This year we will be studying classes of animals including mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. The students will be divided into groups based on one of these animal classes. While using books and encyclopedias they will research about a specific animal class. They will identify animals from their class that are commonly found on each continent in the world. They will use their artistic abilities to draw the animals and place them into charts.
Following this activity, the students will focus on specific types of mammals. They will work in groups to create mobiles that include information about their specific mammal group. The mammal groups that will be studied are carnivores, rodents, marsupials, and primates.
Here are examples of amphibians. Here are more examples.
See a Green Tree Frog adapt to its environment.
What is the difference between an amphibian and a reptile?
Whales are not fish. Why?
We will also study all about magnets. Throughout the unit, the students will engage in many hands-on experiments as part of an inquiry-based science project. Each experiment performed will be based on a realistic question that the students will answer and support by the end of the experiment. The questions the students will explore about magnets throughout the unit are:
What objects are magnetic?
What metals attract to magnets?
Can a metal be a magnet?
How do magnets react to each other?
How does a compass work?
In order for the students to answer these questions, they will predict the results of their experiments, make observations, and form conclusions. They will test different objects around the room to see which ones are magnetic. Using small rods of different types of metal, the students will determine which metals "stick" to a magnet. The students will then conclude which metals attract to magnets. The children will also observe how magnets react to each other, feeling and observing the force field that exists between magnets. By the end of the unit, the students will create their own compasses, applying the information they learn about magnets. This will call for them to magnetize a needle, stick it through a small piece of styrofoam, and place the tool in water. They will be able to watch and see the needle turning and stopping along the north-south pole.