Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
1
Animal Unit: Including 9 Lessons, Gardner’s Intelligences, all of Bloom’s
Taxonomy Levels, Addressing Critical Thinking
Unit: Animals
Lesson 1: Cells as a basic building block of life
Objectives
1. Students will investigate, draw, and discuss that living things are made up of
cells. (Bloom’s analysis, knowledge, and understanding levels)
2. Students will compare and contrast plant and animal cells. (Bloom’s analysis
level)
Standards
IN Science
4.4.1 Investigate by using microscopes to see that living things are mad mostly of cells.
4.1.5 Demonstrate how measuring instruments, such as microscopes, can be used to
gather accurate information for making scientific comparisons of objects.
Anticipatory Set
We are going to look very close at living things and find out, “What are living things
made of?”
Teaching: Input
1. Living things include plants and animals.
2. Plants get their energy from the sun, nutrients in the soil, and water.
3. Animals get their energy from the minerals and nutrients in the plants and animals
they consume and water.
4. Do you think plants and animals or made up of the same thing?
Teaching: Modeling
1. Explain to the students, that they will be using several materials for observation
and for everyone’s safety, they need to use all the materials appropriately
2. Demonstrate how to use the forceps and microscope properly, especially how to
adjust focus, distance from slide, and light
a. Separate the onion layers to get the thinnest piece possible and use the
forceps to place the onion piece on one of their slides.
b. Ask students to predict how the onion will look different under the
microscope than without it.
c. Put one drop of water on the onion piece and put on the plastic slide cover.
d. Place the slide on the microscope and take turns observing
e. Draw what they saw
f. Describe in writing about what they see.
3. Remind them that they are looking what the basic building blocks that make up a
plant. They are called ‘cells’. Now they are going to look at the basic building
blocks or cells that make up an animal.
a. One partner uses the cotton swab to swab the inside of their mouth.
b. They will use the cotton swab to place the material on the second slide and
cover it with the plastic cover
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
c. Place the slide on the microscope and take turns observing
d. Draw what they saw
a. Describe in writing about what they see.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Look at your observations and notes from your plant and animal cells. How are
they the same?
2. Discuss with their partner, teacher calls on students to share their ideas, students
record their ideas on a Venn-diagram.
3. Look at your observations and notes from your plant and animal cells. How are
they different?
4. Discuss with their partner, teacher calls on students to share their ideas, students
record their ideas on a Venn-diagram.
Guided Practice
1. View the slideshow from this website:
http://www.chehalis.k12.wa.us/cms/science/Cell%20Safari/2a.htm
2. As you view the slideshow, activate the Promethean board so students can use
their voters to answer the questions that appear describing the different types of
cells and the make up of cells.
Closure
Discuss that the basic building blocks of all living things are cells.
Independent Practice
1. Look at their cell diagrams. Get science texts and read p. 2-3 and 6-9.
2. Label the parts of the plant cell
3. Answer a few questions about today’s assignment on the back of their compare
and contrast chart paper.
Materials
1. microscope
2. 2 microscope slides and covers for each group of students (groups of 2-3)
3. water dropper
4. forceps or tweezers
5. onion
6. cotton swap
7. observation sheet double sided
8. compare and contrast sheet with the independent practice questions on the back.
9. rubric for assessment
Duration
2 science sessions of 1 hour. Plus time for discussion.
Evaluation
1. Use rubric for a grade on observation and Venn-diagram.
2. Accuracy of answers from questions in independent practice.
Multiple Intelligences:
• Nature-looking at living cells under a microscope
• Kinesthetic-creating slide and then observing it under microscope
• Interpersonal-working with a partner or team
• Linguistic-using words to describe what they see
• Spatial/Visual-drawing a diagram of what they see
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Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Name __________________________
Subject: Science
Teacher: M. Pate
Date: _________________
Compare and Contrast Plant and Animal Cells
Plant cells
Animal cells
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Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
Lab partner
Investigate: What are living things made of?
1. Draw your onion observation
in the circle below.
2. Describe what you observed.
3. Draw your swab observation
in the circle below.
4 Describe what you observed.
4
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Rubric
Cell as a basic building block of life lesson
4
Scores
Followed directions preparing a piece of onion for slide
Prepared slides correctly
Observed the onion and swab samples
Drew observations for both slides
Described observations for both slides
Compared and contrasted plant and animal cells
Labeled cells diagrams
Score Key:
4 points:
3 points:
2 points:
1 point:
3
2
1
correct, complete, detailed
partially correct, complete, detailed
partially correct, partially complete, lacks some detail
incorrect or incomplete, needs help
Review Questions: Cells
1. A cell is
a. the smallest building block of animals.
b. the smallest building block of animals.
c. the smallest building block of all living things.
d. the smallest building block of non-living things.
.
2. Cells have many parts. Which is not a part of a cell?
a. nucleus
b. cytoplasm
c. cell membrane
d. tissue
3. Write the order of these from smallest to largest; tissue, organs, cells, organ systems
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Unit: Animals
Lesson 2: Vertebrates
Objectives
1. Students will be able to compare and contrast vertebrates and invertebrates.
(Bloom’s Taxonomy category analysis)
2. Students will be able to write a song, poem, or chant describing the characteristics
of one type of vertebrate with a group. (Bloom’s Taxonomy category create)
3. Students will be able to describe and categorize animals and their characteristics
within each vertebrate category. (Bloom’s Taxonomy category understanding)
Standards
IN language
IN science
4.2.5 Compare and contrast information on the same topic.
4.2 6 Support statement with facts found in print and electronic media,
identify the sources used, and expect other to do the same.
4.6.1 Demonstrate that in an object consisting of many parts, the parts
usually influence or interact with one another.
Anticipatory Set
Can you solve these riddles?
• What type of animal can live in water or on land? It can have legs, fins, or
neither.
• What do a guppy, a shark, a turtle, a Komodo dragon lizard, a frog, and a snake
have in common?
They are all vertebrates!
Teaching: Input
*Animals are classified based on their similarities and differences.
1. Invertebrates (resource, science text book p. 22-25)
a. Do not have a backbone
b. Some have a soft body with little or no protection
c. Some are covered with an exoskeleton
2. Vertebrates (resource, Promethean flip chart “What is a vertebrate”)
a. They have an internal supporting framework - a skeleton. They are all
classified into the Phylum Chordata.
b. Vertebrates can be classified into two groups based on their body
temperature.
i. The body temperature of cold blooded animals is determined by
their surroundings.
ii. Cold blooded vertebrate
1. Fish - gills, live in water, lay eggs, have scales
2. Amphibians - begin life with gills, then develop lungs or
breathe through skins, begin life in water, then move to
land, lay eggs without shells, have thin, moist skin
3. Reptiles - breathe with lungs, lay eggs with shells, skin
covered with dry scales, live mainly on land
iii. The body temperature of warm blooded animals is not determined
by their surroundings.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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iv. Warm blooded vertebrate
1. Birds - have lungs, have 2 legs and 2 wings, lay eggs with
shells, have feathers
2. Mammals - have lungs, live on land or water, hair or fur,
most give birth to live young, feed milk to newborns
Teaching: Modeling
1. Using Promethean flipchart “What is a vertebrates” p. 12
a. Partners discuss what category the animal goes in (toad, lizard, bat,
salmon, whale, kangaroo, geese, penguin, turtle, alligator, salamander,
shark)
b. Sets of partners come up to the board and use wand to drag one of each of
the 12 animal names listed into the vertebrate categories within each
circle; birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish.
