Grade: 3 (from 4th)
Science
SCI.III.2.1
Strand:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Life Science
- Organization of Living Things
Standard:
Benchmark:
All students will use classification systems to describe groups of living things
Explain characteristics and functions of observable body parts in a variety
of animals.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1 - Generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation.
SCI.I.1.2 - Develop solutions to problems through reasoning, observation, and investigation.
SCI.I.1.5 - Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving.
SCI.II.1.1 - In the scientific world, decisions must be based on factual evidence that can be replicated.
SCI.II.1.3 - Describe ways in which technology is used in everyday life.
SCI.II.1.4 - Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world.
Vocabulary / Key Concept
Context
•
•
Animals that look similar
- snakes, worms, millipedes
•
•
•
•
•
Flowering and not flowering plants
Pine tree
Oak tree
Rose
Algae
Backbone “Vertebrate”
Observable characteristics:
• fur
• scales
• skin
• feathers
• horns
• claws
• eyes
• quills
• beaks
• teeth
• skeleton
• muscles
• exoskeleton
• limbs
• roots
• leaves
• stems
• flowers
Functions:
• insulation
• support
• movement
• food-getting
• protection
Vertebrate and invertebrate animals:
• humans
• cows
• sparrows
• goldfish
• spiders
• insects
• crayfish
• owls
Knowledge and Skills
Animals can be sorted by their observable parts.
Students will categorize an animal according to its
characteristics and how the characteristics work.
Examples:
• Insulation – fur, feather
• Support – exoskeleton (outer), endoskeleton
(inner)
• Food getting – claws, beaks, teeth
• Protection – quills, horns, claws, eyes
• Movement – legs, wings, fins, webbed feet
• Vertebrate – animals with a backbone
• Non-vertebrate – animals without a
backbone
Students will:
• Compare and contrast flowering (tulip) and nonflowering (fern) plants
• Compare and contrast vertebrates (snake) and
invertebrates (worm)
• Compare and contrast endoskeletons (human)
and exoskeletons (lobster)
Resources
Coloma Resources:
Owl pellet dissection (owl pellets, toothpicks,
magnifying glasses, ID charts)
Vertebrate and Invertebrate Survey Kits
Earthworm Lab – Discover the Wonder Grade 3 –
Module D pages 16-17
Textbook – Discover the Wonder Grade 3 Module D
pages 10-15.
Textbook – Discover the Wonder Grade 3 –
Module C, pages 50-53.
Sarett Visit – Owls and other cool animals!
Other Resources:
Owl Cam – Web site with photos and narrative of
nesting owls and their owlets. FACINATING!
http://www.owlcam.com/index.htm
“The Secret Life of Owls” – links to lots of resources
on the Carolina site – lots of info to accompany a
teaching unit about owls – evolution, diet, hunting,
nesting, quicktime videos and more.
http://www.carolina.com/owls/index.asp
Resources (continued from column on right)
Owl Pellet Student Study Manual http://www.carolina.com/manuals/manuals8/Owl_Pel
let_Study_Kit_tm.pdf
Carolina Biological – Tips – Owl Pellets – good
information to accompany a pellet dissection.
http://www.carolina.com/tips/98mar/tips398a.asp
The Owl Pages – Lots of information about owls
around the world - http://www.owlpages.com/
Barn Owl Pellet Interactive Study – students compare pellet
dissection results with other students around the USA.
http://www.carolina.com/owls/form.asp
Slide show – various bird beaks – with adaptation
information – excellent photos. http://www.teachersdomain.org/35/sci/life/colt/birdfood/index.html
Quicktime video – What sounds do Animals Make? –
meshes nicely with the OwlCam sound clips http://www.teachersdomain.org/35/sci/life/colt/sound/index.html
Teacher Domain – Characteristics of Living Things –
lots of clips and images of various animals and
adaptations! AWESOME http://www.teachersdomain.org/35/sci/life/colt/index.html
Owl Pellet Bone Chart – Carolina Biological –
http://www.carolina.com/manuals/manuals8/Owl_Pellet
_Bone_Chart.pdf
Rat Skeleton Chart – Carolina Biological –
http://www.carolina.com/owls/guide/ratskeleton.pdf
Bird Skeleton Chart – Carolina Biological –
http://www.carolina.com/owls/guide/birdskeleton.pdf
Instruction
Benchmark Question: What are the functions of
observable body parts of animals?
Focus Question: It’s a part, what’s its function?
OWL STUDY
Assessment
Coloma Assessment
OWL STUDY
Teacher Notes:
Investigate and explain how living things obtain and use energy.
The relationship between life and energy is complex. While the generalization that living things need energy to survive is
satisfactory at one level of understanding, it fails to convey the crucial role energy plays in all aspects of life, from the
molecular to the population level. At the elementary level students can compare and contrast food, energy and
environmental needs of selected organisms, such as beans, corn or aquarium life.
In the middle and high school, the focus is more specific on the concept that plants make and store food. Scientists speak
of the flow of energy through the environment. Almost all life on the earth is sustained by energy from the sun. This
energy is transformed and moved from location to location, but doesn't disappear. Plants capture the sun's energy and use
it to produce energy rich organic molecules that we call food. The food molecules then serve as energy sources for plants
and ultimately animals.
In animals, organic food molecules are chemically broken down and carried through the circulatory system to cells,
cytoplasm, and eventually to mitochondria. This is, most often the site of final energy release through the process known
as cellular respiration.
The chemical process of photosynthesis occurs at the cellular level and is capable of converting light energy into
molecular energy. Animals are dependent on plants for this first important step in the flow of energy. In plants, light
energy is captured by chloroplasts or chlorophyll and is converted to chemical energy through the making of organic food
molecules when water and carbon dioxide are chemically combined to make sugar and oxygen. These sugars (organic
compounds) formed in photosynthesis are used for the plant's metabolic processes and maybe ultimately be used as food
for animals. The chemical process of respiration is also cellular. Cellular respiration releases stored molecular energy so
the energy can be used for other life processes. Both plants and animals respire.
The acquisition and use of energy by living things is a very abstract idea for students at all levels. Students tend to
develop a vague and very broad definition of energy that is inconsistent with the scientific definition. This imprecise
definition interferes with the acquisitions of the biological understanding of energy and its importance in a living system.