote the information or whom the author consulted to ensure that we can trust the site.

Read Frog or Toad: How Do You Know? by Melissa Stewart. Online resources allow for observation of amphibians and reptiles: National Zoo Reptile Discovery Center

Virtual Tour , National Geographic Kids Amphibian Videos

Day 4- Guided Inquiry- What makes an arthropod an arthropod? Students are given question, and they make a plan in their small group as to how they might answer the question. Students share out, proceed, and collect and organize their data. As they share out with their group, and make their own claims and conclusions citing their collected data as evidence.

Engage (15 minutes)Display the photographs of a variety of arthropods, or use the graphic below. Ask children which ones they recognize, such as an ant, spider, or lobster. Ask children which ones they would group together and why. Children may notice that some are insects—and may share that they think the spider is included in that group. “You are right that insects are a group of animals. Insects have some things in common; for example they all have 6 legs. The spider does not have 6 legs ….but it is still part of this bigger group of animals that I’m showing you. It’s true, scientists have grouped all the animals together that I’m showing you. They are all part of a group called arthropods. Why do you think scientists might have grouped these animals together?” Guide students toward noticing that all of the arthropods have more than 4 legs and all have an outer shell, or exoskeleton.

Students can use Drama-Based Instruction Strategies to make Image Work of arthropods in groups by adding their arms to form 6 legged insects or 8 legged arachnids. http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/dbi/content/image-work-tips-and-tricks

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Gila Monster

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Read a book such as What is an Arthropod? by Bobbie Kalman to learn more about what makes a variety of invertebrates—insects, spiders, lobsters, centipedes and more—arthropods. Arthropods are hatched from eggs, have more than four jointed legs, and have a hard outer covering (exoskeleton). Insects, spiders, and crustaceans are arthropods. (CEC) or if book unavailable watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Xy4qTjQQJ4

Explore (15 -20 minutes) and Dual Language Activity 1“Now we can observe one kind of arthropod up close today. You may have seen these little creatures before, they are pill bugs, or roly-poly’s. Besides drawing them in your notebooks, we can notice the pill bugs’ behavior—what they do. We know that they roll up, but when? Also, can you figure out how many legs the pill bugs have? Does it have six like an insect or a different number? It will be interesting to find out. You can use a hand lens to help you look closer.”

Children work at the tables to observe, describe, draw, and write about the pill bugs.

Conceptual Refinement ( 10 – 15 min.) The teacher pulls students or pushes in for students that need extra support with the concepts.

Explain (10 minutes)Children share their observations. Some probing questions are:

What did you notice today about the pill bugs? When do pill bugs roll up? What evidence do you have? Do you think a pill bug is an insect? Why or why not? Think about the book we read earlier. Why do you think a pill bug is included in the arthropod group?

At the end of the share, add a statement to the KLEW chart about what children learned , such as “A pill bug is an arthropod,” and include the evidence children pointed to in the discussion.

If you have time, read a book about pill bugs, such as I Am a Pill bug by Yukihisa Tokuda, to learn more about this creature that is so familiar to students.

Elaborate Explore.org Live Honeybee Cam Look for arthropods outside in the schoolyard. Make sure to include a discussion about safety, such as

staying away from fire ants, not touching creatures unless we are sure they are safe, etc. Create a habitat for pill bugs and other arthropods (e.g. spiders, insects) in the classroom. Line a small

tank with pebbles (for drainage), leaf litter, and soil and place some rocks, moss, and sticks for hiding places.

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Day 5: What makes a mammal a mammal?

*This lesson is adapted from Science Experiences for the Early Years by Jean Harlan and Mary Rifkin.*For this lesson, you could substitute a caged small mammal, such as a gerbil or rabbit, during the Engage section. Engage (10 minutes—longer if you are observing a live organism, which will be of high interest to children!)Why do we need to study animals? The cougar’s habitat includes the Austin area and it is on the Endangered Species Red List http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/cougar/“Zoologists, today we will learn about another big group of animals, called mammals. Have you heard that word before? What do you know about mammals?” Encourage children to share ideas. “Today we are going to observe a type of mammal…” [If using a live animal, establish rules for observing the animal at this point.] “Look around…they are all around the rug…the mammal we are going to observe is people.”

Guide children to observe and ponder the mammalian characteristics of people with the following questions: How are our bodies covered? (All mammals—even elephants and whales—have some hair.) Why do our chests move in and out?” (All mammals need to breathe air.) Ask a friend if it is okay if you touch their back. What can you feel under the clothes and skin? (All

mammals have backbones.) What do people look like when they are born? Did we hatch from eggs?! (All mammals grow in their

mothers’ bodies.) How are people fed when we are babies? What is our first food? (Female mammals make milk to nurse

their young.)

Summarize observed characteristics on a chart to which children can refer in the Explore activity.

Explore (15-20 minutes)Tell children that they will be sorting plastic animals or photographs of animals (See portfolio) into mammals and non-mammal categories in their small groups. Remind children that scientists sometimes disagree; when they disagree with someone in their group, each person should explain their thinking. If they can’t agree, they can leave the animal out and bring it to the rug later to discuss in the whole group. Also introduce the science notebook template that children will complete after the sorting.

In small groups, children sort the animals or photographs. You can label pieces of paper with the two categories to help organize the categories. (To further guide children, you can also provide fur and a picture of a nursing animal on the “yes” paper and pictures of eggshells and reptile skin on the “no” paper.) As you interact with children, ask them to describe why they put animals in the different categories, encouraging children to refer to the summarized statements above. AND Provide blank labels for the students to make their own categories.