2. Using same flipchart p. 13, read one of the characteristics of each type of
vertebrates.
a. Decide with partner or team what category the description goes in (give
birth to live, you have fur, begin life in water, move to land, warm
blooded, lay eggs without shells, have feathers, most live on land, cold
blooded, live in water, have wings, lay eggs with shells, skin with scales,
lay eggs in water, hard/flat scales, breathe with gill, thin/moist skin, live
on land or water (some may be used more than once)
b. Partners come up and use wand to drag that characteristic into the correct
animal category; birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. There are
5 boxes under each animal type.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
Continuing to use the “What is a vertebrate?” flipchart and have students use their voters
to vote on the answers to the questions. Discuss each answer after everyone votes,
especially if there were incorrect answers.
1. Animals that are cold blooded are:
a. fish and birds
b. amphibians and mammals
c. fish, amphibians, and reptiles
d. amphibians reptiles, and birds
2. Animals that are warm blooded are:
a. fish and amphibians
b. birds and mammals
c. birds and reptiles
d. mammals and reptiles
3. Which animal lays eggs?
a. fish
b. amphibians
c. birds
d. all of the above
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
4. Which animal lives part of its life in water and part on land?
a. fish
b. amphibian
c. bird
d. mammal
5. Which animal has skin covered with dry scales?
a. amphibian
b. reptile
c. bird
d. mammal
6. Which animals have feathers and can fly?
a. fish
b. reptiles
c. birds
d. mammals
7. Which animals give birth to live young?
a. fish
b. amphibians
c. birds
d. mammals
8. Which animals lay eggs without shells?
a. mammals
b. reptiles
c. amphibians
d. birds
9. Which animals have scales?
a. fish and amphibians
b. amphibians and reptiles
c. birds and amphibians
d. fish and reptiles
10. Which is not a characteristic of mammals?
a. They are cold blooded.
b. They breathe with lungs
c. They have hair or fur
d. They live on land or in water
11. Which is not a characteristic of amphibians?
a. They are cold blooded.
b. They have thin, moist skin
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Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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c. They breathe with gills all their life
d. They lay eggs without shells
12. Alligators are
a. fish
b. amphibians
c. reptiles
d. birds
e. mammals
Guided Practice
3. Students are divided into five cooperative learning groups.
4. Each group is assigned one of the vertebrate categories.
a. birds
b. fish
c. amphibians
d. mammals
e. reptiles
5. In their groups, they are going to create one of the following demonstrating their
knowledge of animal characteristics:
a. song with a melody
b. poem with a repeated pattern
c. chant along with clapping a patterned beat
6. Students will work together to rewrite song, poem, chant on chart paper to present
to the class.
Closure
1. Venn-diagram done whole group on chart paper comparing and contrasting
vertebrates vs. invertebrates.
2. Students present songs, poems, or chants to the group describing each of the five
vertebrate categories.
Independent Practice
Complete “Those Amazing Vertebrates” worksheet
1. Students put each of 6 pictures into the animal category it is a part of
2. Using science text book as a resource p. 18-19, have them fill in the other four
characteristics that describe the vertebrates (see attached)
Materials
1. flipchart “What is a vertebrate?”
2. Promethean board, wand, and voters (one for each student)
3. one science text book for each student Scott Foresman Science Grade 4
4. a copy of Vertebrates Sort worksheet for each student
5. paper and pencils for students to write their songs, poems, or chants
6. five pieces of chart paper of poster board, one for each final copy of songs,
poems, or chants
7. Venn-diagram poster or chart paper to compare and contrast vertebrates vs.
intervebrates
Duration
Three science sessions of about 45 minutes each. One for the background information on
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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the flipcharts, another for the song writing and presentations, and the last for the
independent practice.
Evaluation
10. Song, poem, chant describing one of the vertebrate categories created in team
11. Completion and accuracy of “Those Amazing Vertebrate” worksheets
Multiple Intelligences
• Visual-seeing presentation and interacting with it
• Liguistic-following outline, listening and filling it in
• Naturalistic- classifying animals
• Kinesthetic-using voters & using pen to classify the animals into categories
• Musical-students wrote a song or chant with team
• Interpersonal-worked with partners and team throughout beginning of project
*Note: Promethean Boards are like Smart Boards. Students can interact with the
flipcharts that can only be run on computers with Promethean Board programs. There is
a wand instrument (like a pen with a plastic ball point) that allows students to manipulate
pictures, write or even draw in these programs on a large projected computer like screen.
Each flipchart is very much like a Power point presentation. The voters are devices that
are programmed to each Promethean board. They have buttons “A thru E” in which
students can push to “vote” or select answers from the flipchart. I’ve attached the
flipcharts I’m using in a separate post.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
11
Date
Vertebrates Sort
A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone. There about many species of vertebrates,
about 40,000! These vertebrates can divided into classes by scientists. Some of these
classes are listed on the table below.
Practice: Research the classes listed in the first column. Fill in the missing information
on the table. Place the animals below in the correct classes under the picture column.
Class
cold-blooded
or warmblooded
Body covering
Characteristics
Picture
Other
examples
breathe with
lungs
Mammals
scaly, dry
skin
Reptiles
wings, beaks,
no teeth
Birds
newt,
salamander,
toad
Amphibians
Fish
How they
breath
cold-blooded
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Score
Information
Rhythm
Neatness
Presentation
Participation
3
Used 3 or more
characteristics
describing
vertebrate and an
example animal
Song has melody,
chant has beat,
Poem has a pattern
Chart is legible and
pleasing to the eye
with an animal
example
Everyone had a part
and presented in a
smooth orderly
fashion, parts were
spoken clearly and
could be heard by
all
I helped my group
write, I was on task,
I encouraged and
listened to everyone
in my group.
12
2
1
Used 2
characteristics
describing
vertebrate and an
example animal
Melody, beat, or
pattern attempted
but hard to follow
Chart is somewhat
legible and there is
an example animal
Used 1
characteristic
describing
vertebrate and no
example animal
Melody, beat, or
pattern not present
Everyone had a part,
but presentation was
choppy, parts were
spoken somewhat
clearly and most
could be heard by
most
I helped my group
write, I was on task
most of the time, I
did most of the
talking and did not
listen to my group
Everyone had a part,
but presentation was
difficult to follow,
parts were unclear
and many could not
be heard or
understood
I did not always
help write, I was not
on task and had to
be reminded to
focus, I was not
listening to my
group.
Chart is difficult to
read and there is not
example animal
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Unit: Animals
Lesson 3: Biomes/ ecosystems
Objectives
Students will research, report on, and create individual biomes. (Bloom’s Taxonomy,
remember, understand, evaluate, and create)
Students will be able to identify and distinguish between producers, consumers, and
decomposers. (Bloom’s Taxonomy, remember and understand)
Students will be able to reproduce a food chain from the biome they researched.
(Bloom’s Taxonomy, application)
Standards
IN science
4.4.2 Investigate, observe, and describe that insects and various other
organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food.
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one antoher in
various ways, such as providing food, pollination, and seed dispersal.
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all
organisms to stay alive and grow.
4.4.5 Write description of investigation, using observation and other
evidence as support for explanations.
4.2.6 Support statements with facts found in print and electronic media.
Anticipatory Set
Listen to this song and tell me what it is about. You may follow along with the sheet in
front of you. If want to, the melody from the song “Lollipop” you can sing along.
1. When it’s finished, ask students to describe the theme of the song.
2. Ask what habitats were mentioned in the song.
3. What do you think a habitat is?
Teaching: Input
Use the “Ecosystem” flipchart to introduce this information
Ecosystems contain two groups
1. non-living things
2. living things are divided into 3 groups
a. Producers make food from water, air, and energy from sunlight.
b. Consumers eat producers or other consumers.
c. Decomposers break down dead plant and animal material.
