Animal Adaptations

In small groups, students each read about a different animal adaptation: migration, camouflage and nocturnal animals.  After each group has read about their adaptation, they synthesized information on a presentation sheet and then answered questions based on their adaptation.

Today, the groups presented their synthesized information so we could all learn about the different adaptations.

Food Chains

4th grade purple are learning about food chains in their IPC unit on Nature of Life.  Over the last couple of days they've done a variety of activities, some of which have included: a vocabulary matching task, a powerpoint presentation, a Bill Nye the Science Guy video, and reading a non-fiction article about food chains.  Ultimately we've learned that all food chains start with the sun and plants.  Plants are very important to the food chain as without them humans would not be alive as we both eat them and eat the animals that depend on them for their survival.

Bill Nye - Food Web

Food Chains

Students used the following link today to glean information about food chains.  In partners, students read through the website, opening and exploring various tabs, and noting information about producers, consumers, and more!

The Food Chain

IPC - Article Reading

Students do a lot of learning through non-fiction in 4th grade.  One way they do this is by reading articles that fit our IPC units topics.  This week we read articles that pertain to our Nature of Life unit, and did so in two different ways.

The first article we read about was "Monarch Butterflies."  The students listened as I oral read the story and we discussed the information together.  They then partnered up, reread the article and answered questions pertaining to the information found in it.

Next, students were put into three groups, with each group getting an article about an adaptation that animals use.  In their groups they read the article by taking turns aloud.  Some groups started answering the accompanying questions and they'll also do a summary of their adaptation to share with the class.

Butterfly Scavenger Hunt

In IPC students are learning about life cycles of different animals.  One fun learning task they took on was finding out information but doing so through an informational scavenger hunt.  Cards were placed throughout the hallway; each one containing a different piece of information.  Armed with a question sheet, the students took to answering questions by finding the correct information card.

Animal Life Cycles

In our current IPC unit, students are studying Nature of Life: animals, habitats, growth, life cycles, adaptations, etc.  Today we read a non-fiction story about various animals, focusing mainly on differences between birth and hatch.  I love how inquisitive the students are and that they just want to know so many things within our study units.

One of today's tasks was that, after reading, students broke into groups to reread an article and illicit information about aspects of animals life cycles.  The conversations that I heard between students was great as they worked to locate evidence for their answers.