Lesson plan

Subject: Science

Grade:4th-5th

Theme: Animal Behavior

Duration: 180 minutes in 3-5 days

EALRs:

Science 1.1 The student will recognize the components, structure, and organization of systems and the interconnections within them and among them.

Communication 3 The student uses communication skills to work effectively with others.

Writing 2.3 Write a variety of forms, including narratives, journals, poems, essays, stories, research reports and technical writing.

Objective: After having an opportunity to research an animal the student will develop observation skills and gain research experience and demonstrate their knowledge on the differences between instinct and learned behavior and how behaviors help the animals adapt to the environment by creating a story about an animal that they studied.

Procedure:

Anticipatory set:

Ask the children to close their eyes and visualize an animal that they have observed and think about the things that the animal did. Discuss the ideas among the class. Lead the children to these questions. Why do animals do the things that they do? Do animals learn in the wild? If so how and from who?

Statement of purpose:

Throughout the week we will have an opportunity to study and observe animals in different environments and try to  discover some of the ways animals behave and why they do the things they do. (2 minutes)

Instruction:

 Explain that every animal has a certain set of behaviors that contribute to their survival. (5minutes)

Show pictures of various animals and explain some of the unique animal behaviors. For example: Bears hibernate, Whales use bubble netting to eat, and Canada Geese migrate. (5 minutes)

Emphasis the fact that some behaviors are Instinctive and others are learned.

Show video clips of animals in the wild, the students will observe the animals and document the behaviors in their "Field Log". Go over the procedures of documentation and field study. (10 minutes)

Discuss examples of learned behavior and instinctive behavior. Chart students contributions on the Field Log chart. Example: Homing instinct/ learned migration rout (5 minutes)

Show the power point presentation on Scientific Observation (10 minutes)

Assessment: Tell the students that they will do a web quest. The students should choose an animal from the website and do the observational section on their own. (20 minutes)

After the students have completed the observations independently they should form groups of 3-4 students of those who observed the same animal.

In the groups the students will research the animal they have chosen using the web links and following the instructions on the web quest. (45 minutes)

Using  the research that the students have gathered they will write a creative story about the animal. This is done independently. (45 minutes)

Assessment: The students will complete the group evaluation form on each member in their group and the projects will be scored according to the rubric.

Modifications:

 Students may use a combination of illustrations and written work to answer the questions in the web quest