What Is an
Animal?
TM
hands on science for elementary students
Welcome to MySci™
Students learn science best when they can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch for themselves.
Inquiry-based classrooms help students pose their own questions, explore the world around
them, and become invested in the answers that they discover.
The life and earth sciences are well suited for hands-on learning. Observations of living and
non-living things, measurements of size and weight, exercises in comparison and contrast, and
the development of classification systems all provide learning in science, as well as math and
literacy.
The MySci™ program gives early elementary students all over St. Louis the chance to study
science through inquiry. It provides curriculum and classroom kits in plants, animals, and
earth science. The program also includes a visit from the newly designed Investigation
Station, a roving vehicle of innovative exhibits and specimens which makes learning through
climbing, crawling, seeing, hearing, and smelling more exciting than ever. MySci™ is getting
an early start on recruiting the next generation of scientists.
MySci™’s approach to learning science helps students build creative and analytic skills.
5 E’s Learning Cycle
5 E’s Learning Cycle
The 5 E’s are an instructional model in which children construct their understanding of science
concepts over time.
ENGAGE
Get the students interested in what you are going to do. This could be a warm up activity,
brainstorming session, or demonstration.
EXPLORE
Students should spend time looking at, asking questions about, making predictions and or
participating with instruments, manipulatives, specimens, and objects to gather information
and resources, they could also construct a model.
EXPLAIN
This is a time of discussion; it may involve students with students, students with the teacher,
students with the Internet, students with writing. The students would compare, classify, and
conduct error analysis.
ELABORATE
At this stage you want your students to take the information they have gained and use it in
another way; they may create an illustration, a project, or a connection to self, the world, other
subjects.
EVALUATE
This can be done by the teacher with discussions, in test or quiz format, using rubrics to
analyze understanding; it may be in portfolio format, or production.
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What Is an Animal?
5 E’s Learning Cycle
What the student does that is consistent with this model:
• Asks questions
• Explains answers and possible solutions to others
• Uses previous information to ask questions, make decisions, and design experiments
• Shows interest in topic
• Records observations and explanations
• Evaluates his/her progress and knowledge
• Tests predictions and hypotheses
• Asks related questions that would encourage further investigations
What the teacher does that is consistent with this model:
• Creates interest
• Generates curiosity
• Raises questions
• Asks for evidence and clarification from students
• Encourages students to explain concepts and definitions in their own words
• Encourages students to apply or extend the concepts and skills in new situations
• Assesses students’ skills and knowledge
• Observes the students as they apply new concepts and skills
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What Is an Animal?
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Meeting Missouri Grade Level Expectations
Meeting Missouri Grade Level Expectations
(Grades K–2)
Strand 3: Characteristics and Interactions of Living Organisms
Standard 1: There is a fundamental unity underlying the diversity of all living things
Concept A: Organisms have basic needs for survival
a. Identify the basic needs of most animals
Concept B: Organisms progress through life cycles unique to different types of organisms
a. Recognize that animals progress through life cycles of birth, growth, development,
reproduction and death
b. Record observations on the life cycle of different animals
c. Sequence the stages in the life cycle of animals
Concept D: Plants and animals have different structures that serve similar functions necessary for the
survival of the organism
a. Observe and compare the structures and behaviors of different kinds of plants and
animals
b. Identify and compare the physical structures of a variety of animals
c. Identify the relationships between the physical structures of animals and the
function of those structures.
Concept E: Biological classifications are based on how organisms are related
a. Distinguish between plants and animals based on observable structures and
behaviors
Standard 3: There is a genetic basis for the transfer of biological characteristics from one
generation to the next through reproductive processes
Concept D: There is a heritable variation within every species of organism
a. Recognize that living things have offspring
b. Recognize a parent-offspring relationship based on the organism’s physical
similarities and differences
c. Identify and relate the similarities and differences between animal parents and their
offspring
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What Is an Animal?
