| MAGNOLIA | |
Educator's
Name: Elizabeth Langford
School: Forest Elementary School
School
District: Forest Municipal School
District
Student
Grade Level: 1-2
Subject: Science
Title
of Lesson Plan: How Animals Meet
Their Needs
Unit/Theme: Animals
Are Living Things
Competency
Number:
Process
Strand--Science As Inquiry (abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry)
Content
Strand--Life Science
# 1 Develop an understanding that living and non-living things
have identifiable characteristics. (L) (Review)
Content
Strand--Life Science, Physical Science
# 2 Investigate the diversity of living
things. (L, P)
# 3 Gather and organize information using a variety of resources
and present it through writing, speaking, and various art forms. (R,W,S,L,V)
c. Choose and organize information that has been gathered from
one or more sources and present it either through writing, speaking, or a
self-selected art form (drama, art, music, movement, etc.)
# 10 Demonstrate continuous progress toward the use of penmanship,
grammar, mechanics, and Standard English in the context of writing and
speaking. (R,W,S,L,V)
a. Interact for specific purposes with people in the classroom
and school community.
b. Exhibit emergent knowledge of Standard English use in the
context of writing and speaking.
#
11 Use language to facilitate
continuous learning, to record observations, to clarify
thought, to synthesize information,
and to analyze and evaluate language, as
appropriate. (R,W,S,L,V)
c. Begin
to use oral and written language to exchange and explain ideas.
Objectives:
A -
Explore animal surroundings by making a model of it.
B -
Recognize that animals are found living in places where their needs are met.
C -
Describe and name ways animals can stay safe.
Mississippi
Objectives:
# 5 The Living Environment (How living things
function and interact)
f. Evolution
of Life
1. Different plants and animals have
external features that help them
thrive in
different kinds of places.
Instructional
Format: Whole group and small cooperative groups
Prior
Preparation: Build on prior
knowledge--Animals Are Living Things;
Mammals;
More Animal Groups; Grow and Change; Getting Food; and Where Animals
Live
(food, air, water, shelter)
Using
MAGNOLIA, click on to EBSCO Animals and EBSCO Host Animals to
"Images."
There,
download pictures of polar bears.
Source: Encyclopedia of Animals, Item Number: 9500300017.
Sleeping
artic fox in winter picture can be downloaded.
Source: Encyclopedia of Animals, Item Number: 9500100210.
Through
K-12 MAGNOLIA Databases, go to Grolier Online Atlas of
"Artic," then to Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Click on "Weather and Meteorology"
under "Teacher Resources."
This link will direct you to "Weather Forecasting." There are three pictures of the Artic
tundra, with climate maps of the Artic.
At Education
World, search "polar bears."
www.polarworld.com is a website devoted to polar bears. It is kid-friendly with many pictures and an
in-depth polar bear "Frequently Asked Questions" site for both
teachers and students.
"Polar
Bears Alive," "Polar Bears International," "Bear
Facts," and "Artic Map and Pictures" are listed at Education
World as well.
Materials
Needed: (educational videos can be used
for additional resources)
Picture
of polar bear in the Artic
Pictures
of other animals in different environments (desert, grassland, forest, ocean,
pond)
Picture
of young deer in leaves
Picture
of Artic fox in winter and summer
Globe
Various
books about polar bears
Hand
writing paper (story paper)
Two
cups of strong black coffee (cooled to room temperature)
2
clear jaws
1
piece of white cloth
1
piece of clear plastic wrap
2
food thermometers
4
shoe boxes
White
cotton balls
Epsom
salt
Construction
paper
Glue
Crayons
Scissors
Newspaper
Different
colored paper fish
Succulent
plant
Duration
of Activity: 4 days (40 minutes each lesson); Science Inquiry: 2 hours
Exploration:
Day
1 (whole
group)
Review
the needs of living things. Ask
children how animals get these needs met. (food, air, water, shelter)
Using
the picture of the polar bear in the Artic, tell children that polar bears live
in the Artic. Show children where the
Artic is on the globe. Ask:
(cold, snowy, icy, no trees)
(Let children speculate. Accept all reasonable answers.)
Read
a book about polar bears. Ask:
(They get their food from the ocean and on land.)
(They eat seals, fish, birds, and reindeer meat.)
Make
a model of where a polar bear lives, using shoe boxes, construction paper,
white paint, glue, Epsom salt, crayons, and scissors. (Work in small groups.)
Day
2 (whole
group)
Use
pictures with the desert (with lizard); grassland (with horses); and the forest
(with owl). Show the succulent
plant. Break off a small leaf and show
children how water is stored in the leaves.
Ask:
(Possible answer: It eats plants or insects; it
finds shelter under rocks or under the sand.)
(desert, grassland, forest)
(food)
(water, shelter)
(shelter)
(food and water)
(They get the food, water, or shelter they need to
live here.)
Using
pictures with the oceans, ponds, and streams (with animals), ask:
(oceans, streams, and ponds)
(food and shelter)
Ask
questions about each animal seen in each picture as above for the desert,
grassland, and forest animals.
Day
3 (whole
group)
Using
a picture with a young deer in leaves, ask:
(Yes, but it is hard to see it.)
(the color and spots)
Using
a picture with an artic fox in winter and summer, ask:
(Yes, but it is hard to see it.)
(the color of his fur)
Explore
Activity: (Newspaper with paper fish
in yellow and purple glued to it)
1- Look at the newspaper for one
minute. Which fish do you see?
2- Count each kind of fish. Record how many you saw.
3- Which fish were easy to see? Why?
(Infer what made some fish hard to
see.)
Explore
Activity: How Do Polar Bears Stay Warm in the
Freezing Cold of the Artic?
Pour
one cup of strong black coffee (that has cooled to room temperature) into each
of the two clear plastic wraps. Put
both jars in the sun for an hour or more.
Use a food thermometer to check the temperature of the coffee in each
jar.
(the jar with the clear plastic wrap)
(White reflects sunlight and the heat that comes
from it. The clear soaks up light and
warmth from the sun.)
Now for the polar bear's secret: Polar bears are not really white. If they were, they could not stay warm in
their Artic habitat. The hairs on a
polar bear's coat are clear. The hollow
center of each hair soaks up light from the sun, and the light filters out the
sides. That's what makes polar bears
look white. Each clear hair carries
heat from the sun down to the polar bear's skin. Its skin is black, which means it soaks up heat to keep the bear
warm. A polar bear is like the
plastic-covered coffee in the experiment.
It is clear on the outside, black on the inside, and plenty warm!
Write
and illustrate about their experiment.
Display their work.
Day
4 (whole
group)
Exploring: Ask children to tell what things animals can do that might help
them stay safe. List all words offered
on the board (run, hide, go underground, or fly away).
Developing: Talk about where the deer and prairie dog live and
the things they do that help them stay safe.
Add words to the list as appropriate.
Review:
1. The color and shape of some animals
prevent other animals from seeing them.
2. Some animals move or hide to get away from other animals
where they are in danger.
Use a story web to summarize
the lesson:
Shape Roll
in a ball
Color
Outer
covering Run
Hide
Formal
Assessment:
Conduct
a formal assessment. Students will use
a book index from the school library to find specific information about animal
surroundings. The student may formulate
and research other questions about animals in Winter, Spring, Summer, and
Fall. Using Ask ERIC from
MAGNOLIA, students can click on to "Habitats" from Education World
and work in pairs to play "Animals of the World: An Internet Scavenger
Hunt."