3. Food Chains show how organisms depend on one another for food which is
dependent on which biome or ecosystem an organism lives.
a. Example of food chain is a berry bush, which is eaten by a mouse, eaten
by a snake, eaten by an eagle who dies and is eaten by vultures and its
remains become part of the dirt, the worms and other insects may feed on
the nutrients from the soil or remains, then the berry tree uses the nutrients
to grow
b. Within food chains there are two groups
i. Predators who eat other animals
ii. Prey who are eaten by animals
Teaching: Modeling
1. Show students several animals and plants from the same ecosystem.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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2. Show students how the plants and animals are:
a. producers and ask them to tell what they produce.
b. Consumers and ask what they consume
c. Decomposers and ask what they decompose
d. Predators and prey
3. The class brainstorms the ecosystem where those plants and animals might exist.
We all look at the animals and their niche as well as the types of plants to figure it
out.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Use the flipchart and on p. 9. Divide the class into two teams (Family Feud style)
look at each of the animals shown and discuss whether they; consumers,
decomposers, or producers as you call them out.
2. Use the score board on the bottom to keep track of the points. Teams who answer
correctly receive 2 points. If they get an incorrect answer, the other team can try
to answer for 1 point. Discuss any answers that are incorrect to clarify.
Use the flipchart and have students answer the following questions to check their
understanding on ecosystems and habitats.
1. Which of the following make food from water, air, and energy from sunlight?
a. Decomposers
b. Predators
c. Producers
d. Prey
e. Ecosystems
f. Consumers
2. What shows how organisms depend on each other for food?
a. Life cycle
b. Food chain
c. Community
d. Decomposer
3. Which of the following is a decomposer?
a. Leaf
b. Earthworm
c. Grasshopper
d. Cow
4. Which of the following is a consumer?
a. Wind
b. Sun
c. Plant
d. Rabbit
e. Both c and d
5. Which of the following is a producer?
a. Peanut
b. Cat
c. Rainbow
d. Lollipop
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Guided Practice
7. Use the website to research the each of the 12 types of biomes/ecosystems in
groups of 2-3 students. www.mbgnet.net Teacher needs the computer lab for
research. Each child should research near their team but on their own.
8. Each group researches one of the biomes. Students will need a copy of the Biome
Research sheet cut into sections so each child can research one specific question.
a. Climate
b. Animals
c. Plants
9. Students share research with their team.
10. Each group works together to create their ecosystem by making a diorama in the
boxes provided. They need to include at least 5 animals and 3 kinds of plants and
glue their research to the outside of the box. See attached rubric.
Closure
On a flow chart, have each team discuss the following terms and decide where they
would fall on the flow chart. Have the students fill in individual charts as you review.
• Ecosystem (desert, grassland, tundra, forest, tropical rain forest)
o Community is the area in which all the different populations interact with
each other.
Population is all the members of one species that live within an
area of an ecosystem.
• A habitat is an organism’s address.
o Its niche is the specific role an organism has in its
habitat.
Independent Practice
Each person on the team:
1. describes one of the animals and identifies its habitat or niche in their ecosystem.
2. describes the climate and locates the areas of the world on a map in which this
type of ecosystem exist.
Materials
12. one copy of the “Habitat Song” for each child
13. downloaded version of “Habitat Song” to play for the students on the computer
14. computer lab where each person can research the website
15. ecosystem outline for research
16. box and/or paper to create a diorama
17. clay or paper to make creatures for dioramas
18. A world map that students can use to shade in the areas where their biome is
found.
19. 12 boot boxes with the length of one side of the boxed cut so it lays flat.
20. one copy of the report for each group of students, cut into sections.
Duration
Six to ten, 45 minute science sessions. One session for song and flipchart. One to two
sessions for research with teams. Two to four sessions for creating an ecosystem
diorama, one session for students to create food chains on Kidspiration or Inspriation, and
two to three sessions for students to locate areas on world map showing their ecosystem
then presenting information to the group.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Evaluation
1. Biome diorama project graded with rubric.
2. Description of animal’s specific habitat and climate of biome and locations of
biomes on world map correctly identified.
Multiple Intelligences:
• Picture-seeing presentation and interacting with it
• Word-following and filling in research outline
• Nature-showing all the parts of an ecosystem interacting with each other
• Kinesthetic-creating own biome with paper, clay, nature
• Interpersonal-working with a partners to find answers and create diorama
• Musical smart-habitat song
Habitat Song
by Bill Oliver
(Kind of follows the beat of the "lollypop" song.)
This can be used with the Woodland Band activity; Look for tapes/CDs by the "Banana Slug Band' for
other fabulous songs, such as "Water Cycle Boogie"
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat.
You have to have a habitat to carry on!
The ocean is a habitat
A very special habitat
it's where the deepest waters at
it's where the biggest mammal's at
it's where our future food is at
it keeps the atmosphere intact
the ocean is a habitat that we depend on
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat. (3X)
You have to have a habitat to carry on!
The forest is a habitat
a very special habitat
it's where a bear can scratch its back
it keeps the ground from rolling back
renews the oxygen in fact
the forest is a habitat
that we depend on.
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat. (3X)
You have to have a habitat to carry on!
16
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
The river is a habitat
a very special habitat
it's where the freshest water's at
for people, fish and muskrat
but when the people dump their trash
the river takes the biggest rap
the river is a habitat
that we depend on.
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat. (3X)
You have to have a habitat to carry on!
17
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
Teammates
Biome Research
1. Describe the temperature and climate of your biome:
2. What kinds of animal communities are found in your biome? List at least 5 animals
and its niche within this habitat so you know where each of the animals lives.
3. What plants are found in your biome?
Draw at least 3 different plants below.
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Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
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Ecosystem Flowchart
Niche
Ecosystem
Population Habitat
Community
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
20
Biome name
Name
Teammates
Biome Project Rubric
Research
Climate
Animals
Plants
3
All information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
All information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
All information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
2
1
Most information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
Most information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
Most information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
Total=
Diorama
Animals
Plants
Neatness
Detail
Teamwork
3
2
3-4 animals
included in scene
1
5 or more animals
were included in
scene
3 or more plant
types were included
Very neat
2 plant types were
included
mostly neat
2 or fewer animals
were included in
scene
1 plant type was
included
Somewhat neat
Lots of detail
Some detail
Little detail
Helped complete
project, cooperative,
diligent
Helped some,
mostly cooperative,
had reminder to stay
on task
Helped little, not
cooperative, needed
more than 1
reminder to stay on
task
Total=
Score=
Comments:
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
21
Animal Habitat & Map of Biome
Map
3
2
1
Shaded accurately to show all the areas in which that biome is present
Description of climate
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
Temperature and climate described.
Description of animal
Specific animal described in detail.
Animal habitat
Habitat is described.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
22
Unit: Animals
Lesson 4: Interdependence
Objectives
1. Students will be able to distinguish between a food chain and a food web.
(Bloom’s Taxonomy level analysis)
2. Students will be able to demonstrate a food chain by putting animals, plants, and
arrows into the correct order. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level apply)
3. Students will research specific plants and animals, be able to judge which plants
and animals belong to their food chain, and design a visual to use when they
explain their food chain to the whole class. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level understand,
evaluate, create)
4. Students will be able to write their own riddle describing the animal or plant they
researched including information about the food chain and habitat. (Bloom’s
Taxonomy level create)
Standards
IN science
4.4.2 Investigate, observe, and describe that insects and various other
organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food.
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one antoher in various
ways, such as providing food, pollination, and seed dispersal.
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all organisms
to stay alive and grow.
4.4.5 Write description of investigation, using observation and other evidence as
support for explanations.
4.2.6 Support statements with facts found in print and electronic media.
Anticipatory Set
How are these things related? (a flower, an owl, a frog, a caterpillar, and a snake)
They are all in the same food chain. Show this with the arrows on the flipchart “Animals:
Food Chains, Food Webs, Characteristics, and Habitats Around the World” page 9.
