ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 2 :

2 ) Collect and evaluate data to determine appropriate uses of materials based on their properties (e.g., strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, absorbency).*

[SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

[MA2019] (2) 20 :

20. Measure to determine how much longer one object is than another, expressing the length difference of the two objects using standard units of length.

After reading, What if You Had Animal Ears? by Sandra Markle, students will plan, design, and create bat-like ears from various materials for a STEM challenge. Students will test their models and redesign them to improve the effectiveness of their models to increase their own ability to hear by mimicking the external parts of a bat's ear. The students will measure and collect data from tests and compare results between the design and the redesign. This lesson can be completed in two 45 minute sessions or one 90 minute session. 

This lesson plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (0) 3 :

3 ) Distinguish between living and nonliving things and verify what living things need to survive (e.g., animals needing food, water, and air; plants needing nutrients, water, sunlight, and air).

[SC2015] (0) 4 :

4 ) Gather evidence to support how plants and animals provide for their needs by altering their environment (e.g., tree roots breaking a sidewalk to provide space, red fox burrowing to create a den to raise young, humans growing gardens for food and building roads for transportation).

[SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

[SC2015] (2) 7 :

7 ) Obtain information from literature and other media to illustrate that there are many different kinds of living things and that they exist in different places on land and in water (e.g., woodland, tundra, desert, rainforest, ocean, river).

[ELA2015] (0) 9 :

9 ) Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. [RL.K.10]

[ELA2015] (1) 19 :

19 ) With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for Grade 1. [RI.1.10]

[ELA2015] (2) 19 :

19 ) By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the Grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. [RI.2.10]

This is a multi-session interactive lesson plan about animal adaptations for kindergarten through second grade students. The goal of this interactive digital lesson plan is to guide students through activities that help them understand how characteristics such as body covering, body parts, and behaviors help animals survive.  These lesson plans also build cooperation and communication skills for students. There are additional resources provided for the teacher to use before or after using the HyperDoc. 

This Lesson Plan was created in partnership with the Birmingham Zoo.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the second part of a series, "Solutions from Nature." In this lesson, students explore the structure of plants, and the parts that provide stability. They choose from different materials to construct a house that is sturdy (like the stem) and has a foundation (like the roots). Students test the strength of their design to determine which elements/materials provide increased stability.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the third part of a series, "Solutions from Nature."  In this lesson, students examine outer parts of animals that provide protection (turtles, crabs, pill bugs, snails, etc.).  They choose from different materials to construct a “helmet” that can protect an egg from breaking if it is dropped.    

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

This is one of three lessons that can be taught alone, or as the first part of a series, "Solutions from Nature."  In this lesson, students explore characteristics of animals that provide insulation.  They experiment with different materials to build a "glove" that can protect their hands from a cold ice bath. A YouTube link to a similar demonstration is provided below.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

In this lesson, students will be able to explain that wearing a coat helps keep you warm because it blocks your body’s heat from moving away from you to where it’s cold. The teacher discusses whether a thick or thin jacket helps students stay warmer in cold weather. Students see a demonstration in which a container with warm water is placed in cold water. The warm water cools down quickly. Students then design and test a “coat” for the container to keep the water warm longer. Students watch an animation explaining why a coat helps keep them warm in the cold.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

In these Hero Elementary activities, children learn about animals’ body parts. This includes humans! Children observe different animals. They notice how animals’ bodies are alike and not alike. They compare animals’ body parts and notice patterns. They find a way to solve a problem by copying how animals use their body parts.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (0) 3 :

3 ) Distinguish between living and nonliving things and verify what living things need to survive (e.g., animals needing food, water, and air; plants needing nutrients, water, sunlight, and air).

[SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

In this lesson, students explore what lions, tigers, and leopards look like and analyze how the animals' coats help them survive in their different habitats. The students will discuss different big cats and their physical features, discuss the habitats of big cats, and how they survive in their habitat. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (1) 10 :

10 ) Ask and answer questions about key details in a text. [RI.1.1]

[SC2015] (1) 5 :

5 ) Design a solution to a human problem by using materials to imitate how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs (e.g., outerwear imitating animal furs for insulation, gear mimicking tree bark or shells for protection).*

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. The students and teacher can interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. The students will answer the questions associated with the article as an assessment. This learning activity can be used to introduce students to ways that animals use external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs in their environment. This could serve as a precursor to students designing their own survival solution using materials to imitate how animals have solved similar problems.