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Life on Earth,
Grades K-3
Project Description:
"Spaceship Earth" rotates and revolves through space, maintaining countless populations of organisms. In this class, students conduct their own observations of biodiversity in animals, improving process skills such as observing, communicating, comparing, categorizing, and manipulating the tools of science. Students use their five senses to focus on characteristics and behaviors, see stages of growth, and notice similarities and differences. They handle several animals and use balances and metric cubes to measure and record weight and length. A videocam microscope will be available for students to share images of living critters on a large monitor.
Vocabulary:
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box turtle |
larva |
midge |
video camera |
| darker |
legs |
newt |
water flea |
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gills |
lighter |
pupil |
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iris |
microscope |
shrimp |
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Possible Class Activities:
- Introduction: Spaceship Earth and its various life forms.
- Discuss how our senses can be used in observing life forms.
- Demonstrate how the five-finger touch method can be used to "see"
an object in a cloth bag.
- Observe the eye color differences in one animal species. The humane handling and treatment of animals is incorporated into this activity.
- Use a videocam to introduce newts and observe their physical characteristics. Measurement tools help gather data such as weight and length.
- Explore open-ended questions related to newt behaviors.
- Explore the world of aquatic animals with two-way viewers, microscopes, and videocam and monitor.
- Closure: What did we find out? This is the time to review highlights of today’s investigations and acknowledge any questions that may have arisen.
Pre-Visit Activities (in your classroom):
- Explain reasons for field trip (discuss theme).
- Stress need to follow directions exactly and listen carefully.
- Introduce vocabulary if appropriate.
- Have students talk about their experiences with animals they have had as pets.
- Discuss/show pictures of animals to emphasize their diversity.
- Practice observing different objects, asking students to come up with an observation for each of the five senses.
- Use unifix cubes (or other uniform objects) to measure objects (optional).
- Introduce the use of a balance for weighing objects (optional).
Post-Visit Activities:
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Have students guess more objects in a sack or box, using the five-finger touch method.
- Create a habitat for sowbugs, snails, crickets, or mealworms and watch their life cycles.
- Obtain water samples from nearby ponds or creeks. Use magnifiers to observe any life in the water.
Web Site Reference(s):
Here’s a Web site that includes many comprehensive lessons about the five senses. Objectives for each lesson as well as resources are included. Reinforce the different ways in which information can be gathered about the world around us. Each lesson has been organized by grade level.
http://www.uen.org/cgi-bin/websql/lessons/query_lp.hts?corearea=3&area=2
State of California Science Standards:
Kindergarten
Life Sciences:
3. Different types of plants and animals inhabit the Earth. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. how to observe and describe similarities and differences in the appearance and behavior of plants and of animals.
c. how to identify major structures of common plants and animals.
Investigation and Experimentation:
4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. observe common objects using the five senses
e. communicate observations orally
First Grade
Life Sciences
2. Living things have needs. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. living things are found almost everywhere in the world. Different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments.
b. different plants and animals have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.
d. animals eat plants or other animals for food.
4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
b. record observations and data with pictures, numbers, and/or written statements.
d. describe the relative position of objects using two references.
e. make new observations when discrepancies exist between two descriptions of the same object or phenomenon.
Second Grade
Life Sciences:
2. Plants and animals have predictable life cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. organisms reproduce offspring of their own kind. The offspring resemble their parents and each other.
b. the sequential stages of life cycles are different for different animals.
4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, and to address the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
b. measure length, weight, temperature, and liquid volume with appropriate tools and express measurements in standard and/or non-standard units.
c. compare common objects based on two or more physical attributes.
f. ...and include the use of magnifiers or microscopes to extend senses.
g. follow verbal instructions for a scientific investigation.
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