Teaching: Input
Teacher will use the flipchart “Animals: Food Chains, Food Webs, Characteristics, and
Habitats Around the World” and Promethean Board to present information on pages 114.
1. A food chain always starts with the sun’s energy. Next are plants. Next are
primary consumers (herbivores). Last are secondary consumers (carnivores).
2. Show picture of tertiary consumers (predators like bears), secondary consumers
(predators like foxes, owls, and skunks), primary consumers (herbivores like
deer, termites, and mice), and primary producers (plants, trees, shrubs, and
grasses)
3. A food chain follows a single path as animals eat each other.
a. Grass is eaten by a grasshopper
b. The grasshopper is eaten by a frog
c. The frog is eaten by a snake.
d. The snake is eaten by a hawk
4. A food web show how many animals are interconnected by different paths.
a. Trees make acorns, which are eaten by mice and insects.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
23
b. Because there are many mice and insects, animals like weasels, snakes,
and raccoons have food. Insects attract birds, skunks and possums.
c. When the birds, skunks, mice, and possums are around, then hawks, foxes,
and owls can find food.
d. They are all connected!
5. Show several examples of food chains and food webs.
Teaching: Modeling
Use “Interdependence and Adaption” flipchart pages 7 & 8 only. Show students how to
arrange the animals and plants into a picture that shows the food chain, by using the
Promethean Board wand to drag their pictures and rearrange the arrows on the page.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Each team will get a group of animals and pictures (in which they are familiar)
and arrows in an envelope. Students will work as a team to put the animals into a
food chain.
2. Teacher checks the groups to make sure the animals and plants are placed
appropriately between the arrows. Then the groups exchange envelopes and they
repeat #1. Do this several times to ensure understanding.
Guided Practice
1. Have each person pick a plant or animal out of a jar. Students will research that
plant or animal and find out what is consumes and/or who consumes it by using
library books or websites from specific list
2. Students will place their research at their tables and look around the room to find
the other animals and plants that could fit in their food chain.
3. Food chain groups get together and create a visual showing the food chain, using
the following options (or other options that the students come up with)
a. design a poster
b. create chain links with pictures and words written on them
c. design a flow chart of arrows, animals, and plants
Closure
Students will present their food chains and describe each link using their research.
Independent Practice
Use individual research and group project to write a “What am I?” riddle. It needs to
include: other animals in food chain, habitat or biome, characteristics of plant or animal
researching. For example: I live in the temperate forest. The temperature is cool and
I’m surrounded by several large trees such as oak, beech and maple. I am black and
white. I can make an awful smell. I eat fish, eggs, birds, insects and mice. Bob cats and
other large animals hunt me. What am I? See rubric attached.
Materials
1. 6 sets of arrows, plants, and animal pictures that are in the same food chain cut
apart in and in envelopes
2. materials that students can use to create visuals, such as: construction paper, glue,
poster paper, scissors
3. Promethean Board, wand, “Interdependence and Adaption” flipchart, and
“Animals: Food Chains, Food Webs, Characteristics, and Habitats Around the
World” flipchart
4. computer lab or books for each student to research each animal or plant
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
24
Duration
Five 45 minute sessions are needed to complete this lesson. Input, modeling, food chain
practice and choosing animal or plant to research will take one session. Research will
take one session. Finding other members of their food chain, discussing their
relationship, then planning visual will take another session. Creating visual will need one
session. Presentations and riddles will take another session.
Evaluation
21. Individual research completion and thoroughness.
22. Food chain visual and presentation
23. “What am I?” riddle
Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal-working with teams
Naturalistic-food chains and animal and plant research
Linguistic-writing a riddle and research
Logical-flow of food chains when finding other animals in plants that are related
Visual/Spatial-designing visual for food chain, use of Promethean charts for
information input
Kinesthetic-using pictures of plants and animals with arrows to physically put
them in the order of their food chain
Riddle Rubric
Habitat or biome description
What animal or plant consumes or preys upon is listed
Predators or consumers are listed
Description includes several adjectives/descriptors
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
Food Chain Project & Presentaion
Research
3
2
Most information is
Food chain All information is
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
clear, descriptive,
accurate
clear, descriptive,
accurate
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
Neatness
Detail
Teamwork
Very neat
mostly neat
Somewhat neat
Lots of detail
Some detail
Little detail
Helped complete
project, cooperative,
diligent
Helped little, not
cooperative, not on
task
Presentation
Everyone presented
in a smooth orderly
fashion, parts were
spoken clearly and
could be heard by all
Helped some, mostly
cooperative, had
reminder to stay on
task
Everyone presented, it
was choppy, parts were
spoken somewhat
clearly and most could
be heard by most
Not everyone
presented, difficult
to follow, parts were
unclear and many
could not be heard
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
25
Name
Plant/Animal Research
1. My plant/animal lives (describe biome and habitat):
20 points
2. My plant/animal eats or needs to grow (what it preys upon or uses to produce food):
10 points
3. My plant/animal is eaten by (what its predators are or what consumes it):
10 points
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
26
Unit: Animals
Lesson 5: How do decomposers work? Experiment
Objectives
Students will make predictions, observe, record observations, and evaluate final results
from the decomposition experiment. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level; create, evaluate,
understand, and apply)
Standards
Indiana science
4.4.2 Investigate, observe, and describe that various organisms depend on dead
plant and animal material for food
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one another in various
ways
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all organisms
to stay alive and grow
Anticipatory Set
Have you ever gone into the refrigerator and seen something in a container covered with
mold? Show images on overhead. The mold that you see is a fungus. Mold is a
decomposer.
Teaching: Input
1. Decomposers digest the waste and remains of dead plants and animals. The
remains still have food energy stored inside them. Some bacteria, fungi, and
insects are decomposers.
2. Decomposers break down dead plant and animal tissues into numerals and
nutrients that are put back into the soil, air, and water. Living plants use these
materials. When animals eat the plants, the minerals and nutrients are passed
from the plants to the animals.
3. Whatever affects the decomposers of an ecosystem affects the health of the soil.
The producers that grow in the soil and all the consumers that eat them are
affected, too.
Teaching: Modeling
Chain reactions when decomposers are affected.
1. The bacteria, fungi, and insects are can be killed or damaged by pollution from
pesticides.
2. The plants that needed the minerals in the soil made by the decomposers don’t are
sparse (not as many can grow because there isn’t the same nutrients in the soil).
3. The consumers who eat the plants might become sick from the pollutants in the
plants from the soil or not have enough to eat because there are fewer plants.
4. The consumers who eat herbivores are going to have a difficult time finding food
because then they have died from the pollutants or moved on to find more food.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
Show pictures of several organisms. Discuss which are decomposers, producers, and
consumers and tell why.
Guided Practice
1. Look at the other food chain posters around the room and find the decomposers.
a. What else besides pollution could affect these decomposers?
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
27
b. How would that then affect the rest of the food chains/webs?
2. Students discuss with groups and teacher lists on board.
Closure
1. Experiment introduction
a. Describe the experiment.
i. Molds are called decomposers because they help break down many
things, including bread.
ii. Today we are going to see what factors affect mold by trying to
grow mold using pieces of bread.
iii. Each group will have 2 pieces of bread and baggies in which to
place them in. One piece will be dry and one piece will have water
on it.
iv. As a group, you will decide what other factors you’d like to throw
in. You may want to see how light, temperature, and other
conditions effect the growth of the mold.
b. Pass out the experiment observation journals and discuss expectations.
i. Each day you will record your observations in this journal.
ii. You will draw a picture that is clear and in color.
iii. You will also do a written observation describing anything that is
going on with your bread.
