ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

Animal Instinct

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Animal Instinct

URL:

https://www.readworks.org/article/Animal-Instinct/435ddd51-dac9-46bc-9fbe-4e0c851d4cbf#!articleTab:content/

Content Source:

Other
ReadWorks.org

Type:

Learning Activity

Overview:

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will 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 introduce students to the concept of animals responding to information received through their senses, serve as reinforcement after students have already learned this concept, or be used as an assessment at the conclusion of a lesson.

Content Standard(s):

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 4

11 ) Investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses, process that information, and respond to it in different ways (e.g., skunks lifting tails and spraying an odor when threatened, dogs moving ears when reacting to sound, snakes coiling or striking when sensing vibrations).

NAEP Framework

NAEP Statement::
L4.4: When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations.

Unpacked Content

Scientific And Engineering Practices:

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models

Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Investigate different ways animals receive information through the senses.
Investigate different ways animals process the information they receive and how they respond to it.

Teacher Vocabulary:

investigate
evidence
transmit
perception
receptors
senses
sensory information
process
memories

Knowledge:

Students know:

Different types of sense receptors detect specific types of information within the environment.
Sense receptors send information about the surroundings to the brain.
Information that is transmitted to the brain by sense receptors can be processed immediately as perceptions of the environment and/or stored as memories.
Immediate perceptions or memories processed by the brain influences an animal's actions or responses to features in the environment.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Identify different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.
Identify evidence of different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information to be investigated.
Plan ways to Investigate different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.
Collect and communicate data of different ways animals receive, process, and respond to information.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

Sensory input, the brain, and behavioral output are all parts of a system that allows animals to engage in appropriate behaviors.

AMSTI Resources:

AMSTI Module:
Animal Studies

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.4.11- Identify the sense organs and the information they receive (eyes/sight, tongue/taste, ears/hearing, skin/touch, nose/smell).

English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 4

20. Use details and examples from a text to indicate what the text explicitly states.

a. Interpret facts from an informational article, using details and examples from the text to explain the interpretation.

b. List the main questions answered by an informational article.

c. Categorize statements in an article or other informational text as fact or opinion and give reasons for each choice.

d. Explain the differences between primary and secondary sources, giving examples from texts.

Unpacked Content

Teacher Vocabulary:

20.

Details
Examples
Explicitly

20a.

Interpret
Facts
Details
Examples
Informational article

20b.

List
Main questions
Informational article

20c.

Categorize
Fact
Opinion
Reasons

20d.

Primary sources
Secondary source

Knowledge:

20. Students know:

Explicit means directly stated within the text.
Specific details and examples from the text an be used to demonstrate an understanding of the text's explicit meaning.

20a.

Facts gathered from an informational article can be explained using details and examples from the text.

20b.

Informational text is often written with the purpose of answering questions.

20c.

A fact is a statement that can be proven with evidence, while an opinion is a personal belief that cannot be proven true in every case.
Informational text can present both facts and opinions.

20d.

Primary sources are firsthand accounts of events and provide raw information.
Secondary sources explain, analyze, or summarize primary sources.

Skills:

20. Students are able to:

Identify details and examples from a text that demonstrates comprehension of the text's explicit meaning.

20a.

Explain facts sourced from an informational text, using text evidence to support the explanation.

20b.

Identify the main questions answered by an informational text.

20c.

Determine if statements in an informational text are facts or opinions.
Describe reasons that a particular statement is identified as a fact or an opinion.

20d.

Explain the differences between primary and secondary sources.
Support their explanation with specific examples from the text.

Understanding:

20. Students understand that:

Explicit meanings are directly stated in text, and they can use specific details and examples from the text to show they understood the text's explicit meaning.

20a.

To demonstrate comprehension of an informational article, they can explain the facts using specific details and examples from the text.

20b.

Informational articles often answer questions and identifying these questions can improve comprehension.

20c.

A fact is a thing that is known or proved to be true, and an opinion is a personal view or judgment about something.
To fully comprehend a text, they must distinguish between facts and opinions.
They can determine if a statement is a fact or an opinion using their current knowledge or by referencing details in a text.

20d.

The information a reader gets from a text is impacted by the source of the information.
Primary and secondary sources will be told from different perspectives.

Tags:

animals, authors purpose, informational text, instincts, responses, senses

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://about.readworks.org/terms-of-use.html
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Accessibility

Audio resources: includes a transcript or subtitles
Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments

ReadWorks is a website that provides K-12 teachers with free literacy resources (About ReadWorks). ReadWorks has literary and informational texts on a variety of subjects and reading skills. You may narrow your search using grade level or Lexile level, making this website a wonderful tool for differentiation. Students will complete their work digitally, and you will provide their score and feedback digitally. This makes it easy to go paperless for this activity.

Prior to implementing this activity, you will need to sign up for an Educator Account on ReadWorks. After setting up an account, create a class from the Class Admin tab, this will provide you with a Class Code to give to students. Next, use the Find Content tab to search for the informational article that will be used during this activity, "Animal Instinct." After navigating to the article, click on the blue Assign button to assign it to your class.

Each student will need access to a digital device, such as a tablet or laptop. The first time students enter the website they will need to enter the Class Code that is listed on your Class Admin page. Alternatively, you can print the article and corresponding questions for students, if digital devices are not available.

This resource provided by:

Author:

Hannah Bradley

ALEX Classroom Resource

Animal Instinct