Meeting Missouri Grade Level Expectations
d. Recognize the similarities and differences among multiple offspring of an animal
Strand 7: Science Inquiry
Standard 1: Science understanding is developed through the use of science process skills,
scientific knowledge, scientific investigation, reasoning, and critical thinking
Concept A: Scientific inquiry includes the ability of students to formulate a testable question and
explanation, and to select appropriate investigative methods in order to obtain evidence relevant to the
explanation
a. Pose questions about objects, materials, organisms and events in the environment
b. Conduct a simple investigation (fair test) to answer a question
Concept B: Scientific inquiry relies upon gathering evidence from qualitative and quantitative observations
a. Make qualitative observations using the five senses
b. Make observations using simple tools and equipment (e.g., magnifiers/hand lenses,
magnets, equal arm balances, thermometers)
Concept C: Evidence is used to formulate explanations
a. Use observations as support for reasonable explanations
b. Use observations to describe relationships and patterns and to make predictions to
be tested
Concept D: Scientific inquiry includes evaluation of explanations (hypotheses, laws, theories) in light of
scientific principles (understandings)
a. Compare explanations with prior knowledge
Concept E: The nature of science relies upon communication of results and justification of explanations
a. Communicate observations using words, pictures, and numbers
b. Communicate simple procedures and results of investigations and explanations
through graphs, writings, data tables, oral presentations
b. Recognize similarities and differences among multiple offspring of an animal
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What Is an Animal?
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Assessing Students’ Work
Assessing Student Work
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
•
Differentiate plants from animals
•
Identify five groups of vertebrates—fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals
•
Identify basic needs of organisms
•
Identify characteristics of insects
•
Observe various animal adaptations and the relationship to their habitats
•
Observe and sequence life cycles
Assessment
Each MySci™ curriculum unit is built around key questions that motivate students’
exploration of their natural world. As students investigate questions about animals, the
MySci™ curriculum offers multiple ways of assessing student learning. These include:
MySci™ journal folder
A MySci™ journal folder is provided for students to collect their observations and descriptions
of objects and phenomena related to animals. If students record what they do and learn
consistently, then the MySci™ journal folder can provide valuable insight into their
understanding. It serves as an important documentation of a conversation among students,
their teacher, and the world around them.
Assessment within lessons
Some lessons include activity sheets that may be used for individual student assessments.
Other lessons are structured so that teachers may assess student understanding by observing
performance during the lesson itself. A third group of lessons will result in student-produced
portfolio items such as writing, pictures, or other projects, and these may be assessed. All of
these instruments, when used consistently and in concert with a teacher’s favored assessment
strategies, can help the teacher know and describe how the student’s understanding of animals
has grown and changed as a result of their MySci™ experience.
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information:
Animals and
Animal Life Cycles
Background Information
What Is an Animal?
What Living Things Do
What Living Things Need
Eat
Food
Breathe
Sunlight
Grow
Appropriate temperature
Eliminate wastes
Air
Reproduce
Water
Sense the world
Shelter
Move
If you ask a student what a living thing has to do or have in order to be called an animal, one
very common answer might be movement. Although this is correct, many other things are
important as well. Movement, eating, breathing, reproduction, and sensing the world are key
aspects attributed to animal life. With these characteristics also come the needs of animals.
Animal Characteristics
Animal Needs
Movement
Food
Breathe
Water
Reproduce
Shelter
Get energy from food
Oxygen
Sense the world
Space
The scientific definition of an animal is a living organism made of many cells that must find
and consume food for energy; its cells have a nucleus that organizes DNA but the cells have no
cell walls covering the outside of the cell.
Once a student establishes the difference between animal life and other forms of life,
understanding how scientists group animals becomes very important for realizing how
diverse animal life is on planet Earth. The first major division between animals comes from
discovering whether or not an animal has a backbone. If an animal has a backbone it is called
a vertebrate; and if it doesn’t it is called an invertebrate. These are two very large groups of
animals that are then further classified according to the similarities they share with one
another.
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information
VERTEBRATES
Vertebrae is the name given to the small bones that line up with one another to form the
backbone, or spinal column. Each bone has a small joint to allow for all the twisting and
bending the upper body is capable of when moving. The following are functions of the
backbone:
• Support: all the muscles and organs are attached an held up by the skeleton
• Movement: small joints between the vertebrae allow for a range of motion
• Protection: the backbone protects the spinal cord that is inside and runs the length of it
• Form: like the rest of the skeleton, the backbone allows for the body shape of an animal
Vertebrate animals are divided into five major groups depending upon the characteristics they
possess:
Mammals:
Mammals have hair on their bodies, mammary glands, four limbs (or fins in aquatic
mammals). They are warm-blooded, which means they generate their own heat. Mammals
breathe air through lungs. Groups of animals that are classified as mammals include whales,
apes, bears, bats, elephants, cats, rodents, etc. In almost all mammals the young develop inside the
mother. Most mammals give live birth. Mothers produce milk for their young to eat as they grow.
