Developmental Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Carley Bullock Date: 4/9/2021

Group Size: 15-20 Allotted Time: 50 minutes Grade Level: Fourth

Subject or Topic: Science- Introduction to Adaptations

Common Core/PA Standard(s):

4.5.4.D. Explain how specific adaptations can help organisms survive in their
environment.

Learning Targets/Objectives:

The fourth grade students will identify specific organisms and their adaptations by selecting
an animal species and researching their adaptations.
Assessment Approaches: Evidence:
1. Sticky Note 1. Students will place their ideas on a
2. Thumbs up/ down (observe) sticky note and stick it to the white
3. Adaptation worksheet board.
2. When asked if understanding is in
place, the students will put their
heads down and show the teacher a
thumbs up or thumbs down.
3. The animal species is identified and
the animal is drawn with the
adaptation(s) and with the
adaptation(s) labeled.
Assessment Scale:
3: Proficient - Identify an animal with the correct adaptations and the adaptations are
labeled.
2: Basic- Identify an animal with the correct adaptations but lacks the labeling of adaptations.
1: Needs Improvement (Below Basic)- Either animal is drawn without any adaptations or
nothing is turned in.

Subject Matter/Content:
Prerequisites:
● The students will know:
○ How to read
○ How to write
○ How to research a topic using the internet
 ○ How to label
○ What an organism is
○ Various types of animals
Key Vocabulary:
● Adaptations: An adaptation is a special skill or physical change which helps an animal
to survive and do everything it needs to do in an environment.Adaptations could be
physical changes to the animal's body or behavioural changes in how an individual
animal or a society do things in their daily lives.
Content/Facts:
● Various animals and their adaptation(s)
○ Adaptations: An adaptation is a special skill which helps an animal to survive
and do everything it needs to do. Adaptations could be physical changes to
the animal's body or behavioural changes in how an individual animal or a
society do things in their daily lives.
○ giraffe (short neck vs. long neck) adaptation to reach food in a changing
environment.
○ wood frog (surviving in freezing temperatures)
○ kangaroo rat (survives without drinking water)
○ Okapi (unique adaptations for survival)

Introduction/Activating/Launch Strategies:
5-10 minutes
● Have sticky notes on students desks.
● “Good morning boys and girls! Today we are going to be researchers! We will be able
to explore all different animals and different adaptations that have occured to those
animals! On your sticky note I want you to write down what you think the word
adaptation means. When you finish I want you to stick the sticky note to the white
board.”
● Give the students time to write and stick their sticky notes to the white board.
● “Now, we will go over our answers in a few minutes to see who was right! First I want
you to look at these two pictures I am about to put up and I want you to think in your
head what the differences are.”
● Display the two pictures of the giraffe on the SMART board and give the students time
to think.
● “Who can tell me some difference we see?”
○ Have a few students answer (expected answers: the neck length, size of head,
legs)
Development/Teaching Approaches
35-40 minutes
● Model:
● “Great job everyone! The changes we just went over are called adaptations! Now let
 me read some sticky notes to see who had the right idea.”
● Read a few sticky notes and remark on right ideas and give praise to all attempts.
(examples: good try, almost, very good, thoughtful, etc.)
● “Adaptations could be physical changes to the animal's body or behavioural changes
in how an individual animal or a society do things in their daily lives.”
● Write the definition on the white board for the students to refer to when needed.
● “Check in, heads down and when I say “3,2,1” I want to see thumbs up for who
understands what an adaptation is so far and thumbs down for who has questions.”
● Have students do thumbs up and thumbs down. (If needed, reread the definition and
explain that we will go over more examples next.)
● “Now, I am going to read a book to help introduce us to adaptations, what they are,
and how they happen. The book is called How and Why Animals Adapt by Bobbie
Kalman.”
● Read the book
● “Who can tell me one fact they learn from the book about adaptations?”
● Have students share out answers.
● “Lets go over some more adaptation examples!”
● Pull up the picture of the wood frog and display it on the SMART board.
● “This is the wood frog! Can you believe these little frogs are able to survive in
temperatures lower than -80 degrees Fahrenheit? During the winter months, the
frogs freeze their bodies solid. They stop breathing and their hearts stop pumping.
These are his adaptations!”
● Pull up a picture of a kangaroo rat.
● “This is the kangaroo rat!These little guys have never taken a sip of water! These guys
survive on the moisture from the seeds they eat. Some other cool features they have
are they have incredible hearing and can jump over nine feet! These are some of their
adaptations!”
● “Is everyone ok so far? When I say “3,2,1” I want heads down and thumbs up. Thumbs
up for understanding and thumbs down for any questions.”
● Have students do thumbs up or thumbs down and answer any questions the students
might have.
● Guided Practice:
● “Now, let's do one last example before you begin your research!”
● Pull up a picture of an Okapi.
● “Does anyone want to take a guess as to what this animal is? Turn and talk to your
partner to share some ideas”
○ Have students share their ideas out.
● “Good guesses but this is actually known as an okapi. It looks like a combination of a
giraffe and a zebra. So this weird looking guy has three adaptations that are very
unique. One is he has scent glands in his feet to mark territory. This means to put his
scent down to tell other animals that he was there and this is his area. Another
adaptation is this animal has infrasonic calls which means when it communicates to its
young, no other animal can hear it. The last unique adaptation is this animal has 14-
18 foot long tongues to clean their eyes and ears! That is way over a foot- long
 tongue!”
● Independent Practice:
● “Now, we have seen a few examples of various animals and their adaptations! It is
now your turn to research and identify one animal and the different adaptations that
animal has!”
● Pass out adaptation worksheets.
● “On this worksheet, I want you to identify the animal you decided to research, draw
that animal with their adaptations, and label the various adaptations on the animal.
There is a list of websites for you to choose from on Google Classroom! When you are
finished turn it into me. If there are any questions feel free to ask!”
● Give students time to research and fill out the worksheet.

