© 2012 Alston Publishing House Pte Ltd Science SMART Teacher’s Guide Grade 4 Chapter 1 Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans
Chapter 1: The Life Cycles of Animals
Total number of periods: 10 periods
Overview of Lesson Plans
How Do Animals Reproduce? (2 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods1.1 / Pupils should:
- know how and why animals reproduce / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts. (Ep1) / Contrasting
Communicating
Analysing / Communicate clearly
Environmental literacy
Reason effectively
Make judgements and decisions / 2
What Are the Life Cycles of Some Animals? (6 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods1.2 / Pupils should:
- understand life cycles of animals
- be able to identify the different stages in the life cycles of animals / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts. (Ep1)
Make relevant observations and comparisons in a variety of contexts. (Eo1) / Comparing
Organising
Analysing
Observing
Classifying
Communicating
Comparing
Inferring / Use systems thinking
Reason effectively
Manage projects
Collaborate with others
Environmental literacy
Apply technology effectively
Be self-directed learners / 6
Why Do Young Grow Up to Look Like Their Parents? (2 periods)
Lesson / Specific Instructional Objectives / Cambridge Primary Scientific Enquiry Skills / Process Skills / 21st Century Skills / Number of Periods1.3 / Pupils should:
- understand effect of genes in animal development / Collect evidence in a variety of contexts. (Ep1)
Make relevant observations and comparisons in a variety of contexts. (Eo1) / Observing
Comparing
Organising
Analysing
Inferring / Be self-directed learners
Health literacy
Make judgements and decisions
Environmental literacy / 2
Main Lesson Plans
Lesson 1.1
BSCS 5E / Lesson Notes / Resources /Engage:
Questions are posed to recall pupils’ prior knowledge
Explore:
Things around pupils are used to generate new idea
Explain:
Pupils demonstrate their understanding through inquiries
Elaborate:
Pupils extend understanding through the project
Evaluate:
Pupils’ understanding is assessed through quiz / Background: Pupils learnt that living things undergo life processes in Grade 3 Chapter 1: Living Things and Their Life Processes. Adult animals reproduce to make more of their own kind. Animals also grow to get bigger, taller and heavier. An introduction of animal life cycles can be found in this website.
Chapter opener
Recap with pupils the life processes they have learnt in Grade 3 Chapter 1: Living Things and Their Life Processes.
Ask pupils:
· What is reproduction? (Answer: Reproduction is a process by which a young is produced from its parents.)
· Why do animals reproduce? (Answer: Animals reproduce to ensure the survival of their species.)
· How do animals reproduce? (Answer: In most of the cases, two parents of the same species but of different sexes mate to form new offspring. The female adults give birth to young alive or by laying eggs.)
Activity: Ask pupils if they have any pets. Invite pupils to describe and share the changes in their pets at different stages of their growth. Ask pupils who do not have pets to bring their baby photos to class and describe if there are any changes in their appearance and abilities.
Explain that:
· Animals have different life cycles.
· Animals are able to grow up.
Process Skills: Contrasting, Communicating
21st Century Skill: Communicate clearly
What’s In This Chapter?, What Will I Learn?
Emphasise to pupils what their learning journey will be like for this chapter.
· The life cycles of animals are the result of reproduction.
· The life cycles of animals can have three stages or four stages.
Teaching Tip: Trace the path of the mind map by reading out loud.
How Do Animals Reproduce?
Background: There are different groups of animals and they may reproduce in different ways. Some animals reproduce by giving birth to young alive and some by laying eggs.
Tell pupils to recall what they have learnt about how different groups of animals reproduce in Grade 3 Chapter 2: Sorting Living Things.
Ask pupils:
· How are the two methods of reproduction in animals different? (Answer: In animals that lay eggs, the embryo is developed inside the egg. The egg provides food and a protective shell for the embryo to grow until it is ready to be born. When the baby animal is ready, it will break out of the shell. In animals that give birth to young alive, the embryo is protected and gets what it needs inside its mother’s body. When the baby is ready to be born, labour is triggered to push the baby out of the mother’s body.)
· What will happen if living things do not reproduce? (Answer: All living things will die one day. If a kind of animal or plant does not reproduce to give new life, the species will die out or become extinct.)
