This is an overview of a thematic unit I designed
about zoo animals. Listed below are activities and lesson plans that
are used in the thematic unit. Also listed are related resources.
Aimee Archibald Zoo Animals
Time Span: 2 weeks Grades: 2 or 3
Initiating Activity: Students will be introduced to a variety of activities
to peak their interest in zoo animals. These activities include coloring
sheets, printing exercises, video programs, and fact sheets. Some of
the activitie!
s will replace regular lessons (when appropriate) and others
will be supplementary exercises.
Computer Technology: Students will use a Hyperstudio created Internet
Investigation about zoo animals. It is basically a scavenger hunt involving
a variety of websites that students can use to find information about different
animals.
Field Trip: Students will attend a zoo for a field trip and design
an alphabet book about zoo animals. Each student is responsible to
represent a different letter of the alphabet with an animal. The students
will come together with their designed pages of the alphabet book at the
end of the unit.
Fine Arts: Students will create a painting of a white polar bear with
a colorful background using Tempera paints, sponges, marker, and a cutout
of a white polar bear. Part of the lesson will focus on camouflage
and animals in their habitats.
Listening: Students will listen to a teach!
er reading of a book about endangered
species. There will be a class discussion about the different ideas
addressed in the book.
Visual Representation: Students will design a bulletin board that classifies
animals according to Linneaus’ system of animal classification. They
will work in groups to design a section of the bulletin board and will represent
a specific class (i.e. mammalian).
Viewing: Using the same book as for the listening activity, the students
will now discuss the photographs of the animals found in the book.
They will work in small groups and compare and contrast the characteristics
of two different animals.
Writing: Over the course of one week, students will work in pairs to
create a dialogue journal about their favorite animals. Each student
will have his or her own journal with the other student’s replies in it.
The journal will be completed every day and will become mo!
re developed because
more information about zoo animals will be taught that can be incorporated
into the journal.
Speaking: Students will conduct a survey of their friends and family
about their attitudes about reptiles. Upon examining the results of
the survey, the students will design posters to dispel myths about reptiles.
The purpose of the activity is to improve the image of reptiles.
Reading: Students listen to a reading of a non-fiction book about marsupials
and then do some independent research on a specific marsupial. They
will use a variety of resources for their research such a encyclopedias,
atlases, and periodicals. At the end of their research, they will share
in small groups what they have learned.
Culminating Activity: Students will use the facts that they have learned
during the zoo animal unit and design trivia questions. The trivia
questions will be used for a game at the end of the!
unit; student will be
divided into two teams and answer the questions. The format of the
game will be similar to Family Feud.
Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on their participation in all
activities. The emphasis of the evaluation will be on the culminating
activity because the trivia game is much like a test; the questions summarize
what the students have learned over the course of the unit.
Book List:
Why Polar Bears Are White, by Addie Gaines.
www.education-world.com
Hinshaw Patent, Dorothy. Back to the Wild
Animal Classification, by Francine Weinberg and Nancy White.
http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/animaladaptations/
Examine Your Attitudes, Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies.
http://educate.si.edu/resources/lessons/siyc/herps/lesson1.html
Marsupials, Ask Eric. http://ericir.syr.edu/cgibin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Animals/ANM.html
Habitat Connection, The Innovative Classroom
http://www.innovativeclassroom.com/Teaching_Toolbox/Interactive_Bulletin_Boards/ibb.asp?id=5
Ehlert, Lois. (1989). Color Zoo. New York; Lippincott.
Marshall, James. (1988). Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
New York; Dial Books for Young Readers.
Novelli, Joan and Meagher, Judy. (1998) Interactive Bulletin
Boards--September To June: Dozens Of Time-Saving, Creative Displays That
Teach Across The Curriculum! New York; Scholastic.
Zany Animal Alphabet !
http://www.alphabet-soup.net/ttools/animaltrace.html
Zoo Animal Coloring Page
http://www.coloring.ws/t/animals/zoo.html
Dr. Seuss. (1950). If I Ran the Zoo. New York; Random House.
Martin, Bill and Carle, Eric. (1991). Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What
Do You Hear? New York; H. Holt.
The Electronic Zoo, by Ken Boschert, DVM.
http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm
Animals A to Zoo, Animal Planet.com.
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/atoz/atoz.html
Video Zoo, Animal Planet.com.
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/video/video.html
Animal Activities at the Zoo, by Kathy Miles.
http://starryskies.com/Artshtml/dln/6-98/zoos.html
Feature Creature, Zoboomafoo.
http://pbskids.org/zoboo/featureanimal/16.html