VERTEBRATES UNIT OVERVIEW We ca sort aimals ito two large groups vertebrates ad ivertebrates. The uit idetifies commo characteristics of vertebrates, icludig boe structure ad major parts of the skeleto. The uit orgaizes vertebrates ito five classes mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, ad amphibias ad explais how each class ca be distiguished from the others by its commo characteristics. These characteristics iclude body coverig, body temperature, meas of breathig, birth method, ad other distiguishig features. Examples of aimals i each class are provided. Certai readig resources are provided at three readig levels withi the uit to support differetiated istructio. Other resources are provided as a set, with differet titles offered at each readig level. Dots o studet resources idicate the readig level as follows: low readig level middle readig level high readig level THE BIG IDEA SPARK All vertebrates, icludig humas, have skeletos that allow us to perform importat activities. The skull protects our brai, which is the headquarters of all thikig, emotio, body fuctios, ad decisio makig. The boes of our legs ad feet allow us to walk, ru, sit, ad stad. The small boes of our hads allow us to use tools, write, ad feed ourselves. Ad our spie provides a strog, flexible frame that holds the rest of the skeleto together. By learig about the importace of our skeleto, we are more likely to take better care of our body by eatig well ad by beig careful to avoid boe breaks. Also, whe we lear about other vertebrates, we may icrease our cocer for their protectio ad well-beig. Other topics This uit also addresses topics such as: shark skeletos, aimal skulls, fossils, ad characteristics of reptiles. The spark is desiged to get studets thikig about the uit s topics ad to geerate curiosity ad discussio. Materials Pecil ad paper Chalkboard or whiteboard Learig A Z All rights reserved. 1 www.sciecea-z.com
Activity Ask studets to stad up ad fid a parter. Have them work i pairs to thik about all the differet places their body ca bed (for example, at the elbow, wrist, kee, ad eck). Each time they thik of a place, they should list it o paper. Oce studets have had time to make their lists, accumulate the resposes i a class list o the board. Discuss which of the parts of their body ca oly bed back ad forth (such as kees ad kuckles) ad which ca move i circles (such as shoulders ad hips). Challege studets to explai why they thik certai parts move the way they do. Now ivite studets to idetify parts of their body that do ot bed (for example, the skull ad the middle of the forearm). Ask them to explai why they thik certai places bed ad other places do ot. Below are questios to spark discussio. What is iside your body that allows you to bed i some places ad ot i others? Why do some parts of your body oly move i oe directio, but other parts move i may directios? If your body could bed i differet ways tha it does ow, what would you be able to do? Which parts of other aimals bodies ca move, ad which caot? Which parts move i oe directio, ad which parts move i may directios? Why do you thik their bodies are differet from a perso s body? Use this activity to begi a itroductory discussio about vertebrates. Explai that may (but ot all) vertebrates have a skeleto made up of may boes. Havig places where boes meet allows a aimal to bed its parts ad to move i may ways. Throughout the uit, studets will lear more about vertebrates. May of the uit s vocabulary terms are related to the spark activity ad ca be itroduced durig the spark. For vocabulary work, see the Vocabulary sectio i this Uit Guide. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Ivite studets to explai their uderstadig of what a vertebrate is ad to idetify ay familiar vertebrates. Ask studets whether they have heard of the categories, or classes, of vertebrates mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, ad amphibias ad ecourage them to ame examples from each class. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 2 www.sciecea-z.com
(ou) WORD CARD (ou) WORD CARD (ou) WORD CARD Cut or Fold DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD Learig A Z, Ic. All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com UNIT GUIDE Probig Questios to Thik About Use the followig questios to have studets begi thikig of what they kow about vertebrates. What is a skeleto? Why do aimals eed skeletos? What is a vertebrate? What are some kids of vertebrates? What are some kids of aimals that do ot have skeletos? How are the boes of a horse similar to the boes of a mouse? How are they differet? What would your body be like if you did t have ay boes? Have you ever broke a boe? How did it feel? How log did it take to heal? What is a mammal? Bird? Fish? Reptile? Amphibia? Tell studets they will lear more about these topics soo. UNIT MATERIALS Each uit provides a wide variety of resources related to the uit topic. Studets may read books ad other passages, work i groups to complete hads-o experimets ad ivestigatios, discuss sciece ideas as a