KINDERGARTEN ANIMALS STUDY CLASS: ANIMALS: MAMMALS Students will learn the primary characteristics of mammals and meet some of the mammals that live at the Junior Museum and Zoo. Pre Activity: Mammal Pictionary Make a collection mammal cards, such as lion, cat, horse, whale, and rabbit. Include the word and picture for each animal. Pick a card from the deck and draw that animal for the class to guess. Have a student pick a card and draw that creature for the class on the same board. After a number of students have gotten a chance to draw mammals on the board, look at their pictures as a whole. What do all these animals have in common? Students should notice fur or hair on every creature. How many creatures with hair or fur can you name? Do you think hair and fur are the same? Why or why not? Post Activity: Mammal Matching Game Play a Mammal Memory game with your class. Print out pictures of mother and baby mammals. (See below for sample cards.) Arrange the pictures, face down, on a playing surface. Ask students to take turns picking two cards at a time, trying to find a mother-baby mammal match! Whoever finds the most mother-baby pairs wins the game! Learning Goals Reinforced: o Mother mammals produce milk to feed their young. o Adult and baby mammals may differ in size, but they still look a lot like each other. Why do you think mammals have fur? Why do you think it is useful? Link: http://www.ndi4all.org/step_by_step/k1mammals.html
KINDERGARTEN ANIMALS STUDY CLASS: ANIMALS: BIRDS Students will learn the primary characteristics of birds and meet some of the birds that live at the Junior Museum and Zoo. Pre Activity: Bird/Track/Habitat Match Collect pictures of birds and bird tracks that match those birds. Have students match the bird feet to the bird. Ask students to describe how the feet are different. Then bring the third set of pictures into the game, matching the habitat to the bird. Explain the difference in how the feet look with the difference in where the birds live. Would you like to fly like a bird? Why or why not? What could you do if you flew? Post Activity: Bird Watching! Take your class outside to look for birds and signs of birds around the schoolyard. Remind students that being a bird scientist (or ornithologist) is hard work because you need to be patient, quiet, and a good observer. Students can bring paper and pencil to record their bird evidence: nests in trees, feathers on the ground, bird scat on the play yard, songs being sung, and actual birds themselves. Learning Goals Reinforced: o Bird bodies are covered in feathers. o All animals leave traces of themselves in their environments. Why are feathers important for birds? List ways that feathers help birds fly, hide, and, sometimes, get attention. Link: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/birds1.htm
KINDERGARTEN ANIMALS STUDY CLASS: ANIMALS: REPTILES Students will learn the primary characteristics of reptiles and meet some of the reptiles that live at the Junior Museum and Zoo. Pre Activity: Move like a Reptile Explain that animals in the reptile class move in interesting ways because they have long bodies and either no legs or very, very short legs. (The word reptile comes from the Latin word meaning to creep. ) Ask a student to walk normally and ask if it takes a lot of energy. It shouldn t! Then ask that same student to squat low and walk again. Have students share their observations for the difference in the second walk. (The student moved back and forth a little. The student was a little slower. The student could not take big steps.) Explain that many animals that belong to this class creep as they move because of these long bodies and short (or no) legs. Ask students to demonstrate some animals creeping. Good reptile movement suggestions include a lizard, a snake, a tortoise and a crocodile. Would you like to cuddle with a reptile pet? Why or why not? Post Activity: Reptile Mosaics Have students fill a page with a picture of any reptile. Encourage students to draw the reptile s habitat around it and color the habitat completely. Leave the reptile s body empty and free of decorations! When ready, ask students to create scales all over their reptile bodies. Let students cut small squares of various color construction paper and glue them onto the bodies. It could also be fun to have students make thumbprint scales using various paints on the reptiles. Learning Goals Reinforced: o Reptiles have scales all over their bodies. o Reptiles scales occur in very organized patterns. Why do you think reptiles have pretty patterns on their skins? How does it help them? Link: http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/reptiles1.htm
