Teaching
Body Coverings
Interest Level: Grades K–2
Reading Level: Grade 1
Titles in this series:
Feathers
Fur
Scales
Shells
Skin
Standards
National Science Education
• Science as inquiry: abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Science as inquiry: understanding about scientific inquiry
• Life science: characteristics of organisms
AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy
• The Nature of Science Scientific Inquiry: Know that
people can often learn about things around them by just
observing those things carefully, but sometimes they can
learn more by doing something to the things and noting
what happens.
• The Living Environment Diversity of Life: Know that
some animals and plants are alike in the way they look
and in the things they do, and others are very different
from one another. Evolution of Life: Know that different plants and animals
have external features that help them thrive in different
kinds of places.
• Habits of Mind Communication Skills: Be able to
describe and compare real-world objects in terms of
number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion.
Common Core Reading
• Key Ideas and Details
• Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
• Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Common Core Speaking and Listening
• Comprehension and Collaboration
• Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Common Core Writing
• Text Types and Purposes
• Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Multiple Intelligences
Utilized
• Verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist
™
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
2
TEAC HI NG
B ODY
Lesson 1
Sort the Animals
Materials
•Body Coverings series
•construction paper (3 pieces
for each student)
•magazines or photographs
•scissors
•glue
•stapler
Prepare
•Gather magazines that include
photographs of animals.
•Cut out a few pictures of animals
with different body coverings to
use as examples.
Pretest
•What is skin? What is fur? Why do
animals have skin or fur?
Lesson 2
Spider Map
Purpose
Students will categorize animals by their body
coverings.
Read
•Read the Body Coverings series.
•Complete the book by stapling
the pages together.
Model
•Ask students to name several
different animals. List the animals
on the board.
•Invite students to name the body
covering of each animal listed. •Demonstrate how to make a
booklet out of construction paper,
three pieces per student. At the
top of each page (front and back),
write the name of one kind of
body covering (feathers, fur, scales,
shells, and skin).
•Cut out animal photos from
magazines, and glue pictures of
animals with the appropriate body
coverings on each page.
Practice
•Students will make their own
booklets, including one page for
each type of body covering.
Discuss
•If you could, would you change
your skin to a different body
covering? Which one would you
choose?
Evaluate
•Evaluate the animal booklets for
accuracy and understanding.
Purpose
Students will use a spider map to list
characteristics of a body covering.
Materials
•Body Coverings series
•Spider Map p. 6
•pencils
Prepare
•Make a copy of Spider Map p. 6
for each student.
Pretest
•What protects animals from bad
weather? From other animals?
Read
•Read Body Coverings series.
C O V E R I N G S
Model
•Draw a spider chart on the board.
See Spider Map p. 6 for an
example.
•Choose one body covering, and
write it in the circle in the middle
of the chart.
•Invite students to share
characteristics of that body
covering. What does it look like?
How does it feel? How does it
help animals? How does the body
covering change over time?
•Write the characteristics at the end
of each line in the spider map on
the board.
Practice
•Hand out copies of Spider Map p. 6.
•Invite students to choose a different
body covering and complete their
own Spider Map p. 6.
Discuss
•Which body coverings are alike?
Which body coverings are different
from one another?
Evaluate
•Assess Spider Map p. 6 for accuracy
and understanding.
•Observe student participation in
class discussions.
™
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
3
TEAC HI NG
B ODY
C O V E R I N G S
Lesson 3
Write an Animal Story
Materials
•Body Coverings series
•paper
•pencils
Prepare
•Assign partners to students, or
let them choose partners for this
lesson.
Pretest
•What is your skin like? Why do you
need it?
Read
•Read Body Coverings books.
Model
•Invite students to share qualities
and traits of their skin. Why do
Purpose
Students will work in pairs to write a story from
an animal’s point of view.
humans have skin? What does skin
look and feel like? Write these
traits on the board.
•Explain that each pair will choose
an animal. Then, in pairs, they will
discuss that animal’s body covering,
just as the whole class just discussed
skin.
•Explain that students will write
notes on their own paper. Then
each pair will write a story about
a body covering from an animal’s
point of view.
