ALEX | Alabama Learning Exchange

Build a Meerkat

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Build a Meerkat

URL:

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/build-meerkat/

Content Source:

National Geographic

Type:

Learning Activity

Overview:

In this activity, students make a meerkat model while identifying unique body characteristics. Students learn how adaptations are crucial to a meerkat's survival.

Content Standard(s):

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 4

9 ) Examine evidence to support an argument that the internal and external structures of plants (e.g., thorns, leaves, stems, roots, colored petals, xylem, phloem) and animals (e.g., heart, stomach, lung, brain, skin) function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

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:

Engage in Argument from Evidence

Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and System Models; Structure and Function

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

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Argue from evidence to support that the internal and external structures of plants function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Argue from evidence to support that the internal and external structures of animals function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.

Teacher Vocabulary:

argue
articulate
evidence
internal
external
structure
survival
function
behavior
reproduction

Knowledge:

Students know:

Internal and External structures serve specific functions within plants and animals.
The functions of internal and external structures can support survival, growth, behavior and/or reproduction in plants and animals.
Different structures work together as part of a system to support survival, growth, behavior, and/or reproduction.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Articulate an explanation from evidence explaining how the internal and external structures of plants and animals function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Determine the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence collected, including whether or not it supports a claim about the role of internal and external structures of plants and animals in supporting survival, growth, behavior, and/or reproduction.
Use reasoning to connect the relevant and appropriate evidence to support an argument about the function of the internal and external structures of plants and animals.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.

AMSTI Resources:

AMSTI Module:
Animal Studies

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.4.9- Identify basic parts of plants and animals.

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).

Tags:

adaptation, body structure, meerkat

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/terms-of-service/
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Accessibility

Text Resources: Content is organized under headings and subheadings

Comments

National Geographic Education is free for educators.

This resource provided by:

Author:

Stephanie Carver

ALEX Classroom Resource

Build a Meerkat