Wild Thing Adaptations

Invite your students to investigate the structural adaptations and behavioral adaptations of the creatures from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are! In this lesson, students examine each Wild Thing’s physical characteristics, using the free printable below to help them identify the various attributes that make each Wild Thing unique. Then in a group, they design a new environment and their very own original Wild Things! 

Click here for the full project description / criteria. Click here for printables!

Crayfish Lab

Teachers purchase live crayfish (crawdads or crawfish) from the grocery store. 
(Pre-order and pickup - this was done in my classroom)

Kids investigate crayfish body parts, adaptations, behavior and habitats through 10 lab observations. Labs include: measuring (in lab 1), comparing (lab 2), observing behavior, recording feeding and learning about each body part through the 10 labs. 2 art projects are included (lab 7 and 8). Kids draw a habitat and create a crayfish chimney.

Note: There is NO dissection in this pack. Kids study live crayfish.

Includes (21 pages):
Objectives
Crayfish habitat instructions
6 presentation slides: crayfish parts / adaptations / habitat / behavior
10 Lab sheets
2 mini posters (parts of the crayfish: top and bottom of the organism)

Free download!

Animal Camouflage: How Creatures Hide

Includes:
3 Mini Posters with: Disruptive Coloration, Concealing Coloration, Countershading, Disguise and Mimicry
Octopus Disguise Project - template for kids to design and hide in the classroom
Walking Stick or Katydid Disguise Craft - kids find a leaf or stick and create an insect hiding in its habitat
Concealing Coloration Scavenger Hunt - how-to instructions and recording sheet
Disruptive Coloration Savanna Scene - kids draw a predator and prey, showing how this coloration helps animals in the savanna
Butterfly or Moth Mimicry Project - template for kids to design a paper pet that uses mimicry (no Viceroy butterflies allowed)!
Countershading Ocean Scene - kids draw a predator and prey, demonstrating how this type of coloring helps animals survive

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j412_QuHfQFyjORXk3lPEMOd4DzV3NKb/view?usp=sharing

Cryptozoology: Learning with Cryptids

Kids turn into cryptozoologists and study 3 cryptids closely: Sasquatch, Loch Ness Monster and Chupacabra. Then they create a field report on any cryptid they would like to investigate!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SXe6idap5PZ6PnJmvprjRjpay7mcfLy_/view?usp=sharing

Includes:
List of 50 Cryptids
Top 10 Cryptids That Turned Out to be Real
Task Sheets for the 3 Cryptids: math / art projects with measuring, fictional sighting report writing, adaptation activity and survey / data collection
Adapation Recording Sheets for the 3 Cryptids
Bar Graph Sheets for the 3 Cryptids
Field Report Assignment to Research Any Cryptid

Entomology: Cross-Curricular Learning

Kids have fun investigating insects in their natural habitat!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VSK6HrKelgtudsf66-B3jeZ8On5L4Ywh/view?usp=sharing

Includes:
1. Letters and photos from Entomologist Greg prompting kids to do different experimentations.
2. 3 Insect Investigation Worksheets: identifying, describing, comparing and contrasting
3. Insect Trading Card Project: measurement and data collection
4. 4 Insect Posters: insect characteristics, non-insect characteristics, mouth parts and compound eyes
5. Insect Fraction and Graphing: oversized images of insects are hung up around the classroom and kids have to circle whether the specimens are insects or not. Then they make a graph of their findings and record fractions.
6. Ant Restaurant Experiment and Recording Sheet: kids have a menu and add their own items to a paper plate for experimentation. Then they graph the results of the experiment (as a class).
7. Label Ant Worksheet
8. Metamorphosis Monarch Sequencing Cards and Worksheet
9. Create Your Own Ladybug Sequencing Cards and Ladybug Lifecycle Worksheet
10. Lifecycle Comic Strip Tech Project
11. Incomplete Metamorphosis Worksheet: Grasshopper and Dragonfly
12. Butterfly Feeder Instructions: kids make daily recordings of the feeder
13. Letter from Greg prompting kids to research an insect from a different biome

Botanical Expedition

Botanical Expedition - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ykieN_OP9xygBi9nSm4a5-qkVf3vgKEm/view?usp=sharing
Kids are given a project-based learning project where they go on a plant expedition to one of the biomes listed on the scientific fact cards (included in the pack). They discover a new plant species and record their findings by designing their own scientific fact sheets! 