class, watch videos, complete writig tasks, ad take assessmets. Resources are available for pritig or projectig, ad may studet resources are also available for studets to access digitally o. Selected uit resources are available i more tha oe laguage. For a complete list of materials provided with the uit, see the uit page o the Sciece A Z website. VOCABULARY $ $ amphibia bird boes a cold-blooded vertebrate that geerally speds some time i water ad some time o lad a warm-blooded vertebrate with a beak, wigs, ad feathers hard parts of a body that give it shape Use the terms below for vocabulary developmet throughout the uit. They ca be foud i boldface i the Nofictio Book, the Quick Reads, ad/or other uit resources. These terms ad defiitios are available o Vocabulary Cards for studet practice. Additioal vocabulary lists are provided i the teachig tips for Ivestigatio Packs ad FOCUS Books. Core Sciece Terms These terms are crucial to uderstadig the uit. amphibia bird a cold-blooded vertebrate that geerally speds some time i water ad some time o lad a warm-blooded vertebrate with a beak, wigs, ad feathers Learig A Z All rights reserved. 3 www.sciecea-z.com
boe marrow boes cartilage characteristic classify feature fish ivertebrate joit mammal reptile skeleto skull spie tissue vertebra vertebrate spogy material i the ceter of boes that produces blood cells hard parts of a body that give it shape a tough, rubbery tissue foud i vertebrates that provides support to the skeleto a physical feature that helps idetify a thig or group of thigs to put ito a category a body part that helps idetify a thig or group of thigs a vertebrate that lives i water, swims, has gills ad fis ad is usually covered with scales a aimal without a backboe a place where boes coect or joi together a warm-blooded vertebrate with hair or fur that urses its youg ad has babies that are bor live a cold-blooded vertebrate that is covered with scales or hory plates the framework of boes ad cartilage that supports ad protects the body of a vertebrate the mai boe structure of the head the backboe, or vertebral colum a group of cells i a orgaism that are similar i form ad do a certai job oe of the boes that make up the spie, or backboe a aimal with a backboe Other Key Sciece Terms The followig vocabulary is ot essetial for comprehedig the uit but may erich studets vocabulary. cold-blooded diaphragm gills havig a body temperature that chages accordig to the temperature of its surroudigs a sheet of muscle that allows the lugs to take i ad release air the orgas that fish ad may other aimals that live i water use for breathig mammary glads the glads i female mammals that produce milk to feed offsprig Learig A Z All rights reserved. 4 www.sciecea-z.com
A Sciece A Z Life Series Word Cout: 1,547 Visit www.sciecea-z.com 1 Writte by Kira Freed www.sciecea-z.com UNIT GUIDE predator prey tadpole warm-blooded a aimal that huts ad eats other aimals to survive a aimal that is huted ad eate by a predator a baby frog, toad, or other amphibia havig a costat body temperature VERTEBRATES Uscramble Name Date Directios: To aswer the riddle, uscramble each word ad write i the squares. The write the circled letters i order o the umbered spaces below. 1 3 ridb a warm-blooded vertebrate with a beak, wigs, ad feathers 4 Materials: o scissors o glue sticks pertlie 7 4 a cold-blooded vertebrate that is covered with scales or hory plates 5 eskltoe 10 6 the framework of boes ad cartilage that supports ad protects the body of a vertebrate Riddle: Why did oe skeleto argue with the other skeleto? Aswer: He had a with him. Credit: Peter Galbraith/Dreamstime.com 2 obe rarwom crtagilea 9 5 8 3 2 a tough, rubbery tissue foud i vertebrates that provides support to the skeleto spogy material i the ceter of boes that produces blood cells Name Date Directios: Match each term o the left with its defiitio o the right. Write the letter of the correct defiitio o the space i frot of the term. 1. amphibia 2. bird 3. boes 4. characteristic 5. fish 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6. ivertebrate Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com 7. mammal 8. reptile 9. skull 10. vertebrate VERTEBRATES Word Sort A. a cold-blooded vertebrate that is covered with scales or hory plates B. a physical feature that helps idetify a thig or group of thigs C. the mai boe structure of the head D. a warm-blooded vertebrate with hair or fur that urses its youg ad has babies that are bor live E. a warm-blooded vertebrate with a beak, wigs, ad feathers F. a aimal with a backboe G. a cold-blooded vertebrate that geerally speds some time i water ad some time o lad H. a vertebrate that lives i water, swims, has gills ad fis, ad is usually covered with scales I. a aimal without a backboe J. hard parts of a body that give it shape Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com Directios: Below are some vocabulary terms from the uit. Cut apart the words with scissors. The glue them ito the correct group o the ext page. Use the book for evidece to support your choices. The