Lesson Plan : Animals and their Habitats

Teacher Name:
 C. H. Adams
Grade:
 Grade 3
Subject:
 Science

Topic:
 Animals and their Habitats
Content:
 Science: mammals, habitat, environment, endotherm, ectotherm
Goals:
 Students learn how to classify animals� traits and habitat and build these into a chart.
Objectives:
 Students will know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
Materials:
 Harcourt Brace Science text, playscript for �Good Morning, Mammals�, digital camera, tape recorder
Introduction:
 Students will begin with a dispatch of �Animal Math�, word problems using animals and multiplication. While connecting to the science lesson, this will also serve as a practice for an upcoming math assessment.
Development:
 Students have been assigned parts for various animals being interviewed for a morning talk show. As they will dramatize the play, audience members complete charts of the various traits and habitats described. One student will play the role of the host, Dr. Vertebrate, and operate the tape recorder while interviewing guest animals. Another student will act as camera operator, taking digital pictures of the show. After the play the class will review each animal individually to share out their observations.
Practice:
 Students will use the facts learned about the mammals involved to create questions for the game �Truth or Fiction�. Later in the afternoon, students will have a short quiz on multiplying by 7.
Accommodations:
 
Checking For Understanding:
 
Closure:
 
Evaluation:
 
Teacher Reflections:
 This science lesson is in the beginning of the children�s study of the unit on animal diversity and characteristics. Many children have shown great receptivity to this area of study and have even yelled, �Yeah! Science!� upon seeing it in the schedule. They are already using several of the key terms for the unit of study, such as mammal, amphibian, reptile, etc. Our text also includes animal cards, identifying key facts about single animals. They have enjoyed opportunities to pass them around and share the information. For the observed lesson, the students involved in the play were highly motivated to participate and execute their lines and blocking to their best ability. I believe that given more lead time some would have been able to memorize their parts completely. Overall, I see that student engagement was quite high. The audience had copies to be able to follow the text and they did so enthusiastically. Many were able to listen to the play and begin charting the traits and habitats simultaneously. However, there were several things I would improve for future lessons like this one. I needed time to check my technology materials better. The audio recorder worked perfectly. All voices were heard easily on the playback. However, the batteries for the digital camera were too old or weak to take any pictures. So, we missed the chance to visually document our play. These could have made a nice computer slideshow or bulletin board. In terms of the text, students had not been introduced to all terminology, such as �endotherm�. Though they will be repeated in later lessons, they should have been previewed and discussed before the performance.

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