Reptiles:
Reptiles are cold-blooded, which means they do not generate their own body heat and
therefore must get the warmth they need from their environment. One way is to absorb heat
from the sun. Cold-blooded animals cannot survive in areas where their temperature needs
are not met. Reptiles breathe air through lungs. They have scales or plates as a body covering.
As they grow, reptiles shed their body covering all at once or in chunks. Groups of animals
that are classified as reptiles include snakes, lizards, tuataras, turtles, tortoises, alligators, and
crocodiles. Most reptiles lay eggs, and the young generally receive no parental care. Very few reptiles
give live birth or provide parental care.
Amphibians:
The word amphibian means “both lives.” This refers to the fact that amphibians are born in
the water but live out their adult lives on land. They return to the water to lay their eggs.
Amphibians have smooth damp skin that is much thinner and more fragile than reptile skin.
They are cold-blooded. Most breathe through gills in earlier stages and through lungs and
skin as adults. Groups of animals that are classified as amphibians include frogs, toads,
salamanders, newts, and caecilians. The life cycle of amphibians involves metamorphosis, during
which the young change and grow through several stages to become adults. The beginning and ending
stages are often very different in appearance (e.g. tadpole/frog).
Fish:
Fish are cold-blooded vertebrates that have gills which they use to extract oxygen from water
in order to breathe. Fish are divided into three groups: jawless, cartilaginous, and bony.
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Background Information
Jawless fish are very primitive animals that have no jaws or scales. Cartilaginous fish have
skeletons made of cartilage, instead of bone. They have jaws, sharp teeth, and scales. Sharks
and stingrays are in this group. Bony fish have bones, scales, and jaws. All fish are born in the
water. Most fish lay eggs, but a very few give live birth. There is little or no parental care.
Birds:
Birds are warm-blooded vertebrates that are covered in feathers. They have hollow bones and
lightweight beaks, which allow them to fly (instead of heavy bones and jaws with teeth). Some
birds cannot fly, for example ostriches, emus, and penguins. Baby birds hatch from eggs and are
cared for by their parents.
INVERTEBRATES
Animals without backbones include 99% of all animal life on earth, making them an
exceptionally diverse group of organisms. Ranging from microscopic to one of the largest sea
creatures, invertebrates cover the globe. The following is a brief list of the major groups of
invertebrates.
Sponges:
Invertebrate animals with pores—or holes—all over their body. Examples include sea
sponges.
Stinging-celled Animals: Cnidarians (ni-dare-ians)
Invertebrate animals with stinging cells at the ends of long or short tentacles. Examples
include jellyfish, hydra, sea anemones, and coral.
Worms:
Invertebrate animals that have long round bodies.
Soft-bodied Animals: Mollusks (mole-lusks)
Invertebrate animals with a soft body often covered in a shell. Examples include clams,
oysters, snails, squid, and octopuses.
Animals with Jointed Legs: Arthropods (are-throw-pods)
Invertebrate animals with jointed legs and exoskeletons. Examples include insects, spiders,
scorpions, shrimp, lobster, millipedes, centipedes, and horseshoe crabs.
Spiny-skinned Animals: Echinoderms (ee-kine-o-derms)
Invertebrate animals with spiny skin. Examples include sea stars, sea urchins, and sand
dollars.
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information
ADAPTATIONS
No matter the group, animals are exceptional forms of life due to their ability to survive and
reproduce. Adaptations are the physical and behavioral characteristics that make survival and
reproduction possible. These are the things that animals have and do that allow them to live
and thrive in certain habitats. Adaptations allow for the awesome animal diversity that exists,
making animals such a fascinating topic of study.
