Lesson Title: Identify Plant Life

Subject(s):
What subject area are
you teaching?

Science (3rd grade)

Content Standards:
What content
standards does this
lesson address?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic,

use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding
statement or section.
3.b) Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as
oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.
3.d) Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and
reproduce; others die or move to new locations.

Objectives:
What are the specific
learning objectives
you want students to
be able to do or

learn?
At the end of the
lesson students will
be able to
Technology
Standards:
What technology
Standards are you
incorporating?

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to

recognize what makes an insect an insect by identifying the common structures and
characteristics of insects.
explore examples of insect adaptations and infer how they fit the insects habitat or
lifestyle.
Have a better understanding of how to research a topic and write an
informational piece based on findings

Use menu/tool bar functions in a word processing program to format,

edit, and print a document
Copy and paste text and images within a document, as well as from
one document to another
Proofread and edit writing using appropriate resources
Use age-appropriate internet-based search engines to locate and
extract information, selecting appropriate keywords

Materials:
List of resources,
articles or
manipulatives you
need. This helps you
organize everything
prior to the lesson.

Invent an Insect sheet, one per student

Insect Diagram, one per student
Set of Insect Habitat cards
Arthropods printouts (optional)
Colored pencils/markers, modeling clay, one set per group of students (optional)
Computers

Introduction:

How will you

introduce the content
or engage students in
inquiry?

Introduce the content by asking students what they know about

insects. Have they found any recently? What are some thoughts they
have? Do they know what makes an insect unique? Then provide
details on what makes an insect an insect (three body parts, two
antennae, six legs).

How will you engage

students in the
lesson?

Introduce the essential question: How can there be so many similarities among living
things, yet so many different species of plants and animals? Discuss and define the term
adaptation.

Activity:
What will students be
doing?

Pass out one Insect Diagram handout for each student. Have students work in groups to
try to fill out the sheets first, then have a class discussion about what each part is and
what they think it does
Divide class into small work groups of four to six students each and provide each group
with an Insect Habitat Card and a set of art supplies. Each student will need an Invent an
Insect worksheet. Teacher tip: Provide modeling clay or other art supplies for a more
dynamic and three-dimensional activity.
Present the rules of the activity:
Invented insects must be suited for the habitat described on your groups Insect Habitat
Card and must eat at least one of the food sources listed.
Invented insects should be grounded in reality (insects cant make jet packs to fly around)
and have the same body parts as real insects.
Have fun and be creative!
Dont forget to give your insect a name
Throughout the week, students will share computers to research real insects that live in
their habitat and pick one to write a report about
In the final print of the report, they will include real pictures of the insect as well as a
drawing they have made of their invented insect in a paint/draw program

Wrap-Up:
How will you wrap-up
the lesson and
summarize student
learning and major
student take-aways?

Have each group present their insect to the class and state what habitat they were given.
Have students share at least one adaptation they gave their insect and why.
As a class discuss how each groups insect was similar and different. Did any two have
similar adaptations? Did any two have similar habitats, but different adaptations?
Reflect and try to answer the essential question: How can there be so many similarities
among living things, yet so many different species of plants and animals?
Turn in reports to teacher to be read and displayed in classroom.

Accommodations:
Modifications include:
What modifications Writing a shorter research piece
will you include to
Allowing the inclusion of more visual aids in the paper
support different
Collaborating with a classmate before inventing insect
learning styles and
I will make sure to include multiple ways of engaging students in the
needs? How will you
content. There will be visual aids, such as pictures and diagrams, we
make this lesson
will discuss insects as a group and I will show a short video on insects
accessible to all of
as well.
your students?
Assessment(s):
How do you know
they got it? How will
you formatively
assess what you
students know and
learn?

The presentations and papers will demonstrate whether or not the

students came away with an understanding of what kinds of insects
live in their assigned habitat.