Standard of Learning

For my standard of learning, I chose standard 1.5 / Science / 1st Grade / Strand: Life Processes

Standard 1.5

The student will investigate and understand that animals, including humans, have basic needs and certain distinguishing characteristics. Key concepts include:

a) basic needs include adequate air, food, water, shelter, and space (habitat);

b) animals, including humans, have many physical characteristics; and

c) animals can be classified according to a variety of characteristics.

Overview

     This standard focuses on the idea that animals move, need food, breathe, and reproduce. 
Animals have a variety of ways in which they accomplish these activities. Each type of animal has features that allow it to function in unique and specific ways to obtain food, reproduce, and survive in a particular place. This standard builds upon the Life Processes strand (K.6 and K.7), in which students are introduced to the concept of living and nonliving, and investigate and understand basic needs and life processes of plants and animals. It is intended that students will actively develop scientific investigation, reasoning, and logic skills (1.1) in the context of the key concepts presented in this standard.

Linking activities to different learning styles:

      This topic lends itself to different activities that are bound to meet students' different learning styles ranging from using photos of animals for visual learners to investigate the physical characteristics, using miniature plastic figures of animals or stuffed toys for kinesthetic learners, learning songs and dances about animals' habitats, their physical appearances, and food preferences, using the internet to learn more about animals, taking field trips to a zoo to examine the different animal types there, bringing a pet to the classroom and watching it for an extended period of time to write something about what habits and characteristics it has, creating different corners in the classroom to represent the different animals and their habitat, the reenactment of a story about animals, and much more.