Content Area: Science
NC SCOS Objective(s): 4th grade: 1.01: Observe and describe how all living things affect the life of a particular animal including: other animals, plants, weather, climate.
Materials: How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay. Writing paper. Drawing paper. Computer/Internet.
Instructions/Procedures: In chapter two in How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay, Tia Lola tells Miguel about an animal called a “ciguapa”. Ciguapas are beautiful, mysterious and only come out at night. They also have another special trick- their feet are on backwards so they leave footprints in the opposite direction they are going.
For this activity students are going to create an animal. The students need to have details like: what is the name of their creature, where does it live, what kind of weather does it like, what does it eat, does it get along with other animals or does it fight a lot. They should also draw a picture of their animal in their habitat.
Once their animal has been created the student will research a real animal found in the Dominican Republic. They should answer the same questions about this animal that they did about their animal.
Additional Resources:
Title: What is it?
Reference:
Alvarez, J. (2001). How Tia Lola came to (visit) stay. New York, NY: Yearling.
Casey Jerauld
Title: Animals
Content Area: Science
NC SCOS Objective(s): 4th grade: 1.03: Observe and discuss how behaviors and body structure helps animals survive in a particular habitat.
Materials: How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay. Computer/Internet
Instructions/Procedures: For this activity the students will need to choose and research an animal that can be found in Vermont and an animal that can be found in the Dominican Republic. They should focus on the behaviors and body structures of these animals. A few sample questions they should ask are: does it hibernate, does it have fur, what it eats. Once they have found out this information about their animals they should look at the habitat where they live. Does the habitat have anything to do with the features the animal possesses? Do they have fur to keep them warm? Does it hibernate during the cold winter when food is not as readily available?
Once the students have researched their animals and the habitats they have to write a story about what would happen if the animal was trapped by humans and let loose in the other country. What would it have to do to survive?
Additional Resources:
Reference:
Alvarez, J. (2001). How Tia Lola came to (visit) stay. New York, NY: Yearling.
Casey Jerauld