First Grade Unit Four
Animal Life
Section 1:
TLW identify characteristics of animals that are passed from parents to young
animals based on those characteristics.
(Gist: Heredity)
Enduring Understanding(s)

Many characteristics are passed from parent to young.

Young animals share many characteristics of their parents
Essential Question
How can you tell which kind of adult animals are the parents of a young animal?
New Vocabulary
beak shape
body covering
feather
fur
hair
parent
scales
skin
young
Concepts & Information
All living things transmit similar characteristics from parent to young. In animals, these
characteristics include body coverings, beak shape, number of legs, body parts, body structure
(e.g., webbed and non-webbed feet), etc.
Most young resemble their parents in appearance. Some exceptions exist (e.g., insects,
amphibians) but the emphasis in this standard is on similarities.
Names of young and adult differ: puppy-dog, kitten-cat, duckling-duck, calf-cow, child-adult.
Lesson Ideas:
1. TLW classify young animals based on characteristics that are passed on from parents. CCSS/CE(s):
L.HE.01.12; S.IA.01.12; S.IP.01.11; S.IP.01.12;
Characteristics include body coverings, beak shape, number of legs, body parts, etc. Other
characteristics include hair, eye color, dimples, hair color.
Brainstorm ways in which "animal young" resemble their parents and match selected pictures
of young animals and their mature parents. Include dogs/puppies, cats/kittens, cows/calves,
chickens/chicks. Differentiate by extending to other animals, naming adult and young.
Students may work in pairs to match pictures of young with parents for a variety of animal
species. They should verbally justify their responses.
Examples:
(Elephant) – large ears, trunk, shape of body, 4 legs
(Bird) – beak, wings, feather color, 2 legs
2. TLW graph characteristics of young animals that are similar to adult characteristics. CCSS/CE(s):
L.HE.01.11; S.IP.01.16;
(Resource: Common Inherited Characteristics)
Resource: Common Inherited Characteristics includes a bar graph activity using humans (students).
Integrate with First Grade Mathematics Standard: Data and Probability - Real and Picture Graphs, in
which students collect and organize data and create, read, and interpret real and picture graphs.
Suggested Instructional Resources
Are You My Mother?, P.D. Eastman, Random House 1960
Is Your Mama a Llama?, Deborah Guarino, New York: Scholastic INC, 1989 ISBN 0-590-44725-4
The Egg, Pascale DeBourgoing, New York: Scholastic, 1992 RJB45266-7
Flowers, Pascale DeBourgoing, New York: Scholastic, 1993 RJB46383-7
The Tree, Pascale DeBourgoing, New York: Scholastic, 1992 RJB45265-7
Plant or Animal?, Modern Curriculum Press
Plants and Animals, Frank Schaffer’s Teaching Club
It Could Still Be a Tree, Allan Fowler, Chicago: Children’s Press, 1990
It Could Still Be a Mammal, Allan Fowler, Chicago: Children’s Press, 1990
A Home in a Tree, Modern Curriculum Press (Nelson Young Explorers), 1990
Grandpa, Grandpa, Joy Cowley, Thomas C. Wright, Inc. Shortland Publications, 1990
Section 2:
TLW identify the needs and life cycles of animals.
(Gist: Needs and Life Cycles of Animals)
Enduring Understanding(s)

Animals have basic needs, including food, water, air, and a place to live.

Different animals have different life cycles.

