California Science
Third Grade Lesson Plan
Environments
Third Grade Life Sciences Standard
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
b. Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.
Time Needed: Twenty minutes per environment covered. Each environment could be done on a different day or three environments could be done in an hour in rotating groups if you have enough volunteers to run each group. Ask the third grade teacher in advance how much time is available.
Lesson Topic: Exploring different environments: oceans, deserts, tundra, rain forest, deciduous forests, grasslands.
Objectives:
· To begin laying a foundation for comparing and contrasting different enviroments.
· To introduce the diversity of life on Earth.
· To introduce major environments on Earth.
Resources:
1. When we did these activities, we used the following resources. We have suggested alternatives for some resources that may be hard to find.
a. Oceans: ocean felts (alternatives could be books about oceans from the library to read together or pictures from National Geographic or other magazines that the students could use to make a collage)
b. Deserts: cacti, other plants and magnifying glasses,
c. Tundra: Crisco, ice water in a cooler, paper towels
d. Rain forest: rain forest felts (alternatives could be books about rain forests from the library to read together or pictures from National Geographic or other magazines that the students could use to make a collage)
e. Temperate forests: leaves and pine cones collected from various trees
f. Grasslands: plastic animals (alternatives could be books about grasslands from the library to read together or pictures from National Geographic or other magazines that the students could use to make a collage)
g. All environments: globe, handouts, regular size paper for collages (bigger collages take more time)
Procedure:
1. The three groups could be done one at a time on six different days (plan on about 20 minutes per group) or done on two different days in rotating groups if doing three groups on the same day. For three groups on the same day, you might have three volunteers to run the groups or two volunteers if the teacher takes a group.
2. Follow the instructions on the worksheets
3. Answer the questions on the worksheet.
4. At the end of the session, suggest the students take their worksheets home to explain to their parents.
Third Grade Science: Oceans
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: What is an ocean like?
Find the section about oceans in your textbook and discuss what an ocean is.
http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/oceans.htm
2. Find the Pacific Ocean on the map and show your teacher.
3. Find the Atlantic Ocean on the map and show your teacher.
Putting it into practice: Animals from Oceans
Choose one of the following activities:
Take turns picking an ocean animal from the felts. Talk about the animal and explain how it lives in the ocean. Put it on the felt background where you think it lives.
Look at a book from the library about oceans. Find a page with a picture you like and explain it to the group.
Use pictures from magazines showing things in the ocean to make a collage.
Third Grade Science: Deserts
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: What adaptations help desert plants?
Find the section about deserts in your textbook and discuss what a desert is. It is very dry in the desert because less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain falls in a desert each year. Plants that need a lot of rain can’t live in a desert.
Putting it into practice: Desert Plants
Look at a desert plant and a plant that is not from the desert. Use a magnifying glass if you have one. Notice how the plants are different and how they are the same. Fill in the table to describe the plant.
Desert Plant / Plant that is not from the desertLeaves / Shape
use words like sharp, round, long, thin, or draw a picture
Stems / Thickness
use words like thick or thin
Roots / Deep or shallow?
How deep do the roots go
into the dirt?
Discuss why you think the plants are different. What kinds of adaptations do plants need to make to live in a desert?
Third Grade Science: The Arctic Tundra
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: The Arctic Tundra
Find the section about tundra in your textbook and discuss what a tundra is.
The arctic tundra is a cold biome above the Arctic Circle. (Find the Arctic Circle on the globe.) In the middle of the long winter, the Sun never rises. In the short summer, the Sun never sets, but even during the summer, only the top few inches of soil thaw. Under that is permafrost – soil that is always frozen.
How do the animals survive when it is always cold?
Putting it into practice: Does Fat Help Animals Survive in Cold Environments?
¯ Use a paper towel to spread vegetable fat completely over one of your index fingers. Leave the other finger bare.
¯ Predict what will happen when you put both fingers in the ice water.
¯ All students will put both index fingers (one with fat, one without fat) in the ice water.
¯ See which finger can stay in the ice water longer – the one with fat or the one without.
¯ Clean Crisco off with a paper towel and put it in the trash, then wash before answering questions.
1. Which finger was easier to keep in the ice water longer? ______
2. How does fat help animals survive in cold places? ______
______
Third Grade Science: Tropical Rainforests
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: The Rainforest
Find the section about the rainforest in your textbook and discuss what a rainforest is.
A tropical rain forest is a biome found near the equator. Tropical rain forests have more kinds of living things than any other land biome. They are hot and wet all year long.
Discuss: What are the four layers of the rain forest? (Clue: look at the picture below.)
http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/environment/Envir00_01/p4/arspd4/layers.htm
Putting it into practice: Animals of the Rain Forest
Choose one of the following activities:
Take turns placing rain forest animals on the felt background. Guess whether the animal lives in the emergent layer, the canopy, the understory or on the forest floor.
Look at a book from the library about rainforests. Find a page with a picture you like and explain it to the group.
Use pictures from magazines showing things in the rainforest to make a collage.
Answer sheet for Rain Forest Animals – the students don’t need to know these exactly, but it’s good for you to know
Emergent Layer: Many of the birds live in this area to avoid predators. These include eagles, macaws, parrots, . . . however the textbook places toucans in the canopy and there are several birds in the felts that probably live on the ground (check their feet). If the students can justify their answers, give them the points
Canopy: The canopy has the most animals because it receives more sunlight that the layers below. Toucans, monkeys, snakes, owls, insects. If in doubt, put it in the canopy.
Understory: Frogs, lots of insects, komodo dragons, snakes, jaguars, leopards & other cats, bats, apes, owls, leafcutter ants, and some birds which eat insects from the forest floor. Many animals go from the understory to the canopy and back.
Forest floor: Tapir, snakes, frogs, mice, giant anteaters, soil-loving insects such astermites, beetles, and ants, anything that couldn’t climb a tree (crocs, hoofed animals . . .)
Third Grade Science: Temperate Forests
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: Temperate Forests
Find the section about temperate forests in your textbook and discuss what temperate forests are.
A temperate forest is a biome where the temperature and rainfall change from season to season. Temperate forests have four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. Winters are cold and dry. Summers are warm and wet.
Read page 61 from your California Science book and answer the following question.
Look at the pictures below to figure out the two kinds of trees in temperate forests:
Coniferous trees Deciduous trees
Putting it into practice: Cones and Leaves
Compare the coniferous and deciduous trees. Look at the cones and leaves and figure out which came from coniferous trees and which came from deciduous trees.
Third Grade Science: Grasslands
Name ______Date ______
From the textbook: What adaptations help animals survive in grasslands?
Find the section about grasslands in your textbook and discuss what grasslands are.
A grassland is a biome that is covered with grasses. Some animals eat the grass. Some animals eat the animals that eat the grass.
Putting it into practice: Animals from the Grasslands
Choose one of the following activities:
Have each student draw a grasslands animal from the bag. Take turns identifying the animal and discussing what you know about that animal. What does it eat?
Look at a book from the library about grasslands. Find a page with a picture you like and explain it to the group.
Use pictures from magazines showing things in the grasslands to make a collage.