After their individual project, they collaborate in a group and design life-size versions of real plants that exist around the world in different biomes (4 plants). This section is called plant superlatives because the plants have extreme attributes! Kids research interesting facts about the plant their group is assigned (after they create it to hang on the walls of your classroom)!

10 Biome Scientific Fact Cards / Mini-Posters
(labeled: blue (aquatic) and green (terrestrial)
1. Coral Reef
2. Wetlands
3. Desert
4. Deciduous Forest
5. Temperate Grasslands
6. Savanna
7. Taiga
8. Temperate Rainforest
9. Tropical Rainforest
10. Tundra

Octopus Math

Integrate math, art and science all in one craft! Kids create an octopus, while exploring division, fractions, and multiplication! First, they divide a piece of construction paper in half. Next, they use a ruler and draw lines (on half the sheet) to create eight rectangles for the arms (see image). They cut along the lines they drew, stopping at the halfway mark. Then, they curve the paper and staple. Once stapled, they bend the arms, so the octopus can sit up. 

After they created their octopus shape, they flip it over. They stick round reinforcement labels (white circle stickers with a hole in the center) on the back of its arms and create suction cup arrays! (see image) Then, they figure out the multiplication equation for their octopus.

Science - This craft can be used for an animal adaptation unit. Kids learn that octopi have arms (not legs). The suction cups on their arms help them grasp their prey, move along rocks, and taste things! Also, their stomach is on top of their head! Their mouth is a hard beak (don't let children draw a happy face on their octopus - the beak is underneath!)

Nature Works Virtual Field Trip

Live on youtube Friday, December 4th at 12:00 pm (Eastern Time, 40 minutes), your class can explore China's Great Forests! Students (grades 3-8) investigate what the giant panda and earth's climate have in common as they learn about the carbon cycle and compare/contrast reforestation and deforestation. 

RSVP here to participate for FREE!: http://ow.ly/UfnrV 

If you cannot "attend" the event live, you can sign up for the virtual field and will be notified as soon as the video is available. Then you can show your students when ever convenient for your lesson plans and school schedules! 

This field trip fits in with a unit on adaptations, ecosystems, natural resources and geography. Students view live footage of 2 provinces in China—Sichuan and Yunnan, traveling up "towering mountains, majestic forests and other iconic landscapes."

While examining the geography of these provinces, students learn about the other animal species that share the same ecosystem as the giant panda: golden snub-nosed monkeys, and the elusive and odd-looking takin. They find out that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

They also get to see how scientists work with local communities to protect nature and create new wilderness. 

They discover the benefits of reforestation and how it can decrease carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, minimizing climate change and improving air quality. You can challenge your class to evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity in an ecosystem!

Students also explore the pros and cons of deforestation after they investigate reforestation. Example below:

Conservationists: Forests are home to many species of plants and animals.

Logger: My job is to cut down trees and without this job I cannot provide for my family. 

Pharmacist: Many medicines come from our forests and many are yet to be discovered.

Farmer: I clear away land by burning a few acres of trees to grow crops for my family to eat.

Environmentalist: Forests help moderate climate change by taking in carbon dioxide during the day.  Too much carbon dioxide leads to an increase in greenhouse gases, which causes changes in our climate.

Restaurant owner: I need paper and meat products to meet my customers’ demands.

• Information about how this event relates to curriculum per grade: http://ow.ly/UfpXN

• Reforestation video that is a great pre-event lesson to share with students (featured above): http://ow.ly/Ufofb 

• Reforestation lesson plan that relates to the video + the Dec. 4th live event: http://ow.ly/Ufq97

Wildlife Trade: Affecting Animals and Their Ecosystems

International Fund for Animal Welfare’s (IFAW) Animal Action Education is providing teachers with hands-on, inquiry based lessons on animals, their adaptations and good citizenship for grades K-8. Students learn about how commercial wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats to wildlife. Animal preservation lesson plans, printables and teaching resources, available at We Are Teachers: http://ow.ly/UBN1w

Use of Animals in Trade:
Entertainment
Fashion
Decoration
Traditional Medicine and Religion
Pets
Food