KINDERGARTEN ANIMALS STUDY CLASS: ANIMALS: INSECTS Students will learn the primary characteristics of insects and meet some of the insects that live at the Junior Museum and Zoo. Pre Activity: Story Time Read a book or sing a song about an insect. Discuss the characters and what they looked like. Some suggestions are: Elinor Pinczes One Hundred Hungry Ants Chris Van Allsburg Two Bad Ants Janell Cannon Crickwing There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly How are our main characters alike? Look at the books you have been reading and share observations about these creatures: small size, jointed legs, hard bodies, etc. Post Activity: Bug-Go Play this fun version of Bingo, adapted to help students learn names and facts about members of the insect family. For a playing card template, images to use for the cards, and an answer/clue set, see below. Allow students to cut and glue their favorite insects onto the playing card. Next, pick clues from a hat or bowl and watch as students mark the matching insect on their game card. Once a student fills his or her card, it is time to yell Bug-go. Learning Goals Reinforced: o Insects are small creatures. o Although there are many kinds of insects in the world, all insects share certain traits. Where do insects live? List as many habitats as you can to show that insects are found all over the world. Link: http://www.sidney.ars.usda.gov/sidebar/justforkids2.html
KINDERGARTEN ANIMALS STUDY CLASS: ANIMALS: SPIDERS Students will learn the primary characteristics of spiders and meet some of the spiders that live at the Junior Museum and Zoo. Pre Activity: Story Time Read a book or sing a song about a spider. Some suggestions include: Eric Carle s The Very Busy Spider and the song The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Create a spider word web with your class. Allow students to add as many facts and thoughts they have on the subject. Teachers may find it easier to begin with a simpler, more familiar word as the central web concept ( Bugs and Spiders or Creepy Crawlies ). Post Activity: Web Weaving Let your students see what keeps spiders so busy everyday. Provide each student with a pre-cut small paper plate. (Make approximately 10 scissor cuts around the edge to assist in weaving.) Teach students to weave by spooling yarn across the plate, through the pre-cut yarn slots and out through the neighboring yarn slot. Allow children to experiment with their weaving to make unique web creations. When done, you can remove their webs from the plates, and glue them onto dark construction paper for an exciting look. For a simpler version of this activity, simply glue yarn across a plate: moving through a central spot from one end to the other. Once you have this basic design, provide another long string to glue over the web s foundation in a long spiral pattern. Once glued in place, draw or glue plastic spiders for decoration. Where do you find webs in hot sunny spots or dark quiet spots? Why do you think that is?
Mammal Memory Game Cub (Baby Panda Bear) Panda Bear Infant (Baby Monkey) Monkey FF (Uncompressed) decompressor Pup (Baby Seal) Seal
Mammal Memory Game Puppy (Baby Dog) Dog Foal (Baby Horse) Horse Cub (Baby Leopard) Leopard
Mammal Memory Game Hoglet (Baby Hedgehog) Hedgehog Lamb (Baby Sheep) Sheep Kit (Baby Raccoon) Raccoon
Name MY BUG-GO CARD Free Space Images from http://www.uky.edu/ag/ipm/teachers/bug-go/bug-go.htm Patricia Lucas and the Kentucky Integrated Pest Management Program
BUGS for BUG-GO Pick your favorite insects. Glue them on your BUG-GO CARD. Images from http://www.uky.edu/ag/ipm/teachers/bug-go/bug-go.htm Patricia Lucas and the Kentucky Integrated Pest Management Program
Bingo clues inspired by http://www.uky.edu/ag/ipm/teachers/bug-go/bug-go.htm Patricia Lucas and the Kentucky Integrated Pest Management Program Flea Pests to dogs and cats Good jumpers Bumble Bee Stingers Great pollinators Stink Bug Has smelly liquid like a skunk Praying Mantis Good at eating garden pests Can turn their heads really far!
Bingo clues inspired by http://www.uky.edu/ag/ipm/teachers/bug-go/bug-go.htm Patricia Lucas and the Kentucky Integrated Pest Management Program Walking Stick Looks like a stick! Housefly Can fly 30 miles per hour Dragonfly They eat while they fly! Grasshopper Eats plants and grass
Bingo clues inspired by http://www.uky.edu/ag/ipm/teachers/bug-go/bug-go.htm Patricia Lucas and the Kentucky Integrated Pest Management Program Lady Bug Can be white, red, yellow, pink, or many other colors! Swallowtail Butterfly Largest butterfly in America Moth Eyespots on wings scare predators! Mosquito Only females bite us.
BIRDS AND BIRD FEET Images from http://www.fernbank.edu/birding/feet_worksheet.html