After children have had time to sort the pictures or plastic animals, they complete their science notebook entry and bring it to the rug, along with any animals their group had trouble categorizing.

Explain (5 minutes)Gather children in the large group to explain their thinking. Students can explain to pairs or small groups. Ask probing questions:

How did you sort the animals? ¿Cómo clasificaste/agrupaste los animales? What are some examples of animals you put in the mammal/non-mammal categories? ¿Cuáles son algunos ejemplos de animales que pusiste en las categorías de mamífero/no mamífero? Which animals were difficult to categorize? What evidence did you use to try to make a decision? ¿Qué animales fueron difícil de categorizar? ¿Qué evidencia usaron para tomar una decisión?

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Evaluate (10-15 minutes—and then play repeatedly in upcoming weeks)

What animal am I? Guessing GameThis game provides many opportunities to notice children’s understanding of animal attributes learned throughout the week as well as their use of new vocabulary.

Spread a diverse set of plastic animals or animal photographs in the center of the rug or on an overhead projector. Secretly choose one animal. Children take turns pointing to/guessing which animal you are. After each wrong guess, respond with a statement that provides a clue related to attributes described throughout the week. “I am not a [monkey]. A [monkey] is covered with hair. I am covered with scales.”Children continue to guess until they figure out what animal you are.

Variation 1: Yes or No QuestionsInstead of guessing a specific animal, children ask specific questions, such as:

Are you covered with hair? ¿Está cubierto de pelo? Do you lay eggs? ¿Pone huevos? Can you fly?

¿Puede volar? How many legs do you have? ¿Cuántas patas tiene?

Children must ask a minimum of five questions before they can guess what animal you are. For each wrong guess, they need to ask another question to get an additional clue.

Variation 2: Put the animals/photographs inside a hula hoop. After you answer each question, choose a student(s) to eliminate animals that do not meet the criteria.

Variation 3:Children take on the teacher’s role and must either provide the clues or respond to questions. Option for Drama-Based Instruction (need animal cards for each student that can be classified various ways)http://www.utexas.edu/cofa/dbi/content/truth-about-me-0To adapt this for Kindergarten, use the rectangle with a shape or color in them on your rug. Students must stand in a rectangle and hold their animal card. If extra squares are open put a paper or tape on them so it is obvious that they should not be used. “One of our goals today is to take risks. So I’m going to start this game by sharing something about my animal.” The teacher stands in the middle and says, “The truth about me is . . .” and completes the sentence with a true statement about something their animal does or has. Encourage using words about their characteristics, “I have feathers, etc.” When the statement is made, everyone that shares that characteristic must change places and find a new place in the circle. At the same time the person in the middle is also trying to get a spot. Whoever does not get a spot goes to the center and the game begins again. Students may need guidance to pay attention and move only when a characteristic their animal has was said. Since this can be repeated at recess, those who did not get a chance in the middle will get a chance then.

Describe: What did you notice about the statements in this game?Analyze: What did you learn?Relate: Why is it important to learn these things about each other?

Differentiation:

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ELL and SPED Strategy: Provide illustrated word walls and vocabulary cards for children during writing tasks. Preview new/unfamiliar vocabulary with children when appropriate. Allow additional time for children to peruse books and photographs in the science center during literacy and

choice periods.

Enrichment: Children can do additional research on a specific animal of their choosing during choice periods at school or at

home. Children can pick a specific animal to present to the class during morning meeting, at the beginning of science lesson, or at read aloud.

Project-Based Learning: Consider giving students choice to pick an animal from the list of Endangered Species http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/nongame/listed-species/ to research and make a creative presentation that highlights real-world connections. They could also come up with a way to raise funds to adopt the species through the WWF: http://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions.aspxThe Monarch Butterfly is on this list and may be very familiar for students. Browse the WWF site for information on specific threats to animals and students could present on the threat that is most pertinent to their animal of choice.

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Date:

Is it an animal?

Circle the things that you think are animals.

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Sorting Animals

Sort the animals in different ways with your team. Record one way that you sorted. Animals that…

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Reptiles and Amphibians

Drawing can help us notice small differences between animals.

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Alligator

Crocodile

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Frog

Toad

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A Pill bug is an Arthropod

Observe a pill bug closely. Draw a picture that shows a pill bug BIGGER than its real size so that you can show the details.

What do you notice about the pill bugs?

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Is it a mammal?

Mammals have hair.Mammals breathe air.Mammals have backbones.Mammals grow in their mother’s body.Female mammals make milk to nurse their young.

Do you think the animals in the pictures are mammals?

What other animals do you think are mammals?

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Mammal Not a mammal

Not sure

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Fecha:

¿Es un animal?

Circula las cosas que creas que son animales.

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Agrupando animales

En equipo, agrupen a los animales en diferentes formas. Anota una de las formas en que agrupaste. Animales que…

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Fecha:

Reptiles y anfibios

Dibujar nos puede ayudar a notar pequeñas diferencias y detalles entre animales.

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Caimán

Cocodrilo

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Rana

Sapo

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Una cochinilla es un artrópodo

Observa de cerca una cochinilla.Haz un dibujo que muestre una cochinilla MÁS GRANDE que su tamaño real para que puedas mostrar los detalles.

¿Qué notas acerca de las cochinillas?

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Fecha:

¿Es un mamífero?

Los mamíferos tienen piel.Los mamíferos respiran aire.Los mamíferos tienen espina dorsal. Los mamíferos crecen en el vientre de su madre.Los mamíferos hembras producen leche para alimentar a sus crías.¿Crees que los animales en las fotografías son mamíferos?¿Qué otros animales crees que son mamíferos?

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Mamífero No es mamífero

No estoy seguro

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