Explain that:
· Reproduction produces new individual from the parents. It is an important process to continue the life cycle of living things.
· Different animals reproduce in different ways.
Teaching Tip: Show pupils videos of births of animals to deepen their understanding.
Tell pupils that the life cycles of plants are different from the life cycles of animals. They will find out more about the life cycle of plants in Grade 5 Chapter 1: The Life Cycle of Plants.
Common Misconception: Point out the difference between ‘extinct’ and ‘endangered’. ‘Extinct’ means that that species does not exist on Earth any more. ‘Endangered’ means there are only a few of the species left and the species is at risk of becoming extinct.
Project Idea: Get pupils to find examples of extinct species of animals and study the reasons for their extinction. Then ask pupils to choose some endangered species and discuss the ways to stop them from becoming extinct.
Process Skill: Analysing
21st Century Skills: Environmental literacy; Reason effectively
Activity: Make a quiz to test whether students can distinguish the methods of reproduction in different animals.
Process Skill: Analysing
21st Century Skill: Make judgements and decisions / URL 1.1
Textbook page 1
Textbook page 2
Textbook page 3
URLs 1.2, 1.3
Textbook page 4
Workbook page 1
Activity 1: Ways of Reproduction
Workbook page 17
Worksheet 3: Frog Frenzy!
Consolidation Worksheet 1
Internet links for Lesson 1.1
URL 1.1: Animal Life Cycles
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/lifecycle.htm
URL 1.2: Animation of birth of human baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHLgva3PLuk
URL 1.3: Video of frog eggs hatching into tadpoles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3d48VfQHbY
Lesson 1.2
BSCS 5E / Lesson Notes / Resources /Engage:
Pupils get involved in the topic through inquiry-based activity
Explain:
New concept is explained after inquiries
Explore:
Pupils build their own understanding through direct observation
Elaborate:
Pupils apply their knowledge to complete the activity
Evaluate:
Using activity to assess and clarify pupils’ understanding / What Are the Life Cycles of Some Animals?
Activity: Introduce the concept of life cycle to pupils. Get pupils to skim through the whole section and compare different life cycles first based on what they can see.
Ask pupils:
· Are there any common stages in different life cycles? (Answer: Yes, all life cycles have the egg stage, the young stage (or larva stage for animals that undergo metamorphosis) and the adult stage.)
· What are the characteristics of these common stages? (Answer: Baby animals develop inside the egg before they hatch at the egg stage. The young stage is the growth stage of the animal until it reaches maturity. The adult stage is the stage that the animal is sexually mature and is able to carry out reproduction to give birth to its own offspring.)
Explain that:
· Life cycle is the order of stages that a living thing goes through from beginning to adult.
· Different animals have different life cycles.
· The stages in a life cycle include the animal entering the world (the egg stage), undergoing changes and growth (the young stage), as well as the adult stage for reproduction.
Process Skills: Comparing, Organising, Analysing
21st Century Skills: Use systems thinking; Reason effectively
Life cycles with three stages
Ask pupils:
• Which animals have three stages in their life cycle? (Answer: Answers include birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles. Accept all possible answers.)
Explain that:
• Animals with three stages in their life cycle start their life cycles as eggs. Then they hatch and grow at the young stage. When they become adults, they are able to reproduce.
Teaching Tips:
1. Show pupils the video of a chick hatching.
2. You can break an uncooked egg to show the pupils the egg yolk and egg white. You can reinforce the fact that the egg shell protects the young and the egg yolk is a source of food for the young.
Common Misconception: Chicken eggs sold as food are produced by hens that have not mated. These eggs are unfertilised and no chicks will be hatched from them.
Ask pupils:
• Why does a cockroach moult? (Answer: The cockroach’s body is covered with a hard shell. The shell is rigid and cannot grow like skin. Therefore, the shell has to be shed off to let the cockroach grow bigger.)
Activity: As an extra activity, pupils can find out more about the life cycle of a grasshopper and see how the young look like.
Ask pupils:
• Why do the young of some animals look different from the adult? (Answer: This is because some animals, such as the frog and the dragonfly, undergo a sudden and distinct change of appearance from the young or larva stage to adult. This is a process called metamorphosis.)