Physical Adaptation:
Parts of an animal’s body that help it survive
Examples:
Claws
Wings
Colors
Teeth
Behavioral Adaptation:
Things an animal does that help it survive
Examples:
Fighting
Flying
Hiding
Eating
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Background Information
Animal Classes
Amphibians
Birds
Habitat
water and land
land, water
Skin
moist, slimy skin with no
scales
feathers
Birth
eggs laid in water
eggs laid on land and in
nests
Warm- or Cold-blooded
cold-blooded
warm-blooded
Locomotion
walk, crawl, swim, jump,
slither
fly, swim, walk, run, paddle
Parental Care
no parental care
a lot to a little parental care
Other interesting facts
life cycles includes
undergoing metamorphosis
hollow bones, beaks instead
of teeth, and a reduction of
body organs allow birds to
be light enough to fly
The chart above describes five animal classes with one important similarity. Each animal
represented is a vertebrate, with a spinal cord running through the center of its backbone for
support and protection. But the animals vary widely in appearance, color, scale, habitat,
parental care, birthing habits, and mobility and movement.
It is important to learn what species of animal belongs in each class and how their particular
characteristics help them to survive. For example, all reptiles have scales which are similar in
function, but distinct in shape, size, and texture, depending on the individual reptile’s habitat.
There are many unusual and interesting adaptations of species which help ensure their
survival. These adaptations provide young students exciting research opportunities.
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information
Fish
Mammals
Reptiles
fresh and salt water
land; some in water
land, few in water
moist, slimy scales, or skin
hair or fur (some loose hair
as adults
dry scales cover skin; shells in
turtles
eggs laid in water; some
have live birth
live birth (exceptions include
three egg laying mammals)
eggs laid on land; some have
live birth
cold-blooded
warm-blooded
cold-blooded
swim
walk, run, fly, glide, swim,
climb, jump, leap, dig, hop
walk, run, glide, swim, climb,
slither
little to no parental care
a lot to a little parental care
little to no parental care
gills are used to breath
under water
mother produces milk in
mammary glands to feed
young
scales help to hold moisture
against their bodies
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Background Information
Animal Life Cycles (note: pictures not drawn to scale)
egg
egg
egg
caterpillar
chicket
tadpole
chrysalis
chick
polliwog
butterfly
chicken
frog
Butterflies experience
complete metamorphosis:
changes in their physical
structure are dramatic
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Chickens experience
physical changes during
their life cycle, but the
change is not dramatic
enough to constitute
metamorphosis.
Frogs experience complete
metamorphosis. They are
dramatically transformed
over the course of their life
cycle.
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information
Insect Metamorphosis
COMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS
Young animal looks nothing like its adult
form
INCOMPLETE METAMORPHOSIS
Young animal looks a lot like its adult form
A female adult lays the
eggs; larvae hatch
A female adult lays the
eggs; nymphs hatch
Larvae have 13 or fewer
body segments. They
often appear to have
more than 16 legs, but
actually, the extra legs
are another kind of
appendage that helps
with walking and
sticking to surfaces. As
larvae grow, they molt or
shed their exoskeleton.
Most of their time is
spent eating.
Nymphs resemble
small versions of
adults, but they are
much smaller in size
and often are missing
their wings). Nymphs
are sexually immature.
The 6-3-2 rule for
insects—six legs, three
body parts, 2
antennae—can already
be seen when
observing a nymph.
Pupae experience
chemical and physical
changes as their bodies
are rearranged to look
more like adults.
The nymph has
grown and begun to
develop wings. It is
still sexually immature.
Adults emerge from the
pupa. They have sex
organs and wings. Their
six legs, three body parts,
and two antennae
(following the 6-3-2 rule)
are easy to see.
Adults are full-grown
and sexually mature.
They have fully
developed wings.
Mealworm
Cricket
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What Is an Animal?