2. Experiment with team
a. Distribute baggies, bread, spoons & water, and permanent markers.
b. Have the writer label each baggy with the team name.
c. Put one spoonful of water on one piece of the bread and place it in the
baggy. Place the dry slice in a baggy as well.
d. Have writer label baggies: “wet”, “dry”
e. Have students discuss where they are going to place their baggies to
change the environmental factor.
f. Have writer label baggies with the environmental factors, such as: in the
dark, in the refrigerator, etc.
g. Ask students to make a prediction, or hypothesis, of what will happen and
record it on the first page in their journals.
h. Have teams place baggies in the environment they chose making sure to
also check with the teacher.
Independent Practice
1. Observe the bread each day by drawing and describing bread in writing.
2. Discuss observations with group.
3. Repeat #1 and #2 for eight days.
4. One last day, whole class will discuss the results.
5. Display all the baggies in the same area.
a. Give students time to observe the different baggies.
b. Compare the bread from the different environmental factors in class
discussion.
6. Write conclusion: Infer that just as simple environmental factors affected this
experiment, they also affect those decomposers in our environment.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
28
Materials
1. two pieces of bread for each group.
2. spoon and water
3. 2 plastic bags that seal for each group
4. permanent markers
5. at least 10 hand lens
6. observational journals
7. rubric
Duration
Two sessions of 45 minutes for the initial experiment and final observations/conclusions
and eight 10 minute sessions for observations.
Evaluation
1. Journals-completion and picture & written observations
2. Class discussions, hypothesis, and conclusion
Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal-work in teams for experiment
Linguistic-written observations, hypothesis, and conclusion
Kinesthetic-hands on experiment
Logical-inferring that the different environmental factors have a direct impact on
decomposers
Spatial/visual-observing & seeing pictures of decomposers
Naturalistic-topic
Decomposer Experiment
Scores
Followed directions preparing a bread
Students observed and drew observation each day
Students observed and described changes in their bread
each day
Students made a prediction, or hypothesis
Students inferred that environmental factors have an
affect on decomposers
Score Key:
4 points:
3 points:
2 points:
1 point:
correct, complete, detailed
partially correct, complete, detailed
partially correct, partially complete, lacks some detail
incorrect or incomplete, needs help
4
3
2
1
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
Title
Formulate the Question
Hypothesis
Materials
29
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Ivestigation Plan (Method)
Discuss Findings (notes from discussion)
Draw Conclusions
Further Questions
30
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
31
Environmental factors (condition you are storing your bread)
10 Day Observations
Wet bread
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Dry bread
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
32
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
33
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
34
Unit: Animals
Lesson 6: Animal Adaptation
Objectives
Students will share their prior knowledge of animal adaptations. (Bloom’s Taxonomy
levels, remembering)
Students will be able to define and use animal adaptations to help write a story. (Bloom’s
Taxonomy levels, remembering and creating)
Students will research several different animals and report their method of adaptation
(Bloom’s Taxonomy levels, remembering and understanding)
Standards
IN science
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all organisms
to stay alive and grow.
IN language
4.2.1 Use the organization of informational text to strengthen comprehension.
4.2.2 Use appropriate strategies when reading for different purposes.
4.5.1 Write narratives that include ideas and observations and provide a context to
allow the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience along with using
concrete sensory details.
4.5.6 Write for different purposes (information, persuasion, description) and to a
specific audience or person.
Anticipatory Set
Animals have the ability to do some amazing things to survive in their biome. Today we
are going to learn about a few of these amazing adaptations and then we get to find some
on our own.
Teaching: Input
Teacher will use the following flipchart, “Animals: Food Chains, Food Webs,
Characteristics, and Habitats Around the World” pages 22-36 and Promethean Board to
present the following information. Start off with a K-W-L chart to find out what students
already know, what they want to know, and at the end what they learned.
1. Animal adaptation is the ability of an animal to adjust and survive where it lives
because of its physical traits.
2. Look at the Temperate Forest.
a. Animals living in this habitat must adjust to cold winters and hot summers
by hibernating, migrating, or keeping active all winter.
b. The trees shelter them. Animals use the trees for food and a water
resource.
c. Most of the animals are camouflaged to look like the ground.
3. Let’s look at Tropical Rain Forests
a. They are located in a band around the equator. They are homes for
hundreds of plants and animals.
b. Different animals and plants live in different parts of the rainforest.
i. Emergent layer- 20-40 meters tall. This is the home for many
birds and insects.
ii. Canopy- the upper parts of the trees. This leafy environment is the
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
35
home of insects, birds, reptiles, mammals and more. They are
excellent climbers. Many will never set foot on the rain forest
floor.
iii. Under story- dark, cool environment under the leaves of the trees,
but not on the ground.
iv. Forest floor- dark and cool. Home to the largest rainforest animals
and many insects.
4. Now we are moving to the Desert.
a. Deserts are dry regions with limited plant and animal life. It gets both
very hot during the day and very cold during the night.
b. During the hot day, many animals burrow beneath the surface or hide in
the shade coming out at night to eat.
c. Many desert animals do not have to drink at all, they get all the water they
need from their food.
d. Most desert animals are small.
5. Next we have the Tundra.
a. It is a vast and treeless land that is usually very cold with very few plants
and animals.
b. The bare and sometimes rocky ground can only support low growing
plants like moss, heath, and lichen.
c. Winter is cold and dark and in the summer, when the snow and the top
layer of permafrost melt, it is very soggy. Then, the tundra is covered with
marshes, lakes, bogs, and streams that breed thousands of insects and
attract migrating birds.
d. The tundra is the world’s coldest and driest biomes.
6. Grasslands
a. Grasslands are grassy, windy, partly dry biomes. ¼ of the Earth’s surface
is grassland. Many grasslands separate forests and deserts.
b. Deep rooted grasses grow and there are very few trees and shrubs.
c. Tropical grasslands are hot all year with wet seasons that bring rains.
d. Temperate grasslands have hot summers and cold winters. The
evaporation rate is high, so little rain makes it into the soil.
e. Animals that live in the grasslands have adapted to dry, windy conditions,
There are grazing animals that eat the grass and burrowing animals and
their predators. Insects are abundant.
7. Oceans
a. All of Earth’s oceans are connected along with many seas that oceans
branch into.
b. Oceans are homes for thousands of animals.
Teaching: Modeling
1. Use the website: http://biology.about.com/library/weekly/aa09001a.htm to read
and define the following adaptations:
• Camouflage
• Mimicking
• Coloration
• Defense mechanisms
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
36
2. Teacher will use the following Promethean Board flipchart, “What is Animal
Adaptation?” to ask the following questions. Students will use the voters to
answer the questions.
a. How does a frog live on water and land?
i. It develops lungs when it is a tadpole.
ii. It starts out with gills as a tadpole, and then develops lungs.
iii. It uses gills like a fish all its life.
b. What happens if an animal cannot adapt to its surroundings?
i. It will not survive.
ii. It will learn ways to adapt
iii. It will find a new place to live
c. How do humans adapt to cold weather?
i. Buy a winter coat
ii. Wear a scarf and gloves
iii. Turn up the heat or build a fire
iv. All of the above
d. What does a fish need to breathe in water?
i. Lungs
ii. Scales
iii. Gills
e. What does adaptation mean?
i. The way an animal hunts for food.
ii. The way an animal survives in its habitat.
iii. The way an animal finds a shelter.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Bring up the following website on the projection screen:
www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/adaptations/index.cfm which is a game
that kids have to choose which adaptations a particular animal uses.
2. Have students come up in pairs to try to beat the clock. They can use the
Promethean board wands to click on the choices and buzzer.
3. Teacher will discuss any answers that were incorrect.
Guided Practice
The guided practice was one I found on line from Science Net Links called “The Living
Environment”. http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?DocID=232
1. Students will research animals and the adaptations they have after teacher
demonstrates how to navigate the website to get to the information pages.
a. Go to the website http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons.cfm?DocID=232
b. Scroll down to and click on the Animal Adaptations student sheet and print one
copy.
c. Then click on the Animal Adaptations E-sheet to get to the next page.
d. In the “Going Online” section, click on the Kratt’s Creatures link.
e. Students will find animals and their adaptations
2. Students will report 3-6 of the animal adaptations on the student sheet they printed
out.