Explain that:
• Not all young animals resemble their parents. Some may undergo metamorphosis from young to adult.
Teaching Tip: Show pupils the video of the life cycle of a frog.
Life cycles with four stages
Ask pupils:
• What is the similarity between animals that have four stages in their life cycles? (Answer: They are all insects that undergo complete metamorphosis (with pupa stage).)
• What is the purpose of the pupa stage? (Answer: Metamorphosis takes place inside the pupa. It allows larval structures to break down and form into adults.)
• What is the advantage of metamorphosis? (Answer: Metamorphosis usually does not only change the animals’ appearance but also changes their behaviour and habitat. Therefore the larvae and adults do not compete for food and other resources.)
Explain that:
• Animals that undergo complete metamorphosis have four stages in their life cycles.
Project Idea: Get pupils to bring their mealworm pet to school or keep their own class mealworm pet. Ask pupils to observe its growth and make a report on its life cycle.
Process Skills: Observing, Organising
21st Century Skill: Manage projects
Teaching Tip: Show pupils the video of the life cycle of a butterfly.
Activities:
1. Show pupils the movie in the website and get them to try out the interactive games to learn about the life cycles of frogs, butterflies and birds.
You should point out to pupils that the life cycle of a frog can be divided into five sections to show the detailed transformation of a tadpole into a frog. Before the frog fully becomes an adult, it has a tail which would eventually disappear. Recall the cartoon in the chapter opener. In actual fact, there are only three stages in the life cycle of a frog. The same goes for the life cycle of butterflies (there are actually four stages, not five as shown in the games) and for the life cycle of birds (there are actually three stages, not four). Then, get pupils to do an Internet search to find out more about the life cycle of a snake as suggested in the Textbook.
2. Pupils can learn more about parasitic wasps from the suggested website.
21st Century Skills: Environmental literacy; Reason effectively; Use systems thinking; Apply technology effectively
Activity: Show pupils the suggested website in Discover More! on the life cycle of a mosquito. Get pupils to do an Internet search to find out what wrigglers feed on. Then, get them to research on the life cycle of bedbugs and ways to get rid of them, as they are pests that affect humans.
21st Century Skills: Environmental literacy; Reason effectively; Use systems thinking; Apply technology effectively
You can use these activities to summarise the lesson.
Activity: Bring pictures of animals at different stages in their life cycles to class. Test whether pupils know the correct order of development of animals by getting them to arrange the pictures in the correct order in the life cycle.
Process Skills: Observing, Analysing
Activity: Give a list of animals to pupils to classify them according to the number of stages in their life cycles. Then, get pupils to form groups and design a poster to show clearly each stage in the life cycles of these animals.
Process Skills: Classifying, Communicating, Analysing
21st Century Skills: Collaborate with others; Be self-directed learners
Activity: Carry out the investigative activity in Experiment Time! that compares the differences between a frog and a tadpole. Remind pupils to take good care of the animals. No animals should be harmed in the activity.
Explain that:
• There are significant differences between tadpoles and frogs as tadpoles undergo metamorphosis to become adult frogs.
Process Skills: Observing, Comparing, Inferring
21st Century Skill: Reason effectively
Activity: Carry out the activity in Build Your Skills! You may show pupils videos of the chicken and butterfly’s growth before answering the questions. Tell pupils to give an explanation for each answer to assess their understanding.
Process Skills: Observing, Comparing
Field Trip Idea: You can organise a class excursion to a farm or an eco-garden where you can observe the animals (e.g. chickens, horses, goats, butterflies or frogs) at different stages of life. Get pupils to compare the similarities and differences between the parents and their young.
Teaching Strategy: Relating to real life
Process Skills: Observing, Comparing / Textbook page 5
URL 1.4
Textbook page 6
Textbook page 7
URL 1.5
Textbook page 8
Workbook pages 3—4
Activity 2: My Mealworm Pet!
Textbook page 9
URL 1.6
URL 1.7
URL 1.8
Textbook page 10
URL 1.9
Workbook pages 5 – 7
Activity 3: Complete My Life Cycle!
Textbook page 11
Workbook pages 9—10
Activity 4: Animal Life Cycles
Workbook page 16
Worksheet 2: Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Consolidation Worksheet 2
Internet links for Lesson 1.2