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Background Information
Vocabulary Terms
Adaptation: anything an animal has or does that helps it survive in its habitat
Amphibian: animals with backbones that have moist, slimy skin; they can live on land and in
the water
Animal: a living thing that moves, eats, and breathes
Arthropods: animals with no backbone that have jointed legs
Backbone: bones in an animal’s back that help protect it, hold it up, and move
Beak: the mouth part of a bird that helps it eat
Behavioral Characteristic: anything that an animal does using its body
Bird: animals with backbones that are covered in feathers
Breathe: when an animal takes in oxygen and gives off carbon dioxide
Characteristic: something an animal has or does that helps you tell it apart from other animals
Classification: to group things by how they are alike
Claw: the pointed nails at the end of birds’ toes that help them hold on to things
Cold-blooded: when animals get heat from outside their body
Exoskeleton: a skeleton on the outside of an animal’s body; insects have exoskeletons
Feather: the covering of a bird that helps it keep warm and fly
Fingerling: a baby fish just hatched from an egg
Fish: animals with backbones that are covered in slimy scales
Habitat: any place an animal lives; an animal’s home
Hatch: to be born by breaking out of an egg
Insect: an animal with no backbone that has six legs, three body parts, and 2 antennae
Invertebrate: an animal with no backbone
Life cycle: how living plants grow, live, and die
Live birth: to be born from a mother
Living thing: something that grows, changes, and makes other living things like itself
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What Is an Animal?
Background Information
Mammal: animals with backbones that have fur or hair
Metamorphosis: when an animal’s body goes through big changes as it grows and becomes
an adult
Milk: food that mothers of mammals make to feed their babies
Molt: when an insect gets to big for its exoskeleton and breaks out of it so it can grow a new
one
Non-living things: things that do not grow, eat, drink, or make more like themselves
Nymph: a stage in incomplete metamorphosis when an animal emerges from its egg; it looks
a lot like the adult
Organism: the name given to anything that is alive
Oxygen: a part of the air that organisms need to breathe to live
Parental care: when parents give some kind of care to their young
Physical characteristic: anything that is part of an animal’s body
Reproduce: when animal parents have babies
Reptile: animals with backbones that have dry, scaly skin
Senses: what animals use to find out about the world around them
Shelter: a place where animals can rest and be safe
Soft-bodied animals: animals with no backbone that have soft bodies, many are covered in
shells
Spiny-skinned animals: animals with no backbone that have spiny skin
Sponges: animals with no backbone that have holes all over their bodies
Stinging-celled animals: animals with no backbone that have stinging cells
Survival: when an animal is able to stay alive because all its basic needs are met
Vertebrate: an animal with a backbone
Warm-blooded: when animals make their own heat inside their body
Worms: animals with no backbone that have soft, long, tube-shaped bodies
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Supplies You Will Need for this Unit
Supplies You Will Need for this Unit
Lesson
Activity
Kit Materials
Teacher Provided
Materials
Plant/animal biofacts bags
Hand lenses
Plant/animal picture cards
Copies of MySci™ Journal
pages
B. Animal Groups
Animal models
Animal characteristic cards
Animal groups video
Animal class pictures
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
Copies of MySci™ Activity
Sheets 1B-1, 1B-2, and 1B-3
Scissors
Glue
C. Insects
Insect color cards
Model sets of invertebrates
Insect poster
Invertebrate poster
Copies of MySci™ Journal
pages
1. What Makes A. Animal or
an Animal?
“Vegetable”
2. What Do
A. The Basic Needs Animal group models
Missouri Department of
Animals Need of Animals
Conservation habitats and
and Where Do
animals posters
They Live?
Basic needs cards
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
Water
Strainers
Plastic fish
Plastic worms
2 plastic containers
Plastic cups
Tweezers
Soil
Post-It notes
B. The Importance
of Habitats
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MDC habitats and animals posters
A Pill Bug’s Life book by John
Himmelman
Hand lenses
Spray bottle
Petri dishes
Pill bugs (to be given out at
Investigation Station)
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
Organic material
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What Is an Animal?
Supplies You Will Need for this Unit
Lesson
Activity
Kit Materials
Teacher Provided
Materials
3. What Is an
Animal
Adaptation
A. Animal
Adaptations
Animal models
Animal adaptation cards
Anteater story
Plastic tub
Small bolts
Soil
Magnets
Pipe cleaners
Paper clips
Toilet paper rolls
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
Colored markers or crayons
B. Build a Bird
Bird poster
Beak chart
Claw chart
Feather chart
MDC habitats and animals poster
Beak, body, claw templates
Feathers
Craft feathers
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
A. Life Sequences
Life cycle big books
Life cycle teacher’s guide
Life sequence card sets
Life cycle video
Copies of MySci™ Journal page
4. How Do
Organisms
Grow?
NOTE TO TEACHER: You will need MySci™ journal folders provided in kits, as
well as crayons, markers, and pencils for every activity.
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