Animals Overview Number of instructional days: 16 (1 day = 45 minutes) Content to be learned Identify and sort based on similar or different external features. Observe and record the external features that make up animals. Observe that animals need water, air, food, and shelter to grow. Observe the stages in the life cycle of a familiar animal. Sequence the life cycle of an animal when given a set of pictures. Identify the specific functions of the physical structures of an animal. Care for animals by identifying and providing for their needs. Identify the senses needed to meet survival needs for a given situation. Essential questions What similarities and differences can be observed among animals? How do the structures of animals help them meet their needs in order to survive? Science processes to be integrated Conduct investigations using scientific processes including, observing, describing, comparing, sorting, recording, and organizing data. Identify similarities and differences among organisms. Observe, describe, and sequence changes that occur over time. Identify the function of physical structures. How do animals change over time? Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-17
Written Curriculum Grade-Span Expectations LS1 - All living organisms have identifiable structures and characteristics that allow for survival (organisms, populations, & species). LS1 (K-4) - INQ+POC 1 Sort/classify different living things using similar and different characteristics. Describe why organisms belong to each group or cite evidence about how they are alike or not alike. LS1 (K-2) 1 Students demonstrate an understanding of classification of organisms by 1b identifying and sorting based on a similar or different external features. lc observing and recording the external features that make up living things (e.g. roots, stems, leaves, flowers, legs, antennae, tail, shell). LS1 (K-4) SAE -2 Identify the basic needs of plants and animals in order to stay alive. (i.e., water, air, food, space). LS1 (K-2)-2 Students demonstrate understanding of structure and function-survival requirements by 2a observing that plants need water, air, food, and light to grow; observing that animals need water, air, food and shelter to grow. LS1 (K-4) POC 3 Predict, sequence or compare the life stages of organisms plants and animals (e.g., put images of life stages of an organism in order, predict the next stage in sequence, compare two organisms). LS1 (K-2) 3 Students demonstrate an understanding of reproduction by 3a observing and scientifically drawing (e.g. recording shapes, prominent features, relative proportions, organizes and differentiates significant parts observed) and labeling the stages in the life cycle of a familiar plant and animal. 3b sequencing the life cycle of a plant or animal when given a set of pictures. Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-18
LS1 (K-4) FAF 4 Identify and explain how the physical structures of an organism (plants or animals) allow it to survive in its habitat/environment (e.g., roots for water; nose to smell fire). LS1 (K-2) 4 Students demonstrate understanding of structure and function-survival requirements by 4a identifying the specific functions of the physical structures of a plant or an animal (e.g. roots for water; webbed feet for swimming). LS2 - Matter cycles and energy flows through an ecosystem. LS2 (K-4) SAE 5 Recognize that energy is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow or identify where a plant or animal gets its energy. LS2 (K-2) 5 Students demonstrate an understanding of energy flow in an ecosystem by 5a caring for plants and/or animals by identifying and providing for their needs; experimenting with a plant s growth under different conditions, including light and no light. LS 4 - Humans are similar to other species in many ways, and yet are unique among Earth s life forms. LS4 (K-4) FAF -8 Identify what the physical structures of humans do (e.g., sense organs eyes, ears, skin, etc.) or compare physical structures of humans to similar structures of animals. LS4 (K-2)-8 Students demonstrate an understanding of human body systems by 8c identifying the senses needed to meet survival needs for a given situation. Clarifying the Standards Prior Learning In kindergarten, students distinguished between living and nonliving things. They observed the external features of plants, and identified and sorted based on similar or different external features. Students observed that plants need water, air, food, and light to grow, and they cared for plants by identifying and providing for their needs. They also sequenced the life cycle of a plant when given a set of pictures. Current Learning Grade 1 students observe and record the external features of animals, and identify and sort animals based on similar or different external features. Students identify the specific functions of the physical structures of an animal. They observe that animals need water, air, food, and shelter to grow, and care for animals by identifying and providing for their needs. Students identify the senses needed to meet survival needs for a given situation. They observe the stages in the life cycle of a familiar animal, and sequence the life cycle of an animal when given a set of pictures. Some of these concepts are taught in kindergarten as Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-19