Video (3rd-5th) featured above: http://ow.ly/UBPTU

Students investigate: “Why do people trade in wildlife?” and “How do our choices as consumers affect animals?” They discuss why people would want wildlife products? These products do not benefit the animal. How would they benefit humans? They also explore how wild animals are sold as pets and taken from their natural habitat. Students are provided with a free magazine. Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBPPg

Students learn that not only is wildlife trade affecting certain animal species, it can affect an entire ecosystem! Grades 3-5 Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBPJK

Some of the Inquiry Lessons featured in the pack:
Dog Sniffing Scavenger Hunt: Dogs are used to detect wildlife products. In this activity students put their nose to the test, searching around the room for an onion hidden in a clean sock.
Science Meets Art- Animal Diagram and Poem: Students research an animal and investigate how its features help it survive. Then they write verses for adaptation poems provided by IFAW.
Ecosystem Cups: Students stack cups and create an ecosystem pyramid. They take cups away and discover how the removal of one animal can cause an ecosystem to fall apart.
Geography Project- An Exotic Pet's Journey: Students collaborate in groups and use a map's scale (provided) to determine how many miles an animal travelled from its home. Students compare an animal's natural environment to it's life as a pet. They write down what humans cannot provide wildlife animals with if they were kept as pets.
Keep Wild Animals Wild Informative Comic: After reading a comic about the use of sea turtle shells as hair clips, students are encouraged to create their own comic about an animal of their choice.
Pet Store Skits: Students take on one of these characters: store owner, customer who wants to buy a wild animal for a pet, a member of the student Animal Welfare Club, a wild animal that the store sells, and a reporter. The skits tell the story of what happens when the customer comes into the store to buy the animal but runs into a protest being covered by the local news.
Design a Pamphlet: In pairs, students make their own pamphlets to persuade others that keeping or trading in wild animals as pets has negative effects for the animals, people, and the environment.
Culminating Project: Students figure out a way to get the word out about wildlife trade: mural, assembly, video (anything they can think of)

Keep Wild Animals Wild is available at three levels of instruction.

Students ages 5 to 7 (grade K-2) are introduced to the concepts of what makes an animal wild and how people can observe and appreciate wildlife responsibly.

o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBNGE

o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBNMW

o   K-2 Video http://ow.ly/UBPDG

Students ages 8 to 10 (grade 3-5) learn about wildlife trade, how it is relevant to them, and how they can take action to help protect wild animals from wildlife trade.

o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBPJK

o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBPPg

o   3-5 video http://ow.ly/UBPTU

Students ages and 11 to 14 (grade 6-8) also learn about wildlife trade and its relevance to their world.

o   Lesson plans http://ow.ly/UBQ0r

o   Student magazine http://ow.ly/UBQ5r

o   Classroom poster http://ow.ly/UBQdu

o   6-8 video http://ow.ly/UBQjl

Seed Engineers

Students are challenged to construct a device to make a popcorn kernel disperse! They invented contraptions that helped a kernel burst (explode), travel by water or wind, attach to humans/animals or look tempting enough to get digested! Visit We Are Teachers to check out my post: Third Grade Seed Experimentation: Adapting a Popcorn Kernel!

Adapting Human Gear

Students think about the adaptations of animals and create a product for humans. Example: a glove that allows you to climb up walls. Children become industrial designers. They think of a problem and come up with a solution for a new product.

Next Generation Science Standard (First Grade): Structure, Function, and Information Processing

Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.

Examples from NGSS:

turtle or acorn shell bicycle helmet, knee pads, backpack

animal tails and plant roots to stabilize a structure

plant thorns or porcupine quills to keep out intruders

exceptional eye sight or hearing to detect intruders

animal scales to protect from predators

Other Examples:

rattle to warn predators

beak to crack nuts

blubber to keep warm

gills to breath under water

change color to hide or communicate

etc

click here for templates: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LEHa0p38D0OZI7QQiDMqA_xfvPiSjDm0/view?usp=sharing

Color Communicators

Animal Adaptations: Students color a chameleon and pin it up somewhere in the classroom. Can you find their camouflaged chameleons?! - inspired by the Children's Museum of Houston Butterfly Hunt.