Closure
1. Have students share their animal adaptations with their teams.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
37
2. Vote on the most interesting adaptation.
3. The person who gets the vote will stand up and share their animal and
its adaptations with the class when their group is called.
Independent Practice
The independent practice was an idea I found in Frank Schaffer’s Publications, Inc.
“Animal Habitats.”
Habitat Mix-up Activity
Students will choose an animal and an unlikely habitat. They will write a story about the
animal in its new habitat and include why it is difficult for the animal to survive, how the
animal finds ways to adapt to its new environment, and how the animal eventually returns
to its own habitat.
Materials
1. computer lab and internet access
2. Promethean Board, wand, and flipcharts: “Animals: Food Chains,
Food Webs, Characteristics, and Habitats Around the World” & “What
is Animal Adaptation?”
3. connected printer to student machines or a hard copy of the Animal
Adaptation worksheet
4. hard copy for each student explaining the directions for Habitat Mixup activity
5. a note taking page to define several ways of animal can adapt to their
environment
Duration
Three to four 45 minute science sessions and possibly 1-3 writer’s workshop sessions.
One is needed for input, modeling, and checking for understanding. Another is needed
for students to do their research. A third one is needed to share research and begin on
their habitat mix-up. A fourth would give students time to finish brainstorming and begin
their first draft for the habitat mix-up. The writing sessions can be used to take their story
through the writing process.
Evaluation
1. Completion of 3-6 animal adaptations from the website.
2. The Habitat Mix-up stories. See attached rubric.
Multiple Intelligences
Interpersonal-work with team
Linguistic-writing a story and reporting research
Naturalistic-animal adaptations
Kinesthetic-using computer to research and interacting with it for game
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
38
Rubric for Habitat Mix-up writing.
Name__________________
5
Ideas (clear, topic narrowed, plenty of
info, does not ramble…)
Describes animal and new habitat
Describes adaptations
Word choice (awesome adjectives, vivid
verbs, can visualize words…)
Sentence fluency (easy to read aloud,
well-built sentences…)
Conventions and layout (neatness,
spelling, grammar, capitalization…)
Voice (sounds like a person, brings the
topic to life…)
Organization (great intro, everything
connected…)
Total___________/40
4
3
2
1
0
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
Ways Animals Adapt
As we read, define each of the following and draw or write an example.
1. Camouflage
2. Mimicking
3. Coloration
a. protective
b. cryptic
4. Defense mechanisms
39
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
40
Unit: Animals
Lesson 7: Biodiversity-balanced ecosystems
Objectives
Students will define and discuss biodiversity. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level; remembering
and understanding)
Students will be able debate the importance of preserving wildlife because of
biodiversity. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level; evaluating)
Standards
Indiana science
4.2.6 Support statements with facts found in print and electronic media.
4.2.7 Identify better reasons for believing something that “Everybody knows that .
. .” or “I just know,” and discount such reasons when given by others.
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one another in various
ways.
4.6.1 Demonstrate that in an object consisting on many parts, the parts usually
influence or interact with one another.
Anticipatory Set
How does biodiversity effect me?
Teaching: Input
For this lesson, the teacher will be presenting information on the following website
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/kids/index.html by viewing and discussing the
“Endangered Means There’s Still Time” slideshow on this link:
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/kids/pdf/presentation.pdf .
1. “Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the term for the variety of life and the
natural processes of which living things are a part. This includes the living
organisms and the genetic differences between them and the communities in
which they occur.”
2. “The concept of biodiversity represents the ways that life is organized and
interacts on our planet. These interactions can take place on scales ranging from
the smallest, at the chromosome level, to organisms, ecosystems, and even entire
landscapes.”
3. “The term “biodiversity” refers to the number of organisms: animals, plants,
microbes; all the life that exists within any given geographical area.
“Biodiversity” is a term that came into fairly common use during the 1990s.
However, many people are still not sure of its meaning, and often associate the
concept with non-native ecosystems and habitats such as “tropical rain forests.”
Simply stated, the term “biodiversity” refers to the full array of life on Earth.
More generally, we use the term biodiversity to refer to the number of organisms
that occur in a given place.”
4. “The United States ranks first in the world for biodiversity…
• among temperate fishes
• amphibians (salamanders),
• freshwater turtles, crayfish, mussels and,
• aquatic insects such as mayflies,
caddisflies, dragonflies, and others.”
5. “The United States is home to more than ten percent of all the species of plants
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
41
and animals known to science. Thousands of our native species occur nowhere
else on earth. “
6. “Aside from the range within ecosystems, biodiversity includes variety within
genes, a segment of DNA that includes the coded information in an organism’s
cells that makes each species and individual unique, and species, which is a
population of individuals that are alike and able to breed and reproduce fertile
offspring. “
7. “None are alike. To understand what is meant by biodiversity in the gene pool,
just look around you. Each person is composed of genes that when woven
together form a unique individual.”
8. “No two of us are exactly alike. The scale at which biodiversity can be measured
varies. That region may consist of a plot of land no more than a few square meters
or yards, a whole continent, or the entire planet.”
9. “Biodiversity does more than measure the variety of life around us. It also
provides a variety of animals, plants, bacteria, and other organisms to support us.
Imagine what it would be like if we only had one food to eat everyday!”
10. “We are also learning that the mix of species in the world has many hidden
benefits. For example, billions of people rely on plant- and animal-derived
medicines for health care. Without these life sustaining medicines and foods,
many of us would not be here today. Have you ever taken aspirin or penicillin
when you were sick? Each time we lose a species, the future benefits it could have
provided are lost forever.”
11. “The most fundamental question of how many species of plants, animals, and
microorganisms there are remains unknown. About 1.5 to 1.75 million species
have been studied well enough worldwide to receive a scientific name. Estimates
of the total number of species vary, but a general estimate tends to range around
14 million.”
Teaching: Modeling
1. Biodiversity affects everyone. Let’s continue to view the slideshow. As we go
along, ask yourself, “How does this affect me?”
2. Define extinct, endangered, threatened and give specific examples from our
continent.
3. Discuss the causes of extinction, endangered species and threatened species.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Use the multiple choice quiz to answer questions about biodiversity, and
extinct, endangered, and threatened species. (see attached)
2. Correct together and discuss questions.
Guided Practice
1. Use the website
http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/StateListing.do?status=listed&state=IN .
2. Read about several animals that are endangered in our home state of Indiana.
3. Use the outline to choose one animal and fill in details about that animal
including: when they were listed as endangered, a physical description, other
places in the U.S. the animal is found, and one way the U.S. has helped protect
these animals.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Closure
Have students share their findings from guided practice.
Independent Practice
Answer the anticipatory set question in detail, “How does biodiversity affect me?”
and “Why should I be concerned?”
Materials
1. computer lab
2. computer and projector for class
3. multiple choice quiz
4. outline for looking up one endangered species in Indiana
5. question sheet for independent practice
Duration
Two to three 45 minute sessions. One session for input, modeling, and checking for
understanding. One to two more sessions for research, presentation, and closing
question.
Evaluation
Answer to independent practice question. It needs to include the definition of
biodiversity, how it affects people, and an idea of why they need to be concerned.
Multiple Intelligences
Intrapersonal- values and what they can do to help the environment
Existentialist- answering anticipatory set question
Visual-watching the slideshow
Interpersonal- participating in group discussion
Naturalist- saving the environment and species of life
Logical- looking at the statistics of endangered species
Linguistic-group discussion
42
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
43
Name
Biodiversity Check
1. Biodiversity is
a.
b.
c.
d.
