Animals+and+their+Environment,+Emily+Marshall+For+more+information+about+this+project,+contact+Annette+Lamb.

 // Inquiry Skill // Callison lists the five elements of information inquiry as questioning, exploration, assimilation, inference, and reflection. This lesson will focus on exploration (“the initial action taken to seek answers to a questions”), assimilation (“the actions to absorb and fit knowledge to that which is already known, believed, or assumed by the learner”), and inference (“the actions or processes for deriving a conclusion from facts and premises”). Callison would also describe this lesson as controlled inquiry, as the students are given the questions and materials used to find the answers to those questions by the teacher.  //Lesson Overview // Grade Level: 2 Subject Area: Science Academic Content Standard 4 – The Living Environment - Students ask questions about a variety of living things and everyday events that can be answered through observations. They consider things and processes that plants and animals need to stay alive. Students begin to understand plant and animal interaction. 2.4.4 - Recognize and explain that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that there are somewhat different kinds in different places. Standard for the 21st-Century Learner 1 – Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. 1.1.2 – Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. 1.1.6 - Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. 1.1.9 - Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding. 1.3.4 - Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community. Standards for the 21st- Century Learner 2 - Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. 2.1.2 - Organize knowledge so that it is useful. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Purpose // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">To motivate and guide student observation of animal and plant similarities, diversity, and appropriateness to live in different environments. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Materials // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">[|Animal Diversity] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> E-Book <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Paper and pencils <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Introduction // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Present a living animal or plant (a house potted house plant or family pet such as a hamster, for example) as a hands-on classroom example. Ask students to talk about what they observe and share their observations with the class.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson 1: Animal Diversity **

Ask students: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Explain to students that they're about to see an online book with pictures of many animals. Their job is to observe things about these animals and to figure out how they are alike and different from each other. Another thing they will study is where these animals live and why they can live there successfully. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Development // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Using the [|Animal Diversity] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> student E-Sheet, present the Where Can Animals Live? online book to the class using a projector. Have students pair up. Pause as each graphic is displayed and ask students the questions shown with the pictures one at a time. Have students discuss their answers with their partners and then ask them to share with the class. Encourage independent questions and discussion.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What do you see, hear, smell, or feel as you observe this plant/or animal?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How can plants/or animals be like each other?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How can they be different from each other?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Stimulate students' thinking about the animals they're observing and why they live in certain places by asking questions such as: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Assessment // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Ask a series of questions to tie together student observations during the lesson.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Where does this animal live?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Do you think it could live in [somewhere different]? Why or why not?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Do you think [something else] also could live in this animal’s environment? Why or why not?

