CONCEPT: Living things experience diverse life cycles.
CONTENT OBJECTIVE: 2G2.00 To understand the stages in the life cycles of selected organisms
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES: The learner will:
2.01 define mammal.
2.02 describe the characteristics of mammals.
2.03 describe the importance of mammals to man.
2.04 describe the life cycle of a frog.
2.05 compare and contrast a larva and an adult frog.
2.06 explain the life cycle of a butterfly.
2.07 compare the stages of a butterfly.
2.08 describe the characteristics of birds.
2.09 relate the life cycle of a bird.
OUTLINE OF CONTENT:
I. Define mammals
A. Give birth to live babies
B. Animal with hair
C. Feeds young with mother's milk
D. Warm blooded animals
II. Life cycle of mammals
A. Young babies grow into adults
B. Adults have young
III. Stages in the life cycle of a frog
A. Eggs
B. Larva without legs
C. Tadpoles with legs
D. Adult frog
IV. Compare and contrast the larva and frog
V. Stages in the life cycle of a butterfly
A. Eggs
B. Larva
C. Pupa
D. Adult
VI. Compare the stages in the life cycle of a butterfly
VII. Characteristics of birds
A. Feathers
B. Wings
C. Beaks
VIII. Stages in the life cycle of a bird
A. Egg
B. Baby bird
C. Adult bird
TN COMPONENT OF SCIENCE: Unifying Concepts of Science
TN GOAL:
To enable students to acquire scientific knowledge by applying concepts, theories, principles and laws from life/environmental, physical, and earth/space science.
TN THEME:
2.3 ORGANIZATION - Everything is organized as related systems within systems.
TN STANDARD(S): The learner will understand that:
2.3a Natural phenomena display a wide variety of similarities and differences.
BENCHMARK: Offspring may resemble their parents, but individuals within a general population may vary.
CLASSROOM CONNECTORS
TIME REQUIRED:
Four classroom connectors - 45 minutes each
MATERIALS:
Books; drawing paper; crayons; pictures of mammals; frog eggs, if available or pictures of frogs, eggs, and tadpoles, scissors, party blow outs, yarn, hole punch, teacher-made sequence ditto; story of "The Ugly Duckling," plastic panty hose,
eggs, clay, construction paper, tape or glue
This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objectives 2.01, 2.02, and 2.03.
SET:
Raise your hand if you have had a baby animal as a pet. (Make a list on the chalkboard of pets. Make a separate column for each type: mammals, fish, birds) Is your pet still a baby? Why not? (It grew up.) Baby animals grow up to be adult animals. The different stages in an animals life is called a life cycle. Today, you will learn about the life cycle of mammals.
INSTRUCTION:
(Have some animal pictures and books to show during
instruction.) Mammals are animals that give birth to live babies.
They produce milk for their young from their own bodies. Mammals
have hair or fur on their bodies. Mammals are warm blooded animals.
Warm blooded means that their body temperature stays the same,
no matter what the temperature around them is. Baby mammals need
care after they are born. The adult helps to care for it. The
baby grows into an adult, then has babies of its own. These are
stages in the life cycle. All living things grow and change. Think about what you looked like when you started to kindergarten. How
have you changed since then? (response)
SUPERVISED PRACTICE:
Some of the pets that we listed on the board
are mammals. Identify the mammals. Divide the children into groups.
Give each group a picture of a mammal. List the characteristics
that make this animal a mammal. Then have each group work as a
team to list as many mammals as they can in a five minute time
limit. Discuss.
CLOSURE:
Tell your neighbor one way all mammals are alike. (response) Thumbs up or down: A fish is a mammal. Show me.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Divide the class into two groups. One group draws a picture of any mammal as a baby. Use as many different mammals as possible. The other group draws a picture of any mammal as an adult. Then each person trades with a person from the opposite group, and draws the other stage in the life cycle.
ENRICHMENT:
Read children's books about mammals.
This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objectives 2.04, and 2.05.
SET:
In our last lesson, we learned about mammals and their life
cycles. Raise your hand when I say the name of an animal that
is a mammal. (Eagle, butterfly, cow) Today, we are going to learn
about the life cycle of another kind of animal, a frog.
INSTRUCTION:
(If possible, have eggs and/or tadpoles for the students
to observe.) Frogs begin their life as an egg in the water. The
eggs look like a black dot inside a circle of clear jelly. Raise
you hand if you have seen frog eggs. (response, let students share
their experiences) The eggs hatch into the next stage, larva,
or tadpoles. The tadpoles are shaped similar to fish, and have
gills and a tail. They eat small plants in the water. As they
grow, the young frogs change their shape and size several times.
Legs begin to form. Their tails get shorter and front arms are seen. Their lungs grow. The frogs can breathe air and leave the
water. They can eat insects because they have teeth. Now they
are adult frogs. Let's review the life cycle of a frog:
1. Female frogs lay their eggs in ponds and streams. A jelly-like material covers the eggs.
2. The eggs hatch into larva, or tadpoles.
3. The larva grow front and back legs and lose their tails.
4. An adult frog has lungs and teeth.
Compare a tadpole and an adult frog. How are they the same? How are they different? (They are the same animal. Their physical characteristics are different. The larva does not have eggs at first. Tadpoles eat plants. Frogs eat insects. Tadpoles live in
the water. Frogs spend some time on land.