Earth materials such as air and water help animals grow and to stay alive.
Essential Questions



What are the basic needs of animals?
What are the stages in the life cycles of insects, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and
mammals?
What Earth materials do animals need to grow and stay alive?
New Vocabulary
adult
characteristics
egg
larva
life cycle
needs of animals
pupa
young
Concepts & Information
There are many different kinds of living things, including plants and animals. Basic lifesupporting needs of animals are water, air, food and habitat (shelter or space).
All living things grow, repair, change and reproduce.
Every organism changes as it goes through stages in its life cycle.
Three Stage Insect:
1. egg
2. nymph
3. adult
Examples: dragonfly, cricket, grasshopper
Four Stage Insect:
1. egg
2. larva
3. pupa
4. adult
Examples: butterfly, moth
Three Stage Amphibian:
1. egg
2. young
3. adult
Examples: frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders
Three Stage Reptile:
1. egg
2. young
3. adult
Examples: snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles and alligators
Three Stage Fish:
1. egg
2. young
3. adult
Examples: salmon, trout, shark
Three Stage Bird:
1. egg
2. young
3. adult
Examples: owl, robin, eagle
Three Stage Mammal:
1. internal egg with baby born live
2. young
3. adult
Examples: bear, squirrel, human
Most young children at one time have asked for a box or jar to capture an animal from the
outdoors to bring home and watch for hours. The natural curiosity about living things has led
young children to make observations, inferences, and establish ideas of their own. For example,
students may not relate the caterpillar to the adult animal or a stage in an animal's life.
Through their outdoor experiences and observations, students have an understanding that
animals eat specific foods and not others. They recognize that the diet of a squirrel includes
acorns and other seeds and nuts and does not usually include lettuce leaves or a ham
sandwich. It is through their real world experiences that students transfer what they have
observed to the classroom models and observations. Young learners build understanding of life
science concepts through direct experience with living things, their life cycles, habitats, and
long-term observations.
Lesson Ideas:
1. TLW identify the needs of animals.CCSS/CE(s): L.OL.01.13; S.IP.01.12; S.IP.01.13; S.IP.01.14;
S.IP.01.15; S.IP.01.16;
Students identified the needs of living things in Kindergarten Science Standard: Life Science Living/Non-Living/Basic Needs as food, water, air, and space, with some living things also
needing light. At that level, they did not distinguish between plants and animals. As they study
animals in this unit, students should describe the basic needs of animals as air, water, and food.
They should be able to identify air and water as Earth materials. They should also identify food
as coming from the Earth, either as plants that grow in the soil or as products from other animals
that eat the plants.
Students should also be able to identify space as another need of animals. They should be able to
explain that animals use food as a source of energy and as a source of building material for
growth and repair of their bodies.
Plan and conduct simple investigations about the needs of animals in the classroom habitat. Use
a hand lens to observe animals. Make measurements of animals in the classroom. Make simple
graphs and charts about animals in a habitat.
2. TLW compare/contrast the two different life cycles of insects.CCSS/CE(s): L.OL.01.21;
S.IA.01.12; S.IA.01.13; S.IA.01.14; S.IP.01.11; S.IP.01.12; S.RS.01.11;
(Resource: Guided Inquiry Investigation)
Basic stages include egg, nymph, and adult for some insects (examples: dragonfly, cricket, and
grasshopper) and egg, larva, pupa, and adult for other insects (examples: butterfly, moth,
mealworms). The content expectation L.OL.01.21 emphasizes the egg, larva, pupa, and adult life
cycle for insects.
Observe mealworm life cycle - study this live animal from egg to beetle to egg.
Act out a butterfly lifecycle.
Observe and discuss animal changes in their habitat.
Use a flow chart to show the cycle. Example: butterfly
3. TLW sequence, describe, and cooperatively chart the basic stages in the life cycle of
insects, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals and draw conclusions.CCSS/CE(s):
L.OL.01.21; S.IA.01.14;
(Resources: Life Cycle of Change; Amphibian and Reptile Eggs)
Basic stages in the life cycle of mammals are egg (internal), young, adult.
Basic stages in the life cycle of birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles are egg (external), young,
adult.
Conclusions are the results of finding similarities or sharp contrasts common to more than one
part of the analysis. Students should conclude that the stages in the life cycle of animals are
somewhat similar.
Suggested Instructional Resources
AIMS, Critters, 2004, ISBN 1881431231