Ask students: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Working with their partner, have students pick two animals and create a Venn diagram to show similarities and differences between the animals and their environments. Next have students pick one type of environment (hot, cold, forest, ocean, etc.) and make a list of features animals living in these environments have that help them survive there. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**Lesson 2: Animal Adaptations** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Inquiry Skill // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Like Lesson 1, students will utilize Callison’s exploration, assimilation, and inference elements of information inquiry. However, these students will also engage in reflection, which Callison describes as “evaluation and assessment.” In this lesson students have also progressed to guided inquiry. Students are still given a specific question and final product. However, they are given the freedom to explore those animals or climates that most interest them. Also, they are working more independently, rather than with a teacher guiding them through each step of the process. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Overview // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Grade Level: 5 <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Subject Area: Science <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Academic Content Standard 4 – The Living Environment - Students learn about an increasing variety of organisms – familiar, exotic, fossil, and microscopic. They use appropriate tools in identifying similarities and differences among these organisms. Students explore how organisms satisfy their needs in their environments. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">4.4.4 - Explain that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some do not survive as well, and some cannot survive at all. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">4.4.7 - Explain that living things, such as plants and animals, differ in their characteristics, and that sometimes these differences can give members of these groups (plants and animals) an advantage in surviving and reproducing. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Standards for the 21st- Century Learner 1 – Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">1.1.1 - Follow an inquiry- based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make the real- world connection for using this process in own life. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">1.1.6 - Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">1.1.8 - Demonstrate mastery of technology tools for accessing information and pursuing inquiry. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">1.4.4 - Seek appropriate help when it is needed. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Standards for the 21st-Century Learner 2 - Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">2.1.2 - Organize knowledge so that it is useful. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Standards for the 21st-Century Learner 3 - Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">3.1.1 - Conclude an inquiry- based research process by sharing new understandings and reflecting on the learning. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">3.1.3 - Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Purpose   // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">To expand students’ knowledge of animal features and behaviors that can help or hinder their survival in a particular habitat. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Materials // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">[|Animal Adaptations worksheet.doc] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Computer for each student, including headphones. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Paper, pencil, and crayons. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Introduction // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Begin with a review or introduction of terms that students will use in this lesson (continent, climate, habitat, predator, prey). Ask students to explain what is meant by each of these terms. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Draw a three-column chart on the board; each vertical column will represent an animal, and each row will contain a question (listed below). Start by announcing the discovery of a fascinating new animal. Ask the class to help you learn more about the new animal by answering a few basic questions about its habitat.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are some ways in which all of these animals are alike?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How are they different?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What are some features that help animals live in cold environments? In hot environments? In forests or in the water?

Ask students: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Now ask students to name a different animal (a real animal). Ask them the same questions and fill in the chart. Repeat again with a final animal. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Development   // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Have students log on to their computers and go to the [|Kratts' Creatures] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> website.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What shall we name this new animal?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What is the weather like in this animal’s habitat?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How does this animal find shelter?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How does this animal find food?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Does this animal have any predators?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What behaviors show this animal has "adapted" to its environment?

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">On the site's first page, ask students what they see (a world map) and point out that the map is a simplified outline of the whole world, showing its major landmasses (continents) and oceans. Tell them that these landmasses contain many animal habitats. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Distribute the Animal Adaptations student sheet. Have students choose a continent from the website (say North America to start) and record the name of the continent on the student sheet. Have them choose an animal (for example, a polar bear) and write down notes about its climate, as well as list specific features and behaviors that are adaptations to its specific environment. Students can find out some information about the animals by going to Clubhouse Clues and picking the animal from a list (they can get to Clubhouse Clues by clicking on the picture of "Allison" in the lower, right corner of the map). Students also can learn more about the animal by watching a video clip about it. Have students complete the student sheet for each continent.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> After the lesson, ask students to offer their favorite animal and its most interesting features for survival. Write the names of the animals on the board, including their features and habitats.

Choose two animals, and then ask students to speculate.