SUPERVISED PRACTICE:
Make a frog mask. Show pictures of a frog using his tongue to get insects. Discuss the importance of the tongue. Cut away the top and bottom edges of a paper plate to make a frog face. (Use a rounded diamond shape with two humps over the eye area. You may want to make a pattern for the students to trace around.) Carefully cut out two eye holes. Then figure out where the tongue would be. Mark this spot on the mask. Make sure it lines up with the mouth. This is where you will carefully insert a party blowout. Use markers or paints to decorate the mask. Punch a hole on each side of the mask and tie one piece of yarn to each hole. To wear the mask, tie the yarn together in the back. Put the mask on and slip the mouthpiece of the party blowout into the hole.
CLOSURE:
Tell your neighbor the four stages of the growth cycle of a frog. (response) Thumbs up if this is true: A tadpole looks like it's parent. (response)
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Teacher-made sheet illustrating each of the four stages in the life cycle of a frog. Students, color, cut out, and glue correctly sequenced, labeling, each stage.
ENRICHMENT:
Read "Frogs in a Pond" by Bill Martin
Read "Frog and Toad are Friends" and other "Frog and Toad" books by Arnold Lobel Sing "Froggy Went a Courtin'"
This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objectives 2.06, and 2.07.
SET:
(Have students close their eyes. Draw a circle on the board.) Open your eyes. Where does this circle begin? (response) The circle is ongoing with no beginning and no ending. A life cycle is like a circle in this way. Today, you will learn about the life cycle of the butterfly.
INSTRUCTION:
Several insects have a four stage life cycle. The one we will focus on today is the butterfly. Some other insects with similar life cycles are mosquitoes, bees, wasps, fruit flies, moths, and some beetles. The stages are egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
The egg is the first stage of growth. Insect eggs may be laid about anywhere. They are often laid on leaves or other food the insects can eat when they hatch. The young insect is called a larva after hatching. A larva is always hungry. The larva looks like a worm.
The larva stops eating and makes a hard covering for itself. The insect is now called a pupa. The pupa changes inside the covering. The adult insect comes out. When the butterfly's wings are dry, it will fly away like other adult butterflies.
Repeat the stages, calling upon several students. Start at different stages and complete the cycle. Ask students if they have seen cocoons. Maybe someone has one to bring in and share. What other animal did we learn about that had the larva as a stage of growth? (Frog)
SUPERVISED PRACTICE:
Have the children write a group story about the life cycle of a butterfly. Divide class into four groups, one for each stage with life cycle. Let each group role play their stage. Act out the stage as the group story read orally.
CLOSURE:
(Teacher have pictures of the four stages of a butterfly for each child) Put the stages of a butterfly in correct order. Thumbs up if the butterfly resembles its parent. (response)
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Make a butterfly finger puppet. Trace the shape of a butterfly on construction paper. Color and cut out. Glue a circle of paper on the back. Insert finger through circle to let butterfly fly.
ENRICHMENT:
(The following activities are suggested:
1. Read "John and the Monarch."
2. Write poems about butterflies. Choose words that describe movements of a butterfly, such as filter, soar, etc. Display the poems.
3. Purchase some meal worms for the students to observe the stages of an insect.)
This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objectives 2.08, and 2.09.
SET:
I am thinking about a type of animal that we are familiar
with. This animal has feathers and a beak. Tell your neighbor what this
animal is. (Bird) That's correct, a bird! Today, we will learn
the characteristics of birds, and the life cycle of birds.
INSTRUCTION:
All birds grow feathers. They have different kinds of feathers to do different jobs. All birds have wings. Wings help birds fly and keep their balance. Birds have beaks. Birds have different kinds of beaks, depending on the kind of food it eats.
Birds have different life cycles from the other animals we have
studied. Most animals come from eggs that are produced by the
female animals. Many birds lay several eggs per year. An egg contains
everything needed to form a new animal. Bird eggs have a shell
or hard outer covering. When the animal has grown enough, it breaks
out of the shell. This is called hatching. The mother bird takes
care of the baby bird. The baby bird must grow before it is ready
to fly. It later grows into an adult bird.
SUPERVISED PRACTICE:
Read the story of the "Ugly Duckling." Stress life cycle from egg, to cygnet, to swan. Compare the stages in the life cycle. Discuss how the bird looked at each stage.
Ask this question: Farmer Smith had 50 chickens. He sold 25 of them last spring, but, now he has 50 again. How is this possible if he did not buy any chickens. (The remaining female chickens laid eggs, which hatched into more chickens.)
CLOSURE:
Tell your neighbor what birds have that other animals do not have. (feathers)
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Students make birds out of plastic hose eggs. Each child gets an egg and a lump of clay about the size of a golf ball. Press the clay onto the smaller half of the egg. Put the egg together, then make it stand. They may need to adjust the clay inside of the egg. Use construction paper to make beaks, eyes, wings and feet for the bird. Tape or glue them onto the egg. Students may want to use reference books or pictures as guides.
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