INTERACTIONS
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Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
Outdoor Trail Adventure: Plants, Plants, Plants
Students will be led on a trail walk emphasizing plants. Students will classify plants according to the way they are used, the parts humans and animals eat, characteristics, and their by-products. This activity will relate to their classroom theme “Why Classify?”
Approximate time: 50 minutes
Indoor Animals Lesson: Classifying Live Animals
Students will identify how various animals move, how they get their food, what they eat, and what they wear using live animals. Students will also practice classifying animals based on coverings, body parts, and other characteristics observed.
Approximate time: 50 minutes
Page 1 of 6

INTERACTIONS
How Do We Interact?
Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
FIRST GRADE - OI: Why Classify?
Objectives:
The student will:

Collect data on parts of plants

Observe and describe parts of plants: roots, leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers

Classify by use, by-products, and characteristics

Identify characteristics of living organisms that allow their basic needs to be met
TEKS: SCI1.4.C, SCI1.6.A, SCI1.6.B, SCI1.9.A
Summary:
Students will be led on a trail walk emphasizing plants. Students will classify plants according to the way they are used, the parts humans and animals eat, characteristics, and their by-products. This activity will relate to the classroom theme “Diversity: Why Classify?”
Prerequisites:
Before arriving to the HSLC for a field trip, it is most helpful if you review Unit 3, Lesson 3 All
About Plants from the Integrated Curriculum (Activity ID: 1T2U3A03) with students.
Vocabulary: by-products roots leaves seeds flowers stems
Teaching Tips:
1.
This activity will take approximately 50 minutes to complete.
2.
Focus on how plants relate to our everyday lives!
3.
Make sure students rotate in line.
4.
Don’t forget to cover trail rules/expectations before you begin! Be sure to inform parents and teachers of their role on the trail walk.
Procedure:
1.
Introduce yourself, and begin by telling the students they will be classifying plants along the trail--They will be plant detectives
! You may ask students, “
Why do we classify
?” Talk about classification as a means of organizing and understanding the world around us . To walk into the woods, for example, without having a way to organize the large varieties of trees, vines, shrubs, and flowers would be overwhelming. Classifying plants by the way they are used, parts we eat, characteristics, and by-products help us to learn more about plants.
Page 2 of 6

INTERACTIONS
How Do We Interact?
Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
2.
Review the parts of a plant (roots, leaves, stems, seeds, flowers ). Ask students to predict what types of plants and their parts they might see in the woods.
3.
Give each student one picture card with the illustration of a plant part . Have each student identify to the group the part of the plant they will be responsible for finding. When they find the corresponding plant part, ask them to raise a hand and share their finding with the group. Discuss that specific part in relation to its use , whether humans and/or animals eat it , characteristics , and by-products . For example:

USE OF PLANTS :
Humans - food source, building supplies, medicinal, and clothing
(Ex: baseball bats from Ash trees; furniture from Pecan and Walnut trees; fence posts from Osage Orange; cough medicine from Slippery Elm; bed filling from Bedstraw plant; food from pecans and walnuts; clean air/oxygen from trees)
Animals - food, building supplies for shelter, transportation
(Ex: snails use as a road to get to higher places; branches are highways for squirrels or homes for birds/squirrels; squirrels use leaves for nests; squirrels use logs as picnic tables; holes in trees make great homes/nests)

PARTS THAT CAN BE EATEN :
Humans - root - carrot/radish stem - celery/asparagus/potato leaf - spinach/lettuce/wild onion flower - broccoli/cauliflower/dandelion seed - sunflower/pumpkin/pecans/black walnut
Animals - (Same as above)

CHARACTERISTICS : tall/short, soft/hard, sticky, smooth/rough

BY-PRODUCTS : paper, clothing, pencil, aloe vera lotion, rubber gloves, pies
Other concepts to discuss:

Plants are living things and an example of a living system.

There are many kinds and sizes of plants.

Different kinds of plants grow in different environments.

Plants have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds).

Plants have textures (smooth, rough, sticky, soft, hard).

Seeds are scattered by wind, water, and animals.

Seeds produce plants like the plants from which they came from.

Seeds differ in size, shape, and color.

Green plants need sunlight, water, and air for growth.

Patterns in nature can be found in plants.
Page 3 of 6

INTERACTIONS
How Do We Interact?
Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
Lifelong Learner Traits:
Self-directed learners who access and utilize information from a variety of sources (4).
Effective communicators who express themselves clearly and concisely (5).
Page 4 of 6

INTERACTIONS
How Do We Interact?
Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
1st GRADE: OI - Diversity: Why Classify?
Objectives:
The student will:

Observe and describe parts and characteristics of animals

Sort animals according to their parts and characteristics

Identify characteristics of animals that allow basic needs to be met
TEKS: SCI1.6.A, SCI1.6.B, SCI1.9.A
Summary: Students will learn about a variety of ways that scientists classify animals. They will then investigate these groups further by observing and touching live animals and classify them into the following categories: Plant Eater (herbivorous), Meat Eater (carnivorous), Plant and
Meat Eater (omnivorous); Animal Coverings; Backbone (Vertebrate) or No Backbone
(Invertebrate); and Born from a Mother (Viviparous) or Hatched from an Egg (Oviparous).
Prerequisites:
Before arriving to the HSLC for a field trip, it is most helpful if you review Unit 3, Lesson 9
Scientific Classifications and Lesson 11 Animal Classification from the Integrated Curriculum
(Activity ID: 1T2U3A09 and 1T2U3A11) with students.
Vocabulary:
Herbivore Reptile
Carnivore
Omnivore
Invertebrate
Vertebrate
Insect
Amphibian
Fish
Bird
Mammal Arachnid
Teaching Tips:
1.
This activity will take approximately 50 minutes to complete.
2.
Allow students to be exposed to vocabulary words and the correct use of them.
3.
Ask teachers and parents to participate and assist with behavior management.
Procedures:
1.
Introduction: Tell students that they will be learning about ways to classify animals. Use the teaching posters to introduce students to the characteristics of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and spiders/arachnids.
Page 5 of 6

INTERACTIONS
How Do We Interact?
Come Together and Interact
1T2U1A02
2.
Human cage activity (students sitting in a circle). Have students identify the following about each animal they see: what they wear (body coverings), what they eat, and parts of their body.
Discussion of vertebrate / invertebrate and oviparous / viviparous differences can be related to this discussion. The HSLC instructor will spend about 2-5 minutes with a different animal in the circle that students can touch and classify according to the various categories. A chart will be hanging that students will use to describe characteristics of each animal they view.
The chart will specify the following classifications about the animals students learn about:

Body Coverings: fur, dry scales, wet scales, feathers, moist skin, exoskeleton

Backbone: vertebrate or invertebrate

Babies: hatched or born alive

Food: carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore

Class: reptile, mammal, insect, amphibian, fish, bird, or arachnid
3.
Animal Room Walk Through: Before entering animal room, explain the “I Spy * Classify” activity and the safety rules. Students will locate the numbered I Spy cards on the cages in the animal room and predict what classification group the animal belongs to based on coverings, body parts and other characteristics observed. Students can check their answers by lifting the card flap and then marking a check or X on the blank next to the number.
Lifelong Learner Traits:
Self-directed learners who access and utilize information from a variety of sources (4)
Complex thinkers who construct meaning, solve problems, make and evaluate decisions using a variety of thinking strategies (8)
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