Animal clues

Level: 5
Curriculum Area: Science

Outcomes

Students:

• Use general knowledge to make educated guesses about the habitat and survival strategies of animals from Australia, Antarctica and Africa.
• Undertake research to confirm and check ideas.
• Group animals in a variety of ways.

Materials and preparation

Method

Familiar

In pairs the students select or are allocated two familiar and two unfamiliar animal cut-outs. The students consider what they know about their animals and then complete the first three columns of the animals clues table. Students then go back and check their ideas against information sourced from references. They can add extra information using a different coloured pen to that originally used.

Unfamiliar

When happy with the information that they have allocated to the animals, the students produce posters on A4 sheets with a picture of each animal and summary information. As a class activity, guided by the teacher, students mount posters on a blackboard or whiteboard (using blu tack or magnets) and use the information to group animals in different ways such as by habitat, by niche or position in the food web, by major groups such as marsupials (pouched mammals), eutherians (placental mammals) amphibians, invertebrates big cats etc..

The 'experts' on the animals may be called upon during this discussion to explain the animal and its habitat or niche.

Extension

Explore convergent evolution by referring to the activity Different species but one design in the Food webs, Classification and Biodiversity secondary activity book