N o r t h E a st I n d ep en d e nt S c h o o l D i st ric t – 2 n d G ra d e Sci e n c e
Animals
Unit 4
Clarifying Statements
Revised May 2006
Animals
In prior grades students became familiar with the differences between living and
nonliving things. In second grade, Students should deepen their understanding of the
characteristics of living and nonliving things. Animals are living things that have basic
needs: food, air, water, and shelter, while nonliving things do not have these needs.
Animals depend on their environment to provide food, water, air, and shelter. Animals
have features that help them live in different environments and in these environments
they depend on other living things, as well as each other, to survive (interdependence). A
forest environment has enough rain and warmth for many trees to grow and these trees
provide shelter and food for the animals that live there. Birds use the twigs from trees,
leaves from plants, and grass to make nests. In contrast, desert environments get very
little rain and water is stored in plants, such as cacti. These plants help to provide desert
animals with food, water, and shelter.
Animals are systems that are made up of parts that perform a particular function. Some
systems may not work if parts are missing, and when parts are put together, they can do
things that they could not do by themselves. Students should identify the parts of living
things and understand how these parts interact. In addition, students should predict how
removing a part might affect the overall function of the animal.
Students should examine a variety of familiar animals to identify the external
characteristics that allow their basic needs to be met. In this unit of study, students
are introduced to the concept of structure and function. Concentration on the external
structures that allow animals to function (move, find food, and survive in their
environment) is important. For example, fins on aquatic animals (dolphin, shark) allow fast
movement in water, the keen sight of birds (hawk, eagle) allows them to see prey from a
great distance, and the thick fur of some animals (polar bear, husky) enables them to
survive in cold environments. Students should classify organisms by placing them into
groups of their own design based on external characteristics (structure.) This will help
students develop an understanding of how features of animals are alike and different, and
draw conclusions that some characteristics are more significant than others.
Characteristics that students should study involve those that distinguish one animal from
another and are based on structure and function. Examples are listed in the following
chart.
Clarifying statements are intended to deepen teachers’ understanding of science concepts and serve as a guide for instructional
design. They are not intended to serve as student instructional materials.
This publication is the property of North East Independent School District. Duplication in whole or in part, outside of NEISD, is
prohibited without express written permission from NEISD.
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N o r t h E a st I n d ep en d e nt S c h o o l D i st ric t – 2 n d G ra d e Sci e n c e
Animals
Unit 4
Clarifying Statements
Revised May 2006
Teacher Note: Formal classification of vertebrates and invertebrates (mammals, fish,
insects, etc.) is not introduced until fourth grade.
External Characteristics
(Structures)
Fur, hair
How Needs Are Met
(Functions)
Provides warmth
Scales, dry, rough skin
Prevents the loss of moisture
Regulates body temperature
Helps it to breathe
Retains water while on land
To move and steer
To breathe
To protect their bodies
To fly or move
To get food
Flexibility
To climb and grasp
To find food and direction
Flexibility
To climb and grasp
Make webs
Smooth, wet skin
Fins
Gills
Feathers
Wings
Beaks
3 body parts
6 legs
Antennae
2 body parts
8 legs
Spinnerets
Examples of animals
Bats, dogs, people, and cows
(Mammals)
Lizards, snakes, turtles
(Reptiles)
Frogs, toads, and salamanders
(Amphibians)
Catfish, bass, shark
(Fish)
Eagles, chickens, roadrunners
(Birds)
Ants, beetles, butterflies
(Insects)
Wolf spider, tarantula, black widow
(Spiders)
Students should become familiar with the fact that stories sometime give plants and
animals attributes that they really do not have. For example, in many children’s books the
animals are depicted as speaking or showing emotions they do not possess.
All living things need food to live and grow and are put into groups (producers and
consumers) based on how they get energy needed to live. Plants need sunlight to grow and
are called producers because they can make their own food using energy from the Sun.
Animals are called consumers because they get energy from eating, or consuming, other
organisms. Animals that eat only plants are called herbivores (grasshoppers, rabbits, and
cows) and animals that eat only other animals are called carnivores (rattlesnakes, coyotes,
and eagles). Animals that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores (humans,
raccoons, and bears). Students should become aware of the basic parts of the food chain
by investigating the relationship between producers and consumers. A food chain traces
the path of energy as it moves from one organism to the next in an ecosystem. In
ecosystems the source of energy is the Sun. The first link in a food chain, from the sun, is
Clarifying statements are intended to deepen teachers’ understanding of science concepts and serve as a guide for instructional
design. They are not intended to serve as student instructional materials.
This publication is the property of North East Independent School District. Duplication in whole or in part, outside of NEISD, is
prohibited without express written permission from NEISD.
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N o r t h E a st I n d ep en d e nt S c h o o l D i st ric t – 2 n d G ra d e Sci e n c e
Animals
Unit 4
Clarifying Statements
Revised May 2006
always to a plant because plants use sunlight to make food. The second link is usually to an
animal that eats plants, and the third link is usually to an animal that eats other animals.
The arrows in a food chain point in the direction that energy moves - they point from the
organism being eaten to the organism that is doing the eating.
Animals develop and change over time in different ways, such as in color, size, mass,
creating sounds, and movement. Students should be encouraged to observe, record, and
analyze quantities and simple measurements of things to determine how they may or may
not change over time. Some changes are measurable, such as the changing mass of a
caterpillar as it grows. Other changes are hard to measure, such as the growth of a
butterfly inside a chrysalis. As students study animals, they should develop ideas about
how animals live, grow, eat, move, and use their senses.
All the changes in the life of an organism as it grows and develops are known as an animal’s
life cycle. In previous grades, students have observed and recorded changes in the life
cycles of organisms. In second grade, students should continue to observe organisms to
understand that the life cycle is a characteristic of all living things.
Students should understand that all living things come from other living things and that
living things reproduce to make more of their own kind. Once formed, a new animal usually
grows in a predictable way to eventually look like its parents. For example, students should
recognize that fish resemble other fish, frogs resemble other frogs, and that frogs are
different from fish.
Note: Many campuses use the Constancy and Change Vistas, which contain lessons on
either lifecycles or adaptations. The Vistas suggest the following organisms (focus is
indicated in parenthesis):
Kindergarten – Ladybugs (life cycle)
3rd Grade – Frogs (adaptations)
1st Grade – Mealworms (life cycle)
4th Grade – Bats (adaptations)
2nd Grade – Butterflies (life cycle)
5th Grade – Brown Pelican (adaptations)
Dissections are not recommended for elementary students.
Clarifying statements are intended to deepen teachers’ understanding of science concepts and serve as a guide for instructional
design. They are not intended to serve as student instructional materials.
This publication is the property of North East Independent School District. Duplication in whole or in part, outside of NEISD, is
prohibited without express written permission from NEISD.
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