.
2. An animal or plant is extinct if
a.
b.
c.
d.
.
3. An endangered plant or animal is
a.
b
c.
d.
.
4. An animal or plant that is threatened is
a.
b.
c.
d.
5. Give an example of one of the italicized words above.
.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
Endangered Species Outline
Name of plant or animal:
Description:
Other places in the U.S. besides Indiana where this plant/animal lives:
One way the U.S. has helped protect these plants/animals:
The Big Question
How does biodiversity affect me
and why should I be concerned?
44
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
45
Unit: Animals
Lesson 8: Conservation and protecting plants, animals, and the environment
Objectives
1. Students will be able to relate that when parts of an ecosystem are endangered,
the whole ecosystem is endangered.
2. Students will relate and interpret the stories and what’s happening in those
ecosystems to their own environment and surrounding ecosystems.
3. Students will write a Public Service Announcement describing what kids can do
to help save the environment.
Standards
4.2.6 Support statements with facts found in print and electronic media.
4.2.7 Identify better reasons for believing something that “Everybody knows that .
. .” or “I just know,” and discount such reasons when given by others.
4.4.3 Observe and describe that organisms interact with one another in various
ways.
4.6.1 Demonstrate that in an object consisting on many parts, the parts usually
influence or interact with one another.
Anticipatory Set
How does what we do everyday effect our environment?
Teaching: Input
Read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss while using the “Listen to the Lorax” flipchart by Leslie
Ramsey.
Teaching: Modeling
Read The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry.
Strings of Life activity
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
Read The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
Guided Practice
Pollution and Food Chains activity & discuss what happened to the animals that did not
get to eat.
Closure
Read Almost Gone: The World’s Rarest Animals by Steve Jenkins
Discuss what we can do to help save these animals
Independent Practice
Write a Public Service Announcement in the form of a: poster, brochure, song, or
commercial about how kids just like you can help protect and save the environment and
the plants and animals within that environment.
Materials
• Almost Gone: The World’s Rarest Animals by Steve Jenkins,
• The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden
• The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
• “Listen to the Lorax” Promethean Board flipchart by Leslie Ramsey
• Promethean Board, voters, and wand
• Materials to create a PSA, such as poster board, scissors, computer & Publisher
program, video camera for commercial
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
46
• Cards for the “Strings of Life” activity
• One copy of “Pollution and Food Chains”
• String or yarn
Duration
Six to seven 45 minute periods. One session for each section of the lesson.
Evaluation
Public Service Announcement Project
Multiple Intelligences
Intrapersonal- values and what they can do to help the environment
Existentialist- PSA
Visual-flipcharts and books
Interpersonal- participating in group discussion
Naturalist- saving the environment and species of life
Logical- looking at the statistics of endangered species and what steps can be
taken to help save the environment just within own community
Linguistic-group discussion and writing PSA
Kinesthetic-hands on activities
Music-could write a song or chant to go in PSA
Riddle Rubric
PSA describes concerning issue or threat
3
2
1
0
PSA gives several suggestions on how we can help
3
2
1
0
Presentation is neat and appeals to the eye
3
2
1
0
PSA is clear and easy to read
3
2
1
0
Writing uses correct capitalization, punctuation,
and grammar
3
2
1
0
SCORE
/15
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
47
Date
Pollution and Food Chains
While students are out of the room, hide 8-10 small objects (candies, pictures of kelp or
small fish, small bouncy balls) around the room that will represent a food item eaten by a
fish. Divide the class into four equal groups. Designate groups as “small creatures”,
“medium-sized fish”, “large fish” and “people”. The “small creatures” group will go in
search of the “food” items you hid for about 2 minutes. Anyone who didn’t find food are
out, because they did not survive. Next the “medium-sized fish” try to catch food by
crawling after the “small creatures”. Again, if they didn’t catch their “food”, they are out
because they did not survive. Repeat this with the “large fish” and the “people” groups.
The students will begin to see the importance of many healthy plants to fee the small fish,
which effect the rest of the food chain. With polluted waters, the plants begin to die.
What will happen next?
Give each group the following questions, a piece of chart paper, and markers (for this
activity, it’s best to divide the 4 large groups in half if you have a large group). Have
them discuss the questions as a whole group and answer them with illustrations, labels,
graphs, sentences, etc. It’s amazing to see their creativity and how they are processing
this information.
What would happen to the small creatures if the plants were gone?
What would happen to the large fish if the medium-sized fish were gone?
What would happen to the people if the large fish were gone?
What would happen to the food chain if all the plants were gone?
Why is it important to take care of our oceans?
What would happen to the small creatures if the plants were gone?
What would happen to the large fish if the medium-sized fish were gone?
What would happen to the people if the large fish were gone?
What would happen to the food chain if all the plants were gone?
Why is it important to take care of our oceans?
What would happen to the small creatures if the plants were gone?
What would happen to the large fish if the medium-sized fish were gone?
What would happen to the people if the large fish were gone?
What would happen to the food chain if all the plants were gone?
Why is it important to take care of our oceans?
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
48
“Strings of Life” Activity
After reading The Great Kapok Tree cut each of these strips and give one to each person
in the class. Have everyone stand in a circle. The teacher will wind string back and forth
like a web around the finger of each person and across the circle until everyone is
connected to this web. Students read their strips of paper then wiggle the finger that is
attached to the string web. Each person will be able to feel the tug, some more than
others. This is to show that all creatures and plants are connected and that when parts of
an ecosystem are endangered, the whole ecosystem is endangered.
I am a boa constrictor whose tree was just cut down by loggers.
I am the bees whose hive was destroyed by fire.
I am the butterfly whose flowers I once drank pollen from were cut down to clear a path.
I am a monkey whose vines were cut down to clear a roadway.
I am the soil that is being washed away because the roots of the Kapok tree that once help
me in place was chopped down to build houses.
I am a toucan who home is covered with smog and smoke from people clearing the land
with fires.
I am a tree frog who can no longer find shelter because of deforestation.
I am the jaguar that is slowly dieing out because the animals in which I prey upon are
scarce because they are unable to find food.
I am a boy of the Yanomamo tribe who has been pushed off the land which we have lived
on for hundreds of generations because of land development.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
49
Unit: Animals
Lesson 9: Animal Research, Reports & Presentation
Objectives
1. Students will explore several endangered animal websites. (Bloom’s Taxonomy
level understanding)
2. Students will choose and research by filling in an endangered animal. (Bloom’s
Taxonomy level understanding and remember)
3. Students will create a written and visual presentation culminating everything we
have learned in this unit. (Bloom’s Taxonomy level understanding, remembering,
applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating)
Standards
IN science
4.4.4 Observe and describe that some source of energy is needed for all organisms
to stay alive and grow.
IN language
4.2.1 Use the organization of informational text to strengthen comprehension.
4.2.2 Use appropriate strategies when reading for different purposes.
4.5.1 Write narratives that include ideas and observations and provide a context to
allow the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience along with using
concrete sensory details.
4.5.6 Write for different purposes (reports) and to a specific audience or person.
Anticipatory Set
Today we are going to explore several different websites that show endangered animals.
You get to choose anyone you would like to research and doing a project in a group or on
your own.
Teaching: Input
1. Look through the websites on endangered animals.
2. Find one animal you would like to research.
3. Bookmark and write down each website that has your animal.
4. Read through the report to see what information you need.
5. Read the information from the website.
a. Think about what it is saying.
b. Restate or paraphrase the information in your own words.
c. Write down your paraphrased ideas on your report outline.