Why chameleons change color, not for camouflage, but to communicate - NatGeo

Visit Education.com for a chameleon color changing experiment!

Literacy Connection: The Mixed Up Chameleon by Eric Carle

Writing: What is your chameleon trying to communicate? For example, if he changed to blend in with the map, does he want to travel?

You could also do this activity with octopi or cuttlefish templates.

chameleon template

Note: You could also trace the shape of the chameleon on wax paper. Have students place the template over things to make the chameleon change. Check out Pieces by Polly

Venn Creature

Kids mash two creatures together to create a new animal! After they create (draw or photoshop) their creature, have them name it and describe its special characteristics. Where does the creature live? Have kids describe its habitat. What does it eat? What eats it?! How is it adapted to its environment? 

You could also have kids construct their creature using model magic, once they finalize their sketch on their Venn diagram.

If kids need a little inspiration, have them check out Build Your Wild Self (click here for an example)!

Snail Measuring

This project is inspired by "curled paper snails" from the book Sunset Kid's Crafts - 1973.

Kids cut 1 inch width strips of construction paper. 

Then, they trim their strips different lengths:

Body - 7 inches

Shell (4 rings): 12, 10, 8, and 6 inches

Kids roll their paper strips to create a shell. They roll a head on their 7 inch strip. Then, they cut tentacles (feelers) for their snail. Staple the rings to the body, glue on the tentacles, and you have a paper snail! 

To incorporate this into an animal adaptation unit, have kids create a mucus trail out of glue! Create a trail on wax paper, let dry, and peel.

Mucus - glide, repulse predators, stick to surfaces

Foot - muscular organ to move

Shell - protection from predators and if environment is dry

Tentacles - two long (version of eyes) and two short (feel, taste, smell)

Visit FossWeb for more interesting facts!

Wind Powered Balloon Squid

Explore the power of air and wind energy by constructing a balloon squid to play with in the pool! Estimate the distance you think your squid can swim. Then, measure the actual distance he travelled. Build more than one and have a balloon squid race! Click here for how to instructions from Monkey See Monkey Do!

materials: balloon, snap top from water bottle, ribbon, sharpie

Click here to learn how to make an air powered balloon boat!

Rattlesnake Eggs!

Explore animal adaptations, while playing a prank on your class! All you need is an envelope, one paperclip, and a rubber band. When someone opens the envelope, they jump back because the sound of a rattlesnake projects from inside!

Click here for a video tutorial (easy construction: 3 materials)
Check out the prank in action here! (Instructions with metal washer or button)
Instructions here using 2 clips
Instructions with soda cap

After you scare everyone, ask kids, "Why do rattlesnakes have a special tail?"

Stuffed Pets

monkey via cuddle works

My Pet Pal - Revised
This is a lesson I'm creating for one of my education courses. You can view the original post I wrote here.

Have students bring in a pet stuffed animal from their home. Ask students if they think they can determine an object’s weight and size without using standard tools. Write the children’s answers down on the SmartBoard. Then, try out their answers to see if they are right. Next, read the book Measuring Penny by Loreen Leedy to show students ways to measure a pet without standard tools. 

Have students predict which pet is the longest, tallest, shortest, widest, and thinnest. Choose a nonstandard tool for measuring. Have students record their pet's measurements (ear, eye, nose, mouth, head, paw, arm, leg, tail, body). Also, have them write down the name of the longest, tallest, shortest, widest, and thinnest pet in the class.

Next, they will estimate which pet is the heaviest and which is the lightest. For science, construct a balancing scale. Provide the materials and have students infer how they can use the material to create a weighing device. Then, weigh your pets! Have them write down the pets' names in order from lightest to heaviest. Afterwards, have them weigh their pet and compare it with pennies. What does their pet weigh in pennies?

Then, students will describe their pet’s attributes using a bubble map. What makes their pet unique? Then, they will compare their pet to a friend's pet using a Venn diagram. Once they compare with one friend, they will create a fraction by finding other peers whose pets have similar and different attributes.

For writing, have students write down how they think their pet’s attributes might help their pet (animal adaptations). Why does their pet have large ears? How does long shaggy hair help their pet? Where would their pet live? After they've made an inference, they will work in teams to research all of their pet’s attributes on the computer or ipad to find out how certain attributes (like large ears) help animals.