Fourth Grade Unit 2: Animals and Habitats p. 1
Unit Overview: Pacing 2nd Quarter/ 8 Weeks
Using section “A” lessons 3-5, and lessons 2 –3 and 6 in section “B”, students will develop an
understanding of animal behavior and animal habitat.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of animal behavior and adaptation.
McMillan/McGraw Hill
text book correlation
Pages:
NC Standard Course of
Study Competency Goal
and Objectives:
1:01 Observe and describe
how all living and nonliving
things affect the life of a
particular animal including:

Other animals.

Plants.

Weather.

Climate.
1:02 Observe and record how
animals of the same kind
differ in some of their
characteristics and discuss
possible advantages and
disadvantages of this
variation.
1:03 Observe and discuss
how behaviors and body
structures help animals
survive in a particular
habitat. .
1:04 Explain and discuss how
humans and other animals can
adapt their behavior to live
in changing habitats.
1:05 Recognize that humans
can understand themselves
better by learning about
other animals.
Activities:
ENGAGE:
Lesson 4: Organisms and
Where They Live. P A38A53.

Reading in Science
Resource, p. 25-27.

EXPLAIN:
Reading in Science Resources p 19-24. Organisms
of the Past, p. 19. (Cause and effect), What Does
Other Fossil Evidence Tell You, p. 21 (Interpret
Illustrations), What Are Some Other Clues? p.
22, (Interpret Illustrations), Organisms of the
Past, p. 23-24 (Vocabulary).
 How are skeletons used to compare organisms? P
A30-A31. Discuss why it is important to compare
living things of the past with today’s organisms.
Comparison helps give an idea of structures that
are important for survival in organisms.
 Can organisms that seem different be related? P
32. Using the illustrations the students describe
how the animals seem similar. Discuss whales as
mammals.

Vocabulary: fossil, embryo, extinct.
EXPLORE:
 Explore Activity: p A29. Compare and contrast
the pictures of two skeletons. Compare-to find
similarities, Contrast- to find differences.


Explore Activity, p. A39.

Activities Resources, p.
19-25.

Vocabulary Cards.

Reading Aid
Transparency A4.

Visual Aid Transparency
4.

School to Home
Activity, p. 4.
Lesson 5: Changes in
Ecosystems. P A54-A65.

Activity Resources, pp.
26-28.
Ask students if they have ever found parts of
plants (twigs, leaves) in a park or forest and if so,
did they wonder what the plant looked like.
Discuss how the parts give clues to the identity
of the plants.
Fourth Grade Unit 2: Animals and Habitats p. 2
Unit Overview- Pacing 2nd Quarter/8 Weeks
Using section “A” lessons 3-5, and lessons 2 –3 and 6 in section “B”, students will develop an
understanding of animal behavior and animal habitat.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of animal behavior and adaptation.
McMillan/McGraw Hill
text book correlation
Pages:
Activities Continued:

Reading in Science
Resource, pp.33-38.

Vocabulary Cards.

Reading Aid
Transparency, A5.
1:02 Observe and record how
animals of the same kind
differ in some of their
characteristics and discuss
possible advantages and
disadvantages of this
variation.

School to Home
Activity, p. 4.
1:03 Observe and discuss
how behaviors and body
structures help animals
survive in a particular
habitat. .

Explore Activity, p. 15.

Reading in Science
Resources, pp. 73,75,
79. 81-82.

Activity resources, pp.
44-48.
Reading Aid
Transparency B2.
EXTEND:
 Quick Lab: Older or Younger. P A31.
ENGAGE:
 Students can list nonliving things in their
environment. (water, air, soil, sunlight) Ask them
to describe ways they use these things.
EXPLAIN:
 Reading in Science Resource, p. 25-27, Organisms
and Where They Live, (Lesson 4 outline), What
Makes Up an Ecosystem? (Interpret
Illustrations).
 Vocabulary: ecosystem, community, population,
habitat, producer, consumer, decomposer, food
chain, and food web.
EXPLORE:
 Explore Activity p. A39.How do living and
nonliving things interact? Build a terrarium.
 Quick Lab: Sunlight and Plants, p. A41. Students
will place two plants in different growing
environments.
EXTEND:
 Quick Lab: Observe a Decomposer, p. 49.
Observe why decomposers are important to any
ecosystem.
ENGAGE:
 Ask students to describe any changes they may
have seen in the natural environment outside
their homes or school and to tell what they think
caused those changes.
NC Standard Course of
Study Competency Goal
and Objectives:
1:01 Observe and describe
how all living and nonliving
things affect the life of a
particular animal including:

Other animals.

Plants.

Weather.

Climate.
1:04 Explain and discuss how
humans and other animals can
adapt their behavior to live
in changing habitats.
1:05 Recognize that humans
can understand themselves
better by learning about
other animals.
Section B:
Lesson 2: Animals Without
Backbones. P B14- B25.


Vocabulary Cards.
Fourth Grade Unit 2: Animals and Habitats p. 3
Unit Overview- Pacing 2nd Quarter/8 Weeks
Using section “A” lessons 3-5, and lessons 2 –3 and 6 in section “B”, students will develop an
understanding of animal behavior and animal habitat.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of animal behavior and adaptation.
McMillan/McGraw Hill
text book correlation
Pages:
NC Standard Course of
Study Competency Goal
and Objectives:
1:01 Observe and describe
how all living and nonliving
things affect the life of a
particular animal including:

Other animals.

Plants.

Weather.

Climate.
1:02 Observe and record how
animals of the same kind
differ in some of their
characteristics and discuss
possible advantages and
disadvantages of this
variation.

Visual Aid Transparency,
7,8.