students learn about plants. However, life science concepts in first grade are focused on animals, and should therefore be taught at the developmental level through the reinforcement level of instruction. Future Learning In grade 2, students will observe and scientifically draw and label the stages in the life cycle of a familiar plant and animal, and will sequence the life cycle of a familiar plant or animal when given a set of pictures. They will identify the specific functions of the physical structures of a plant or animal. Students will care for plants and/or animals by identifying and providing for their needs, and will experiment with a plant s growth under different conditions, including light and no light. The students will demonstrate an understanding of food webs in an ecosystem by acting out or constructing diagrams that show a simple food web and use information about simple food webs to determine how basic needs are met by the habitat/environment. In grade 3, students will cite evidence to distinguish between living and nonliving things, and will identify, sort, and compare based on similar and/or different external features. They will record and analyze observations and data about external features, and will cite evidence to draw conclusions explaining why organisms are grouped/not grouped together. Students will observe that plants need water, air, food, light, and space to grow and reproduce, and will observe that animals need water, air, food, and shelter/space to grow and reproduce. They will observe changes and record data to scientifically draw and label the stages in the life cycle of a familiar plant and animal. They will sequence the life cycle of a plant or animal when given a set of data/pictures, and will compare the life cycles of 2 plants or 2 animals when given a set of data/pictures. In grade 4, students will identify sources of energy for survival of organisms, and will demonstrate in a food web that all animals food begins with the sun. They will use information about organisms to design a habitat and explain how the habitat provides for the needs of the organisms that live there. In addition, they will explain the way that plants and animals in that habitat depend on each other. Students will also explain what plants or animals might do if their environment changes, and will explain how the balance of the ecosystem can be disturbed. Additional Findings According to Making Sense of Secondary Science (p. 17), research on children s ideas of living has been in progress since the 1920s. Piaget identified five stages in the development of the life concept in children: Stage 0 (age 0 5) No concept. Stage 1 (age 6 7) Things that are active in any way, including falling or making a noise, are deemed alive. Stage 2 (age 8 9) All things that move, and only those, are deemed alive. Stage 3 (age 9 11) Things that appear to move by themselves, including rivers and the sun, are deemed alive. Stage 4 (over 11) Adult concept: only animals are deemed alive or animals and plants are deemed alive. During the elementary grades, children build understanding of biological concepts through direct experience with living things, their life cycles, and their habitats. These experiences emerge from the sense of wonder and natural interest of children who ask questions, such as How do plants get food? How many different animals are there? Why do some animals eat other animals? An understanding of Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-20
the characteristics of organisms, life cycles of organisms, and of the complex interactions among all components of the natural environment begins with questions such as these and an understanding of how individual organisms maintain and continue life. Making sense of the way organisms live in their environments will develop some understanding of the diversity of life and how all living organisms depend on the living and nonliving components of the environment for survival. Because the child s world at grades K 4 is closely associated with the home, school, and immediate environment, the study of organisms should include observations and interactions within the natural world of the child (National Science Education Standard, pp. 127 128). In classroom activities, such as classification, younger students generally use mutually exclusive rather than hierarchical categories. Young children, for example, will use two groups, but older children will use several groups at the same time. As students investigate life cycles of organisms, teachers might observe that young children do not understand the continuity of life from, for example, larvae to pupae to adult. Young children also think concretely about individual organisms. For example, animals are associated with pets or with animals kept in a zoo. The idea that organisms depend on their environment (including other organisms in some cases) is not well developed in young children. In the primary grades, the focus should be on establishing the association of organisms with their environments and the idea of dependence on various aspects of the environment and of features and behaviors that help animals survive. (NSES, pp. 128 129) According to the National Science Education Standards (p. 129), fundamental concepts for this unit of study include: Organisms have basic needs. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. Each animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth and survival. Animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. Bristol-Warren, Little Compton, Portsmouth, Tiverton Public Schools, C-21