ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

Meet Some Desert Animals

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Meet Some Desert Animals

URL:

https://www.readworks.org/article/Meet-Some-Desert-Animals/0b04d7e5-b7ea-4bec-886f-040fb53561b5#!articleTab:content/

Content Source:

Other
ReadWorks.org

Type:

Learning Activity

Overview:

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.

Content Standard(s):

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 1

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).*

NAEP Framework

NAEP Statement::
L4.3: Organisms interact and are interdependent in various ways, including providing food and shelter to one another. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs are met. Some interactions are beneficial; others are detrimental to the organism and other organisms.

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

NAEP Statement::
L4.7: Different kinds of organisms have characteristics that enable them to survive in different environments. Individuals of the same kind differ in their characteristics, and sometimes the differences give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.

Unpacked Content

Scientific And Engineering Practices:

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

Crosscutting Concepts: Structure and Function

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

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Use given materials to design a device that imitates how plants and/or animals survive, grow and/or meet their needs.

Teacher Vocabulary:

materials
design
solution
human problem
imitate
external parts
survive
needs
insulation
mimicry
camouflage
protection
ask
plan
imagine
create
improve

Knowledge:

Students know:

How plants use their external parts to survive, grow and meet their needs.
How animals use their external parts to survive, grow and meet their needs.
People can imitate how plants and animals survive and grow to help us solve a human problem.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Design a device that attempts to solve a human problem.
Use materials to imitate external structures of plants and animals.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function.

AMSTI Resources:

AMSTI Module:
Organisms, STC
Wild Feet, ETA/hand2mind

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.1.5- Match an environmental situation with an appropriate human action (e.g., wearing a jacket when it is cold; animals growing a thick coat during the winter; wearing protective gear like a turtle has a shell).

English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 1

22. Ask and answer questions about key details in literary and informational texts.

Unpacked Content

Teacher Vocabulary:

22.

Ask
Answer
Questions
Key details
Literary texts
Informational texts

Knowledge:

22. Students know:

Key details are present in literary and informational text.

Skills:

22. Students are able to:

Ask questions about key details in a literary and informational text.
Answer questions about key details in a literary and informational text.

Understanding:

22. Students understand that:

Literary and informational text include key details that must be understood to comprehend the text.
After reading a text, knowledge and understanding can be expanded by asking and answering questions.

Tags:

animals, burrow, desert, environment, external parts, grow, informational text, meet needs, survive

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

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, "Meet Some Desert Animals." 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. The teacher could also complete this activity by projecting the article and questions for the whole class to view.

This resource provided by:

Author:

Hannah Bradley

ALEX Classroom Resource

Meet Some Desert Animals