last box has bee left blak for you to write a vocabulary term of your choice related to vertebrates. # WORD WORK amphibias boes boe marrow birds cartilage fish ivertebrates joit mammals reptiles skull spie vertebra vertebrates Credits: left: abadoia/istock/thikstock; ceter: Casey Joes/Learig A-Z; right: GlobalP/iStock/Thikstock Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com Credit: Eric Isselée/iStock/Thikstock Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com VERTEBRATES Matchig Name Date Directios: Glue the words you cut out ito the group where they best belog. Two mai groups of aimals Paste your ow vocabulary term here: Vertebrate groups If your vocabulary term belogs i oe of the groups, write which oe (if ot, leave blak): Use your vocabulary term i a complete setece. Word Sort Parts of a skeleto Vocabulary Activities You may choose to itroduce all the terms that will be ecoutered i the uit before assigig ay of the readig compoets. Vocabulary Cards with the key sciece terms ad defiitios are provided. Dots o the cards idicate the readig levels of the Nofictio Book or the Quick Reads i which each term ca be foud. If all level dots appear, the term may come from aother resource i the uit. Studets ca use these cards to review ad practice the terms i small groups or pairs. The cards ca also be used for ceter activity games such as Cocetratio. The Word Work activity sheets offer fu puzzles ad practice with key vocabulary terms from the uit. For further vocabulary practice ad reiforcemet, you ca choose from the vocabulary Graphic Orgaizers. To build customized vocabulary lessos with terms related to the topic, see. Studets ca use the Word Smart vocabulary Graphic Orgaizer to orgaize iformatio o the sciece terms. You may wat to assig each studet oe to three words to share his or her Word Smart kowledge with classmates. Studets who have the same word should first compare their Word Smart sheets with each other ad the report to the larger group. The sciece terms ca be used i oral practice. Have studets use each term i a spoke setece. As studets read, ecourage them to create a sciece dictioary by recordig ew vocabulary terms ad defiitios i their SAZ Joural. BACKGROUND ad MISCONCEPTIONS Use this sectio as a resource for more backgroud kowledge o uit cotet ad to clarify the cotet for studets if miscoceptios arise. Refer to Usig the Iteret below for more ways to exted the learig. Q: Are there more vertebrates tha ivertebrates i the world? A: No, ad it s ot eve close. Some estimates say that about 98 percet of the world s aimal species are ivertebrates. Accordigly, the populatio of ivertebrates is also much higher tha that of vertebrates. Studets may hold this miscoceptio because vertebrate species ted to be depicted i books, movies, ad music more ofte tha ivertebrates. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 5 www.sciecea-z.com
Q: Are boes dry ad dead? A: While a aimal is alive, boes are ot dry or dead, but are actually alive ad growig. As a vertebrate ages, older boe tissue is replaced by fresh, ew boe tissue. However, later i a aimal s life, boe loss ca occur, makig the boes more susceptible to breaks. The boes of dead orgaisms do die ad dry out. Q: Does every huma have exactly 206 boes? A: Actually, o. As with may aspects of the body, there ca be sigificat variatio from oe idividual to the ext. Some people have fewer tha 206 boes, while others have more, ad that umber ca chage throughout oe s lifetime. Huma babies are bor with more tha 300 boes, but as they grow, may of these boes fuse together. For istace, 5 vertebrae ear the base of the spie fuse to form the sacrum, ad 4 vertebrae fuse to make the coccyx, or tailboe. Later i life, a sigle boe ca break, ad if the boe fragmets heal separately, they ca become separate boes. But 206 is widely accepted as a geeral guidelie for the umber of boes i the huma body. Q: Do all vertebrates have the same umber of boes? A: No, they do ot. May mammals have a similar umber of boes as humas, while some log sakes have over 400 vertebrae aloe! Studets may predict that larger aimals always have more boes tha smaller oes. But vertebrates are likely to have a boe cout similar to other aimals i their vertebrate class (for example, fellow birds) rather tha to other aimals of the same size (for example, a small bird ad a mouse). Q: Do all vertebrates have the same kids of boes as each other? A: No, they do ot. Each species has boes that are specially adapted to meet the aimal s eeds. For example, wolves ad crocodiles have very strog jaws for crushig prey. May birds have hollow, lightweight boes that allow them to fly. A huma s spie ad a sake s spie bed i quite differet ways. Studyig a aimal s boes ca teach us a lot about the aimal s diet ad activities. Q: Ca studyig boes help idetify a aimal? A: Yes, but it ca be difficult to idetify a aimal by just a isolated boe or a part of a boe. Complete skeletos are much easier to idetify. Idetificatio ca become eve more challegig whe studyig very old boes, burt boes, or boes of multiple species mixed together. Archaeologists ad paleotologists ofte try to idetify aimal species from boes, which ca help determie the diet of people who lived at the same time or ca help i estimatig whe a species lived i a give area. I the case of humas, boes ca eve help foresic scietists idetify a specific idividual. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 6 www.sciecea-z.com
