Animal Diversity
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1 Animal Diversity For 3rd Grade Students of The Indianapolis Public School District A partnership program designed by the Indianapolis Zoo for The Indianapolis Public School District 2 The Indianapolis Zoo Animal Diversity Program Welcome to the Indianapolis Zoo Animal Diversity Program! This program is designed specifically for third grade teachers and students in the Indianapolis Pubic School System. The lessons and activities are designed to meet the Indiana state mandated standards of learning. They explore how animals adapt to their environments in a variety of ways, creating the infinite diversity of the natural world. Since we have only a few weeks to look at the animal world, we will narrow our focus and look closely at a relatively small group of animals. The animals in this group are ones that you and your students may see when you visit the Indianapolis Zoo as part of this program. You and your students will spend time observing the animals’ adaptations, either physical or behavioral, and categorizing them into different groups according to a series of criteria. Fun activities will lead you through the process. During the program you and your students will complete nine interactive lessons, both in the classroom and out. Unit 4 will take place at the Indianapolis Zoo where your students will participate in a staff led workshop and a clipboard activity while visiting the exhibits. In Unit 9, a zoo staff member will visit your class with several animals that the students can observe up close. You will find that the lessons are simple and easy to follow. We hope we have provided all the instructions and background information you need to teach the curriculum easily and with very little extra research. Every participating teacher is required to attend a training workshop at the Indianapolis Zoo where they learn how to teach the curriculum and receive additional classroom materials. This initiative is conceived and created as a partnership between The Indianapolis Zoo and the Indianapolis Public Schools In appreciation of Brendan and Susan Fox, as well as the Marian M. McConnell Family, for supporting this program. 3 Table of Contents Unit 1: Meet the Family 4 Unit 2: What is an Animal Adaptation? 8 Unit 3: Diversity Happens! 11 Unit 4: Grouping by Physical Attributes 15 Unit 5: Grouping by Animal Behavior 19 Unit 6: Where in the World? 23 Unit 7: Habitat Groups 32 Unit 8: Let’s Design a Sorting Key! 38 Unit 9: A Sorting Key for Animals 42 Teacher Materials 2 sided Poster Beastly Bash Seating Chart (Unit 1) Sorting Group List (Unit 5) Trading Cards (Unit 1) Continent Map Packet (Unit 6) Folklore Packet (Unit 6) Adaptations Page (Unit 7) 4 Unit 1: Meet the Family Background Information The natural world is complex and interesting. Plants and animals live in virtually every corner of the earth, all of them adapted to live in their habitat, within their food web, as a vital part of their ecosystem. Each animal is adapted to support itself with the optimal amount of food; water and shelter that it needs to survive in its habitat. As a result of this variety and specificity we, as students of Mother Nature are given the opportunity to learn about an infinite array of animals and their breathtaking beauty and diversity. Since we have only a few weeks to look at the animal world, we will need to winnow down our focus and look closely at a relatively small group of animals. The animals in this group are ones that you and your students may see when you visit the Indianapolis Zoo as part of this program. During this program you and your students will spend time observing the animals’ adaptations, either physical or behavioral, and categorizing them into different groups according to a series of criteria. Fun activities will lead you through the process and allow your students to draw conclusions about which groups they belong in. In Unit 1, you will be introduced to the animals that we will be working with throughout the program. Your students will play an animal guessing game to get to know the animals. All the time, we will be remembering that we humans are just another member of this wild world of animals. So, let’s meet the rest of the family! Goals and Objectives 1. Students will be introduced to the Indianapolis Zoo program and the group of animals that they will be studying throughout the program. 2. Students will learn 3 simple facts about each animal in the study group. 3. Students will identify things that they are interested in learning about animals. Time Needed One 30 minute class period Materials Animal fact cards (one or two sets) Tape Beastly Banquet Table Chart (poster) Animal Labels Teacher Instructions Preparing for the lesson… 1) Make animal cards – a) On cardstock, copy one or two sets of cards. b) Cut apart on the paper cutter. c) If desired laminate for durability. 2) Post the table chart – a) You will find the Beastly Bash Seating Chart on the back of the Sorting List poster. Post it the wall, bulletin board or any large flat surface so that the students can see it easily and fill in the chart successfully. 3) Make animal labels – a) Make a copy of the animal labels page. 5 b) Cut the labels out. Put them near the table chart for the students to use. Teaching the unit… Program Introduction 1. Introduce the Indianapolis Zoo’s Animal Diversity program and its goals. Explain that the program will be full of fun activities and will include an onsite visit to the Zoo as well as a visit from the Zoo staff to the classroom. Beastly Banquet Game 1. Explain that the class is going to a dinner party to which all different kinds of animals have been invited. There are animals flying in from all over the world for this exciting event. Unfortunately the animals will not know each other because many of them have never been outside of their habitat and don’t recognize the animals from other places. 2. The party will be held in the classroom. There will be music and dancing and yummy food for all; a real night of nights! Unfortunately, the guest list was lost and the party hosts don’t know who’s coming, what to order or who should sit with each other! 3. Show the students all of the animal cards. Some of them will be very familiar to the students. Others will be less familiar. Go through them one by one, name them and explain the category words like “habitat, adaptation,” etc. Discuss some of the more unfamiliar animals in depth. 4. Go around the classroom and tape an animal card on each child’s back. Don’t show the card to the student and tape it in the middle of the back so that each student can’t see their card. 5. Explain to the students that each of them has been given an animal to portray. The card on their back gives the animal’s name, where it lives, what it eats and a describing word. 6. The students are to ask each other questions to find out who they are and the facts listed on their cards. They can only ask yes or no questions to find out their identity. 7. If your students, as a group, are generally unfamiliar with the animals on the cards, you can adapt the activity. Give each child their card. Ask them to read their card and think about the category words, then proceed to the table chart and proceed with the activity. 8. Once they have guessed their identity, they take the card off of their back and go over to the table chart hung on the wall. 9. By looking at their facts, each student will have to decide where they should sit and tape the label with their animal name on the table chart. First they should look at what they eat to determine at which table they will find the food they will like the best. Second they should look at their list of predators to make sure that they won’t be eaten or attacked by the animal that will be sitting next to them. Third they might even get to choose to sit next to animals that live in the same kind of habitat they do (tree dwellers with tree dwellers etc.). 10. When the whole class has guessed their identity and filled out the chart, gather the class to discuss the results. Go around each table and make sure that the animals are placed properly. Randomly ask the students to justify their table placement by giving the reasons and the facts to support their decision. If there are any misplaced, ask the class to help place the animal correctly, using the facts listed on the student’s card. 11. When you are finished, explain that what the students have done is sort the animals according to a set of criteria. Through the next several weeks, the students will be sorting this same group of animals in different ways given different sets of criteria. They will see how scientists compare and sort animals to learn more about them. Assessment This unit is easily assessed using the table charts that the students completed. Anecdotally assess your students’ ability to understand the facts and apply them to correctly finding a place to seat their animals. Students should be able to explain their thinking and reasons behind their placement.