School to Home
Activities, pp. 8-11.
Lesson 3: Animals With
Backbone. P B26-B41.

Explore Activity p. B27.

Reading in Science
Resources, p. 81-82.

1:03 Observe and discuss
how behaviors and body
structures help animals
survive in a particular
habitat. .
Activity Resources, pp.
49-53.

Vocabulary Cards.

1:04 Explain and discuss how
humans and other animals can
adapt their behavior to live
in changing habitats.
Reading Aid
Transparency B3

Visual Aid Transparency
9, 10-13.

Grade-Level Science
Book, Penguins: Birds
That Swim.
1:05 Recognize that humans
can understand themselves
better by learning about
other animals.
Activities Continued:
EXPLAIN:
 What causes ecosystems to change? p. 56.
Discuss how droughts, fires, etc. cause change.
 How can people change ecosystems? p. 58.
Discuss pollution.
 Vocabulary: drought, overpopulation, and acid
rain.
 EXPLORE:
 Explore Activity: What Causes Ecosystems to
Change? p. A55. Use the terrariums from lesson
4. Create a moist and a dry environment.
ENGAGE:
 Ask students to think of a land animal that has no
support for its shape and moves by dragging its
body. (snail, earthworm) Discuss that it cannot
grow very large because it has no way of moving
about to get much food.
EXPLAIN:
 Reading in Science Resources. Animals Without
Backbones, (Lesson Outline), p. 73-74. What Are
Invertebrates Like? p. 75 (Interpret
Illustrations).

Vocabulary: cnidarian, mollusk, echinoderm,
endoskeleton, arthropod, and exoskeleton.
EXPLORE:
 Explore Activity: What Are the Characteristics
of Invertebrates? P. B15. Students observe a
roundworm and a planaria.
Fourth Grade Unit 2: Animals and Habitats p. 4
Unit Overview- Pacing 2nd Quarter/ 8 Weeks
Using section “A” lessons 3-5, and lessons 2 –3 and 6 in section “B”, students will develop an
understanding of animal behavior and animal habitat.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of animal behavior and adaptation.
McMillan/McGraw Hill
text book correlation
Pages:
NC Standard Course of
Study Competency Goal
and Objectives:
1:01 Observe and describe
how all living and nonliving
things affect the life of a
particular animal including:

Other animals.

Plants.

Weather.

Climate.
Lesson 6: Animals Survival.
P B64-B77.
1:02 Observe and record how
animals of the same kind
differ in some of their
characteristics and discuss
possible advantages and
disadvantages of this
variation.
1:03 Observe and discuss
how behaviors and body
structures help animals
survive in a particular
habitat. .
1:04 Explain and discuss how
humans and other animals can
adapt their behavior to live
in changing habitats.
1:05 Recognize that humans
can understand themselves
better by learning about
other animals.

Explore Activity, p. B65.

What are adaptations?
p. B66.

Vocabulary: camouflage,
adaptation, and mimicry.

Inquiry Skill Builder:
How do adaptations help
an animal survive? P.
B69.

Activity Resources, pp.
64-68.

Vocabulary Cards.

Reading Aid
Transparency B6.

School to Home
Activities, p. 14.

Grade-Level Science
Book, Why Tortoise Has
a Shell.
Activities:
Quick Lab: Classify Invertebrates, p. B23. Use
pictures to identify invertebrates.
ENGAGE:
 Have students work together to cut several
pictures of animals from old magazines. Ask
students to group the pictures according to
similar characteristics and to discuss their
reasons for organizing the animals as they did.
EXPLAIN:
 Reading in Science Resources, What Are
Vertebrates Like? p. 81-82 (Interpret
Illustrations). Animals With Backbones, p. 79
(Lesson Outline).
 Vocabulary: cold-blooded, warm-blooded,
amphibian, reptile, and mammal.
EXPLORE:
 Explore Activity: What Are Vertebrates Like?
Gather different animals for students to
observe. (goldfish, lizard, hamster, gerbil, guinea
pig)
EXTEND:
 Quick Lab: Classify Vertebrates, p. A35. Use the
clues in the pictures to classify each animal.
ENGAGE:
 If you were going to play hide-and-seek in a
forest in the summer, what color clothing would
you wear? What color would you wear in the
winter after a snowfall? Why?

Fourth Grade Unit 2: Animals and Habitats p. 5
Unit Overview-Pacing 2nd Quarter/8 Weeks
Using section “A” lessons 3-5, and lessons 2 –3 and 6 in section “B”, students will develop an
understanding of animal behavior and animal habitat.
COMPETENCY GOAL 1: The learner will make observations and conduct investigations to build an understanding
of animal behavior and adaptation.
NC Standard Course of
Study Competency Goal
and Objectives:
1:01 Observe and describe
how all living and nonliving
things affect the life of a
particular animal including:

Other animals.

Plants.

Weather.

Climate.
1:02 Observe and record how
animals of the same kind
differ in some of their
characteristics and discuss
possible advantages and
disadvantages of this
variation.
1:03 Observe and discuss
how behaviors and body
structures help animals
survive in a particular
habitat. .
1:04 Explain and discuss how
humans and other animals can
adapt their behavior to live
in changing habitats.
1:05 Recognize that humans
can understand themselves
better by learning about
other animals.
McMillan/McGraw Hill
text book correlation
Pages:
Activities:
EXPLAIN:
What are adaptations? Discuss the peppered
moth.
 Vocabulary: camouflage, adaptation, and mimicry.
 What is Mimicry? B 68.
EXPLORE:

Explore Activity: How Can Body Color Help and
Animal Survive?
EXTEND:
 Inquiry Skill Builder: How do adaptations help an
animal survive? B69.
