Animal Diversity - NFS NMGK-12 - Project #76
Objective: To provide an understanding of the diversity of organisms that exists in the
world and to allow students to get a close, hands-on look at some of the
more unusual and/or common animals.
Grade Level: 4th but can be slightly modified for any elementary grade level
Materials: resource contact at a museum or university, available collection of many
animal species, microscopes (dissecting and compound), worksheets,
pencils
Procedure: Set up stations with written description, microscope and specimens.
Introduce lesson to students. Allow students to work at own pace through
the stations, answering questions on the worksheets. After finishing all
stations, students can spend time examining the diversity of animals on a
side table.
Some Suggested Animal Diversity Stations for 4th Grade Science Class
Station 1: Honey Bee A honey bee is an Insect which is Class in the Phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods
are Invertebrates. All insects have 6 legs. Insects go through a complex life cycle that
includes larval stages and an adult stage. Honey bee larvae are found in bee hives.
Station 2: Garden Spider Spiders are Arachnids which is a Class in the Phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods
are Invertebrates. Spiders have 8 legs. Spiders capture and eat Insects. Many spiders
have 8 eyes.
Station 3: Flea Fleas are Insects which is a Class in the Phylum Arthropoda. Arthropods are
Invertebrates. Insects have 6 legs. Fleas are very tiny and live on Mammals. Fleas
need a blood meal so that they can reproduce (have babies).
Station 4: Freshwater Mussel Mussels are in the Phylum Mollusca and can also be called Clams. Mollusks are
Invertebrates. Most Mollusks have a shell on the outside of their body. This shell
protects their soft body parts. Mussels have two halves to their shell called valves.
Station 5: Starfish Starfish are in the Phylum Echinodermata. Echinoderms are Invertebrates. The
name Echinodermata means spiny skin. Starfish have small suction cups on their feet
to help them move. Starfish eat by pushing their stomach between clam shells. They
digest the clam before taking it back into their mouth.
Station 6: Earthworm Earthworms are in the Phylum Annelida. Annelids are Invertebrates. Earthworm
bodies are divided into many segments. Each segment is like all of the other ones.
Can you find the head of this worm?
Station 7: Bird feather and stuffed bird Birds are in the Phylum Chordata. Birds are Vertebrates. They have feathers
that cover most of their body. Birds have wings and most birds can fly. Can you name
a bird that does not fly?
Station 8: Frog Skeleton and Live? Frogs are Amphibians which is a Class in the Phylum Chordata. They are
Vertebrates. Amphibians have to live part of their life in the water. Frogs lay eggs that
develop in the water. What is the name of the life stage of frogs that hatch from eggs?
Diversity of Animals: A diverse group of animal specimens should be placed on a table
and labeled so that the students can get an understanding of the wide variety of
animals present on our planet. A short oral presentation on the groups should be
given. I used this time to provide some "ooh! aah!" facts for them. Insect
collections are especially interesting to students.