Teaching: Modeling
1. Teacher chooses endangered animal from the websites:
a. http://worldalmanacforkids.com
b. www.kidsplanet.org/factisheets/map.html
c. http://kids.yahoo.com/animals
d. www.endangeredspecie.com
e. www.baghera.com/inthewild/classroom.htm
f. www.kidsgowild.com/animalfacts
g. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/CreatureFeature/
2. Teacher demonstrates how to bookmark the website then writes down the whole
URL address under resources in report outline.
3. Teacher reads through report outline and clarifies what is being asked.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
50
4. Teacher then demonstrates reading and paraphrasing the information found on
one website.
Teaching: Checking for Understanding
1. Teacher then reads information from a different website on their animal.
2. Teacher reads aloud while students read along silently and listen for the main
idea.
3. Ask them to discuss what they heard with a partner and paraphrase the
information. Call on students to share their paraphrases.
4. Do this several times with different paragraphs.
Guided Practice
1. Take students to computer lab to explore the websites.
2. Students choose one endangered animal and begins research.
3. Teachers circulate to help with reading, comprehending, and navigating.
Closure
Teacher clarifies any last questions from the report outline and gives students the bank of
choices for their projects. Students may add or ask questions about each of the
presentation ideas. Teacher will stress that each person needs to do a final written copy
of their research as well as creating a visual.
Bank of presentation ideas:
• Make a commercial or brochure
• Dress up like your animal and give speech about yourself
o Or get together with other animals found in your habitat and act out a
scene showing how you would interact with each other in your ecosystem
o Or get together with other animals in your food chain or web and each
person describes themselves and their role in the chain or web
• Pretend you are a reporter and write an interview with your animal
• Write a story or journal entry “A Day in the Life of a
“
• Write an animal riddle or poem
• Design a habitat that would be built at a zoo or found in a wildlife preserve to
protect your animal
• Create a diorama including your animal and it’s ecosystem
Independent Practice
1. Continue endangered animal research and filling in report outline on own.
2. When outline is complete decide on a presentation idea.
3. Get approved by teacher.
4. Begin final project.
Materials
• Research outline
• Computer lab
• Computer with overhead attachment
Duration
Three weeks of science and writing time periods. That is roughly two hours a day for 15
days. Any projects not completed by then can be finished during study hall hours at the
end of the day or can be taken home.
Evaluation
1. Written presentation of animal facts.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
51
2. Visual presentation of animal facts.
Multiple Intelligences
Intrapersonal- values and what they can do to help the environment
Visual-flipcharts and books
Interpersonal- participating in group discussion
Naturalist- saving the environment and species of life
Linguistic-group discussion and writing report
Kinesthetic-hands on research
Existentialist, Music, Logical- could be used depending on the final project the
students choose
Name
Endangered animal
Endangered Animal Rubric
Written
Presentation
Research outline
3
All information is clear,
descriptive, accurate
Final presentation
All information is clear,
descriptive, accurate
Conventions
There are less than 2
punctuation,
capitalization, and
grammar mistakes
2
Most information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
Most information is
clear, descriptive,
accurate
There are 3 to 8
punctuation,
capitalization, and
grammar mistakes
1
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
Little information,
unclear, lacks detail,
inaccurate
There are 9 or more
punctuation,
capitalization, and
grammar mistakes
Total=
Visual
Presentation
Idea
Presenting
Neatness
Detail
Work Ethic
3
Original and creative
Spoke clearly and
articulately, made eye
contact with group
Very neat and visually
appealing
Lots of detail
Always on task
2
1
Somewhat original and
creative
Difficult to hear, spoke
clearly, made eye
contact with group
mostly neat with some
visual appeal
Some detail
Needed a few reminders
to stay on task
Lacks originality and
creativity
Difficult to hear and
understand, did not
make eye contact
Somewhat neat lacks in
appearance
Little detail
Needed several
reminders to stay on
task
Total=
Score=
Comments:
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Name
52
Date
Endangered Animal Research
My endangered animal is the
This is a picture of my animal.
Describe how it looks.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
This is my organism’s habitat and niche.
It lives (make sure to name the biome, habitat, and niche
and describe what it looks like):
53
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
54
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
My organism’s diet is
What does your organism eat or need to survive
Other organisms that are part of my food chain are:
Here is a picture of that food chain.
55
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Its enemies are:
It protects itself from these animals by:
My animal is endangered because:
56
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
Other animals found in my ecosystem, habitat, and niche
are:
Other interesting facts about my animal:
57
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
58
“Critical thinking is a type of thinking where a person must, organize, analyze, or
evaluate given information” as defined in Up and Out: Using Creative and Critical
Thinking Skills to Enhance Learning by Andrew Johnson. Within this animal unit of
study, I tried to focus on the above statement. Each lesson presents students with new
information to glean, builds upon their prior knowledge from the previous lessons, and
then has them create, compare and contrast, evaluate, and apply their knowledge in new
ways. I tried to build a category of knowledge that was extended with each following
lesson. Students are given freedom to work in groups and individually. They spend quite
a bit of time interacting at the beginning of each lesson to process the new information
given. Students have chances to explore and experiment with new ideas in game formats
and in ways that protect them from adversity which “encourages them to think and
respond creatively, without fear of giving the ‘wrong’ answer” (Potts, 1994). Each lesson
includes one or more of the higher level thinking skills that are used in critical thinking
and problem solving. I used the embedded approach for each lesson making sure that the
thinking skills I was focusing on were taught within the content and practiced before,
during, and after each lesson (Johnson, 2000).
There were anticipatory sets provided in
each lesson that helped guide students “toward a purposeful end” (Schneider, 2002).
Many visual aids were used in all the lessons. Students had many chances to interact and
present what they learned and actually create some of the visual aids that are used in
following lessons. When we get to the 7th, 8th, and 9th lessons in the unit, students must
really use their problem solving skills to come up with ways to share what they’ve
learned to educate each other.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
59
Overall, students used critical thinking and other higher level thinking processes
throughout the unit. They organized information into presentations, analyzed problems
with the environment and food chains, and evaluated the information in reports and
research to create their final project with their animal research.
Final Project-Unit on Animals including 9 lessons
60
References
Benzie, Kim. (February, 2007) Vertebrates SOL 5.5 Flipchart.
www.prometheanplanet.com/us
Cherry, Lynne. (1990). The Great Kapok Tree. San Diego, CA: Voyager Books,
Harcourt, Inc.
Cooney, Dr. Timothy. (2006). Scott Foresman Science: See Learning in a Whole New
Light. (Vols. 1). Glenview, IL: Pearson Education, Inc.
The Education Center, Inc. (1997). The Mailbox Superbook, grade 4. The Education
Center, Inc.
Jenkins, Steve. (2006). Almost Gone: The World’s Rarest Animals. New York, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Johnson, Andrew P. (2000). Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Education Company.
Long, Shadryn. (found February, 2008) What is Animal Adaptation? Flipchart.
www.prometheanplanet.com/us
Madden, Don. (1986). The Wartville Wizard. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperback, and
imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division.
Potts, Bonnie (1994). Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking. Practical Assessment,
Research & Evaluation, 4(3). Retrieved February 23, 2008 from
http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=4&n=3
Scarborough, Sandy (April, 2007). Animals: Food Chains, Food Webs, Characteristics,
and Habitats Around the World Flipchart. www.prometheanplanet.com/us
Schaffer, Frank. Animal Habitats. Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc.
Schneider, Vera (October, 2002). Critical Thinking in the Elementary Classroom:
Problems and Solutions. Educators Publishing Service. Retrieved February 20, 2008
from http://www.epsbooks.com/downloads/articles/Critical_Thinking-Schneider.pdf
Science NetLinks (2008). The Living Environment. AAAS.
http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/lessons_printable.cfm?DocID=232
Soriano, Gail. (January, 2008). Ecosystems Flipchart. www.prometheanplanet.com/us
Wright, Jeanne. (April, 2007) Vertebrates Flipchart. www.prometheanplanet.com/us