Ask students: // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lesson Assessment // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Conclude the lesson by having students select an animal and choose a new habitat to which they think the animal could possibly adapt. Ask them to describe in words why they think the animal might realistically survive, and to draw a picture to illustrate what they've imagined. In their new habitat drawings, they should include their food and shelter. Lead students in a debate over whether or not a selected student's animal could actually adapt and survive. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">**Lesson Comparison** <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">The lessons Animal Diversity and Animal Adaptations have some basic similarities. Both are inquiry lessons in which students use internet resources to discover more about animals and their environments. However, the information inquiry skill level in more difficult for Animal Adaptations than for Animal Diversity. Look first at Animal Diversity. This is an example of controlled inquiry. Students are given very specific questions and very specific resources to answer it. Furthermore, students are provided with intense teacher support as they move through the lesson. The students do not have their own E-book; rather, they follow along with the teacher’s E-book on the projector screen. On each page students are stopped and asked specific questions. They have a partner to discuss with. Then the teacher guides a discussion on what the students talked about. On each page, if the students are a little off course, the teacher will guide them back to the “correct answer.” In essence, the teacher is modeling to the students how inquiry is done. However, Animal Adaptations is quite different; it is guided inquiry. The teacher provides background knowledge and introduces the topic in order to help prepare students for the inquiry activity. The teacher provides the resource students will use for conducting their inquiry. However, once students have been introduced to the Kratts’ Creatures website, they are on their own. Students are free to pick which animals interest them and then investigate those animals. Students are free to decide how much information they need on the animals. Are Clubhouse Clues enough or should they also view the video clip on the animal? Students determine what information is important enough to list on their worksheet. The teacher may have set up the inquiry project, but the inquiry itself is conducted by the student. Because teachers have modeled inquiry and walked them through inquiry in the past, students are knowledgeable in how to conduct inquiry on their own. Naturally, the teacher is still available for questions and assistance. Some students may need quite a bit of help from the teacher, while others may be able to work completely independently and that’s okay as long as the students’ skills are developing throughout the process. Also, with Animal Adaptations, more of the information standards are addressed. Students are now using their speaking skills to communicate new understandings via a debate. (3.1.3) Students are now reflecting on the learning process in a way they did not before as they determine a new habitat in which they think an animal could adapt. (3.1.1) Students are also asking for help as needed, as they are working more independently and must recognize when teacher assistance is necessary. (1.4.4) <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What would happen if the animals switched habitats?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What adaptation features would be useful or useless in the new habitat?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Do you think the animal could survive in the unfamiliar habitat?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">What does that tell you about how animals adapt to their environments?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">

Addition by: Jennifer Wilson Grade level: Kindergarten Subject: Science--Animal Habitats

Students model the process of scientific investigation through inquiries, field work, lab work, etc. Students will practice designing investigations and experiences, making observations, and formulating theories based on evidence.
 * Indiana's Academic Standard 1:**

1.1.3** Develop and refine a range of questions to frame the search for new understanding.
 * 21st-Century Learner Standards:
 * 2.2.4** Demonstrate personal productivity by completing products to express learning.
 * 4.1.8** Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.

1. The students will be able to identify different colors of animals in different "habitats". 2. The students will understand how an animal's coloring protects them from predators. 3. The students will be able to create their own animal habitat.
 * Objectives:**

//The Mixed-Up Cameleon// by Eric Carle pre-cut animal shapes from construction paper acetate sheets, various colors, some same as pre-cut animals shadow box scrap materials--such as: yarn, materials, construction paper, etc. animal stencils 11x14 pieces of construction paper scissors crayons permanent marker
 * Materials:**

Day 1:** 1. Read //The Mixed-Up Cameleon.// Fill out the K part of the chart. //2.// Take the shadow box with different colors of acetate paper. 3. Put pre-cut animals under the various color of acetate paper. Explain that this is called camouflaging and this is how animals protect themselves. 4. Have students try to identify the different animals. 5. Ask, for example, "Which is easier to find under the green acetate paper-- a green frog or yellow lion?" 6. Fill out the W part of the chart. 8. For an extra challenge, draw vines, trees, or grass with a permanent marker. Then ask them to identify the animals. 9. Take 2 or 3 colors of acetate to see if students can still identify the animals. 10.Dismiss students to their table and have them create their own animal habitat and have them camouflage their own animal. 12. Share camouflaged animals. 13. Fill out the L part of the chart.
 * Procedure:
 * Day 2:** 7. Review day 1.
 * Day 3:** 11. Review days 1&2.

I added this lesson for kindergarten because it is the very basic of learning about animals and where they live. It covers the basic of camouflaging and what they will learn in the future lessons about how the animals protect themselves from predators. In Callison's //The Blue Book//, he mentions a book written called //Best Practice//, which talks about state curricular guides. In this, "Inquiry expects that students will learn concepts and develop the capability to carry out inquiries on their own" (Callison 11). So, by the students learning this very basic lesson about animals and their habitats will prepare them to learn the lesson in 2nd grade. It will enable them to ask the more in depth questions about how they are alike and how they differ and the different environments.

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