Whose Feet Are These?
A Look at Hooves, Paws, and Claws
Written by Peg Hall
Illustrated by Ken Landmark
Cyberlesson by Joy Ziegler
First grade
Materials
•Text: Whose Feet Are These: A Look at Hooves, Paws,
and Claws by Peg Hall
•Vocabulary chart
•Student pages for class book
•Computer with an internet connection for each student.
•Pencil and crayons for each student
Have you ever wondered why
animals have different feet?
Today we are going to learn why animals
have different feet and what their
feet help them to do.
Let’s get started….
Before we start reading…
Let’s think about feet.
•How do you use your feet?
• What do your feet help you do?
Now let’s think about animals.
Why do you think different animals
have different feet?
To learn about polar bear feet and to do an activity,
click on the polar bear below.
Every animal has feet that are
special for its habitat.
We are going to read the book
Whose Feet Are These: A Look at Hooves, Paws, and Claws.
Let’s read to find out what each
animal’s feet help them do.
During Reading
While reading the book, we will be learning
new vocabulary. Keep a look out for these
new words:
Claws
Hooves
Suckers
Paws
Prey
Webbed Feet
Vocabulary
While you are listening to the story, we
are going to keep track of these new
words. Click on the footprint below to
see the chart we are going to fill out
while reading the book.
Whose Feet are These?
What animal has
this type of feet?
Claws
Hooves
Suckers
Paws
Webbed
Feet
Draw a picture of these
feet.
After Reading
Now that we have finished reading, I want you to
think about why different animals have different
feet. What do their feet help them do?
Click on the footprint below to go back to our
chart. Your job is to fill in the last column of the
chart.
Whose Feet are These?
What animal
has this type
of feet?
Draw a picture
of these feet.
Claws
Hooves
Suckers
Paws
Webbed
Feet
This
section
completed
during
reading.
This
section
completed
during
reading.
What do these
feet help the
animal do?
Beyond Reading
Click on the links below to learn more about the animals that have these type of feet.
Claw
Hoof
Sucker
Paw
Webbed
Feet
Mole Rat
Mountain
Goat
Sea Star
Mountain
Lion
Mallard Duck
Now it's your turn.
We are going to make our own book about animals’ feet.
Click on the elephant feet below to research the animal of
your choice. On the front of your page, draw a picture of
your animals feet. On the back of your page, draw the
whole animal and write a sentence about that animal’s
feet.
These are a ______________________’s feet.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Now that you're finished…
Show your page to a friend and see if he/she can
guess what animal you researched. Then talk
about your animal and what their feet help the
animal do.
Now we will put all of our pages
together to make a book for our
classroom library.
Rubric
Students engage in lesson by
participating in class
discussion.
Students demonstrate
understanding by completing
the chart to indicate what their
feet help each animal do.
Students demonstrate their
understanding by creating a
page for the class book.
Students pages should have:
1.A picture of the foot and the animal.
2.A description of the foot using a vocabulary
word.
3.A description of what the foot helps the
animal do.
4.The name of the animal
.
3
2
1
Student is paying attention
and makes logical and
insightful contributions
that are connected to the
text and the class
discussion.
The student is paying
attention and makes
contributions that may or
may not be connected to
the text or discussion.
Student is not paying
attention and does not
make contributions to the
class discussion.
3
2
1
Student has accurate,
logical responses that are
drawn from and elaborate
the text and class
discussion.
Student has responses that
may or may not be drawn
from the text and class
discussion.
Student responses are
inaccurate and are not
drawn from the text or
class discussion.
3
2
1
Student page includes all 4
of the require
components.
Student page includes 3 of
the 4 required
components.
Student page includes 2 or
less of the required
components.
Teacher Information
Prior to this lesson, students learned about what all animals need to survive:
food, water, and protection. This lesson is intended to serve as an introduction
to animal adaptations. It is intended to address the this first grade Connecticut
science standard: living things have different structures and behaviors that allow
them to meet their basic needs.
Look to Peg Hall for other books in the “Whose is it?” series about animal
adaptations, including Whose Eyes are These?, Whose Ears are These?, Whose
Tail is This?, and many others.
Use the following links for more information and activities:
http://www3.nsta.org/main/news/stories/science_and_children.php?news_story_ID=51821
http://www.eduplace.com/science/hmsc/3/b/simulation/simcontent_3b.shtml
http://www.environmentaleducationohio.org/lessons/animal_adaptations.pdf
http://www.swbg-animals.org/just-for-teachers/classroom-activities/4-8/pdf/Animal%20Adaptation%20Actvity.pdf
References
•Whose Feet Are These? A Look at Hooves, Paws, and Claws
by Peg Hall
•Photo Credits:
•Duck feet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/billadams/449745891/
•Horse feet: http://www.bluecentaur.com/resume.html
•Lion feet: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/2410633509/
•Polar bear: http://www.quantum-conservation.org/EEP/POLAR%20BEAR.html
•Elephant feet: http://jamespatterson.ning.com/