Closure/Summarizing Strategies:
5 minutes
● “Great job today everyone! Today we learned about adaptations! Can anyone tell me
what adaptations they found?”
● Have a few students share out some adaptations.
● “Now, I am going to play a quick video to lead into tomorrow's lesson!”
● Play extinction video to the 0 to 50 second mark and pause it.
● “Excellent work researchers! Tomorrow we will be learning about survival vs.
extinction!”

Accommodations/Differentiation:
● One student has fine motor disabilities therefore has difficulty with writing and
drawing.
● I will have an online version available for them to use. They can type their answers or
use their microphone and verbally say their answer and have the computer program
write the answer.
● They can either choose a picture from online to use of the animal for labels or they
can use computer tools to draw their animal. They can then insert text boxes for
labels.

Materials/Resources:

● Adaptation Definition:
○ http://wildlife.durrell.org/kids/fun-factsheets/adaptation-
factsheet/#:~:text=An%20adaptation%20is%20a%20special,things%20in
%20their%20daily%20lives
● Animal Adaptation Examples Information and Pictures:
○ https://www.businessinsider.com/these-7-animals-have-crazy-adaptations-to-
help-them-to-survive-in-their-habitats-2016-7#wood-frogs-freeze-their-
bodies-1
 ○ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/355432595573645247/
● Laptop (internet access)
● SMART board
● How and Why Animals Adapt by Bobbie Kalman
● White board and markers
● Sticky notes
● Something to write with
● Crayons
● Adaptations worksheet (15-20) (Attached)
● Adaptation worksheet rubric (Attached)
● Extinction video: https://safeshare.tv/x/ss5fb012267620a#
● Research Resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SVZhDe3iuNEbGd5qu-
47R9-JopZOIiXLrKU7lBMFb5Y/edit?usp=sharing

Reflective Response:
Report of Student Learning Target/Objectives Proficiency Levels

Rubric for Adaptations Worksheet:

3 2 1

Identify Animal Animal is identified Animal is identified Animal is not

with its full complete with a partial name. identified.
name.

Drawing Animals are drawn Animals are drawn Animals are not
with real with almost all real drawn with
adaptations. adaptations. adaptations.

Label Adaptations are Adaptations are Adaptations are not

labeled on animals in labeled but not all in labeled.
correct locations. the correct locations.
 Remediation Plan (if applicable)

What to do if students score low.

Personal Reflection Questions

How was my pacing?

How did I take effective assessment during the lesson?
Were the students engaged?
What would I change in the lesson?
Were the students excited?

Additional reflection/thoughts
Name: Date:

Adaptation Worksheet:

1) Full name of animal: _________________

2) Draw the animal with its real adaptations.

3) Label the adaptations on your drawing in the correct locations.