Q: Is milk the oly thig that s good for boes? A: Defiitely ot. Foods ad driks that are rich i vitami D or calcium are good for boe health. This does iclude dairy products ad also icludes broccoli, fortified orage juice, soybeas, ad may more foods. I fact, there is debate over whether dairy products help boes as much as oce thought. I additio to cosumig boe-friedly foods, exercise is aother importat way to preserve ad stregthe boes. Q: If I break a boe, will it stick out of my ski? A: I rare cases, a broke boe does break the ski ad must be reset i its ormal positio. Ouch! But, while still paiful, most broke boes do ot break the ski ad do remai i their ormal positio. These breaks are usually visible o X-rays ad will heal by themselves if immobilized, ofte withi several weeks or moths. Jupiterimages Corporatio EXTENSION ACTIVITIES Usig the Iteret Most search egies will yield may results whe the term vertebrates is etered. You ca also search for iformatio o a vertebrate species or a class of vertebrates. Be aware that some sites may ot be educatioal or iteded for the elemetary classroom. More specific iquiries are recommeded, such as: aimal skeleto pictures ad diagrams vertebrates for kids How may boes does a elephat have? birds of Irelad compare reptiles ad amphibias list of Missouri fish species Below are some liks with excellet resources for studets ad/or teachers. Rader s Biology4Kids.com is a free site that teaches studets about the biology of plats, aimals (icludig humas), ad more. Vocabulary is emphasized throughout the site. It offers diagrams, slideshows, ad olie quizzes with iformative explaatios. Visit the vertebrates page for more valuable resources. www.biology4kids.com/files/vert_mai.html The BBC s Sciece ad Nature page cotais a sectio o the huma body ad mid. It icludes a variety of egagig games ad demostratios related to the skeletal system as well as detailed aatomy diagrams. Also, use the Aimals tab as a lauchig poit to explore may other vertebrate species. www.bbc.co.uk/sciece/humabody Kidshealth.org has a sectio called How the Body Works that provides colorful illustratios ad iformative articles o most major orgas ad body systems, icludig the skeletal system. Studets ca view a movie about boes of the huma body ad take a short quiz olie. http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/ Learig A Z All rights reserved. 7 www.sciecea-z.com
Past episodes of the televisio series Newto s Apple, produced by Twi Cities Public Televisio, are available for free viewig olie. Browse for relevat topics withi Aimals ad Plats or Health ad Medicie, ad the lik to the video ad/or the teacher s guide. www.ewtosapple.tv/idex.php Projects ad Activities Project: Discuss familiar aimal characters from comic strips, cartoos, ad movies. Which are vertebrates ad which are ot? Which class of vertebrates seems to be used most ofte i fictio? Ivite studets to display their fidigs i a creative way. Arts: Have groups of five studets work together to write a script for a skit related to vertebrates. Each actor should portray a aimal from a differet vertebrate class, ad the dialogue should help the rest of the class lear somethig about the differet classes of vertebrates. Arts: Have studets clip pictures from magazies that show all five classes of vertebrates. They ca glue these pictures oto posterboard to create a poster orgaized by vertebrate class. Or studets ca make a mobile with pictures o oe side ad explaatios about each class of vertebrates o the other. ELL/ESL: Ivite studets to teach each other the ames of familiar vertebrates i their first laguage. Make a class chart to display the ame of each aimal i as may laguages as possible. Field Trip or Guest: Have a expert from a zoo, a wildlife sactuary, or a local atural area explai to studets some of the challeges facig various vertebrate species. Commuity Service: Provide studets with opportuities to take part i a effort to protect edagered vertebrate species. Home Coectio: Ivite studets to brig i stuffed aimals ad categorize them by their vertebrate class or by their other characteristics. Research: Help studets coduct research to compare how differet vertebrate species withi oe ecosystem are adapted to that eviromet (for example, a giraffe ad a weaverbird i the Kalahari) or how the same type of aimal adapts to livig i two differet eviromets (for example, foxes that live i the Arctic versus the desert). Research/Home Coectio: Studets ca coduct research as a family/home project or i the library/ media ceter to exted the learig about a topic i oe of the Quick Reads or other uit resources. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 8 www.sciecea-z.com