EDUC 513: Elementary Methods of Teaching Science

5E Lesson Design

Your Name Samantha Bowman

Grade Level 3rd Grade
Subject/Topic of the Animal Classification
Lesson
State Academic State: Pennsylvania
Standards Standard Number(s):
(Specify State) 3.1.3.A1,
3.1.3.A2
3.1.3.A3
3.1.3.A9
3.1.3.B1
3.1.3.C1
3.1.3.C2

Statement of the Standard(s):

-Describe characteristics of living things that help to identify and
classify them.
-Describe the basic needs of living things and their dependence on
light, food, air, water, and shelter.
-Illustrate how plants and animals go through predictable life cycles
that include birth, growth, development, reproduction, and death.
-Distinguish between scientific fact and opinion. Ask questions
about objects, organisms, and events. Understand that all scientific
investigations involve asking and answering questions and
comparing the answer with what is already known. Plan and
conduct a simple investigation and understand that different
questions require different kinds of investigations. Use simple
equipment (tools and other technologies) to gather data and
understand that this allows scientists to collect more information
than relying only on their senses to gather information. Use
data/evidence to construct explanations and understand that
scientists develop explanations based on their evidence and
compare them with their current scientific knowledge.
Communicate procedures and explanations giving priority to
evidence and understanding that scientists make their results public,
describe their investigations so they can be reproduced, and review
and ask questions about the work of other scientists.
-Understand that plants and animals closely resemble their parents.
-Recogize that plants survive through adaptations, such as stem

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growth towards light and root growth downward in response to

gravity. Recognize that many plants and animals can survive harsh
environments because of seasonal behaviors (e.g. hibernation,
migration, trees shedding leaves).
-Describe animal characteristics that are necessary for survival.
Lesson Objectives At the end of this lesson, the students will know:
(Key Knowledge) 1. Name and define the seven levels of classification
2. Evaluate and compare the classification of animals.
3. Differentiate features of animals to determine their habitat.
Lesson Objectives At the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:
(Key Skills) 1. Apply their knowledge as they practice classifying animals.
2. Devise a classification system for the objects in their homes.
3. Create a new species and classify it according to the
principles of classification.
Blooms Taxonomy Match each of the verbs that you have used in your objectives with
Cognitive Domain* a specific level of the taxonomy.
(Required) Knowledge: Name, Define
Comprehension: Classify
Application: Differentiate, Apply, Practice
Analysis: Compare
Synthesis: Create
Evaluation: Evaluate
Blooms Taxonomy
Affective Domain*
(Optional)
Blooms Taxonomy
Psychomotor
Domain*
(Optional)
Content Summary Briefly outline scientific concepts are you teaching.
Kingdom: animal, plant, protists, fungi, bacteria, and
archaebacteria.
Phylum: focus will be on Phylum Chordata since thats what
vertebrates like humans, fish, and birds are a part of. Phylum
Arthropoda will also be touched on which have hard external
skeletons or exoskeletons, like a lobster or insect.
Class: Phylum Chordata is divided into the classes: amphibian, bird,
mammal, reptile, and fish.
Order: this isnt set in stone and can change as more information
comes in, but its basically determining whether one creature is
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above another in the circle of life (who eats who)

Family: a way to group similar genuses together.
The next two will be taught in class the following day so students
can explore the concepts at home and come into class the following
day with some idea of what they will be learning about.
Genus: two or more species that share unique body structures or
other characteristics are considered to be closely related and are
placed together in a genus. It is the first part of the scientific name
of a species, always spelled with a Capital letter and in italics.
Species: a group of individuals that breed together to produce fertile
offspring. For example, a horse and a donkey can breed, but their
offspring (mules) arent able to reproduce. Species is the second
part of a scientific name and is always spelled with a lower case
letter and in italics.
Lesson Activities Students will begin by playing a game of bingo, where their sheets
(Engage) will have pictures of specimen from different Kingdoms. They will
be given 25 images that they will velcro to a piece of paper with a
5X5 grid (each box has a piece of Velcro on it) with the words
BINGO above each row, so that no two pages are alike. I will
have a stack of 25 full page images with one of the letters from
BINGO on it and I will hold them up one at a time while students
mark their bingo sheets accordingly. When a student gets bingo, I
will ask them to explain each specimen so I can determine if its a
good bingo, then we will move on to the explore phase.
Lesson Activities Students will then be placed into groups and they will take all of the
(Explore) pieces off of their bingo sheet and put them into groups based on
which ones they believe are similar to each other and why, then they
will compare and contrast their findings and share with the class.
Lesson Activities Students will then go back to their seats where I will ask questions
(Explain) about why they grouped things the way they did, and if there are
any problems, they will be corrected in this time. This is when I will
explain the 7 levels of classification and general definitions on what
they mean. The main focus for now though, will be Kingdom
(animals), Phylum (Chordata and Arthropoda), Class (amphibian,
bird, mammal, reptile, fish under Chordata), and Order. I will give
examples of each of the categories stated and check for
understanding by asking for additional examples as the lesson goes
on with access to a computer so they can explore items that were
not listed on the papers. I will then show them pictures of different
animals and ask them based on what they look like, what their

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habitat may be. Then they will be given time to draw a picture of a
made up animal and classify it using the levels of classification that
they were taught. They will continue to develop this idea until the
next day when they will explain their animal to the class.
Lesson Activities Students will be taught the mnemonic device to remember the seven
(Elaborate) levels of classification, which is King Phillip Comes Over For
Good Soup. Students who are struggling will be given more time
to explore and ask questions, whereas students who are doing well
will be given more information on protists, bacteria, and
archaebacteria Kingdoms. As students come to a general level of
understanding, they will play another game, this time on the chalk
board. I will begin by drawing an animal on the board, like a
mouse. I will have the students line up and come up to the board
and draw either before or after the mouse, something that would eat
a mouse, or something that the mouse would eat. Lets say a student
draws a piece of cheese after the mouse, then the next student could
draw something before the mouse, or after the cheese. Someone
could draw a cat before the mouse, or bacteria after the mouse, and
so on until the class cant think of anymore. This will allow the
students to play around with the classification Order to test their
understanding.
Lesson Activities Formative and/or summative that you will use in this lesson:
(Evaluate) Then students will use the end of the day to write a ticket out the
door answering the questions: What is the mnemonic I gave you to
remember the 7 levels of classification? Do you have any ideas for
another mnemonic device for learning that (if yes, explain)? What
are 3 types of Kingdoms? What is one Phylum you learned today?
What group are amphibians and reptiles in?
Extra Credit: What do you think the final two levels of
classification (genus and species) means?
When students turn in their ticket out the door, they will be sent
home with an assignment asking them to create classifications like
the ones they learned today based on things in their home. They will
also continue working on creating their new species of animal to
present to the class the next day.

* Bloom Website: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html

**Attach copies of any materials you will use during this lesson.

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