Practice
•Students will work in pairs to
choose an animal and discuss its
body covering: What does it do
for the animal? How is it different
from other body coverings? What
does that body covering feel like
to the animal?
•Each pair will write a story about
the chosen animal. The story will
be written from the animal’s point
of view, and it will describe that
animal’s body covering.
Discuss
•Was it easy or difficult to write
from an animal’s point of view?
What did you like about this
assignment?
Evaluate
•Assess students’ stories for
understanding and effort.
•Evaluate teamwork and discussion
during this assignment.
™
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
4
TEAC HI NG
B ODY
Lesson 4
Matching Game
Materials
•Body Coverings series
•Matching Game p. 7
•pencils
Prepare
•Copy Matching Game p. 7 for
each student.
Pretest
•List animals that have skin. Are
there any animals that don’t have
skin?
•Write the animals on the board.
Read
•Read books from the Body
Coverings series.
C O V E R I N G S
Purpose
Students will match each body covering to its characteristics.
Discuss
•Group the animals listed on the
board by body covering. Then
review the characteristics of
different body coverings.
•What do all these body coverings
have in common? What are some
differences among them? Could
animals switch to different body
coverings? Why or why not?
•Why do animals have body
coverings?
Practice
•Students will complete Matching
Game p. 7. They might use Body
Coverings books for reference, if
needed.
Evaluate
•Review the answers to Matching
Game p. 7 (1. skin, 2. scales, 3.
feathers, 4. shells, 5. fur).
Model
•Explain Matching Game p. 7. For
each line, students will choose
which covering is being described
and draw a line to it.
™
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
5
TEAC HI NG
B ODY
Assessment
Body Coverings
Materials
•Body Coverings series
•Soft, Smooth, Slimy, Spiny p. 8
•pencils
Prepare
•Copy Soft, Smooth, Slimy, Spiny p.
8 for each student.
Pretest
•What is a body covering? Why do
animals have body coverings?
C O V E R I N G S
Purpose
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of
different body coverings.
Read
•Read the Body Coverings series as
directed in the teaching guide.
Model
•Follow the lesson plans to help
students understand what they
learn in the Body Coverings series.
Practice
•After completing the lesson plans,
ask students to complete the
sentences in Soft, Smooth, Slimy,
Spiny p. 8.
Evaluate
•Use students’ completed Soft,
Smooth, Slimy, Spiny p. 8 to assess
their reading comprehension and
understanding of the lessons for
Body Coverings.
Discuss
•Which activity in this unit did you
like the most?
•What was the most interesting
thing you learned from this unit?
™
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
6
Teaching Body Coverings
Name
Spider Map
Directions: Write the name of a body covering in the circle. Write words related to that
covering at the end of each line.
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
7
Teaching Body Coverings
Name
Matching Game
Directions: Draw a line from the body covering to the words that describe it.
1. Can have other coverings on top of it
Many different shades or colors
fur
2. Can be shed
Covering for lizards and snakes skin
Pieces of hard skin
3. Soft and fluffy
Help birds fly
scales
Many different colors
4. Hard
Covering for clams and crabs
shells
Smooth or bumpy
5. Keeps skin dry
Covering for mammals
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
feathers
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3
8
Teaching Body Coverings
Name
Soft, Smooth, Slimy, Spiny
Directions: Fill in the blanks with words from the box.
animals
fur
fur
feathers
skin
shell
grow
ears
hair
scales
fish
are pieces of hard skin on the outside of an animal’s body.
1.
2. Polar bears have skin under their
3. A
.
is the hard outer covering on an animal’s body.
4.
keep birds warm and help birds float.
5. Reptiles and
have scales.
6. Mammals have
or
on top of their skin.
7. Hair near an animal’s eyes or
keeps out dirt and bugs.
8. Lobsters shed old shells and
new ones.
9. Frogs and humans both have
.
10. Body coverings help
survive in their surroundings.
Copyright © 2012 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Lerner Digital™ and Lerner eSource™
are trademarks of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved. www.lernerbooks.com
ISBN 978–0–7613–8242–3