This science lesson plan spans a week and focuses on classifying animals and their characteristics. On Monday, students create a KWL chart about different animals. They classify animals as reptiles, fish, amphibians, mammals, or birds. On Tuesday, students place pictures of animals into the correct categories and learn about vertebrates and invertebrates. They choose an animal to research. On Wednesday, students take a field trip to the zoo to observe animals and habitats. On Thursday, students research their chosen animal online and create a diorama habitat and shoebox report. On Friday, students measure animal lengths and continue working on reports before presenting and quizzing each other.

1. Jennifer Brumley
Educ 373
Fall 2009
Science weekly lesson plan
5.4.7- Explain that living things such as plants and animals differ in their characteristics
and that sometimes these differences can give members of these groups an advantage in
surviving and reproducing goes along with standard 5.4.4- explain that in any particular
environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some do not survive as well,
and some cannot survive at all
Monday- Start making a KWL chart of what the students know about different animal
characteristics. Characteristics can be: where they live, what the habitat is like, what they
eat, cats, bears, and etc. Introduce another characteristic, whether the animals are
invertebrate or vertebrate. That means whether the animals have a back bone or not.
Classify the animals into reptiles, fish, amphibians, mammals, and birds. Next we will
find out what the students want to know about the animals. Objective for today is to see
what the students already know about animals and their characteristics and see what they
want to know.
Tuesday- Up on the board there will be signs saying reptiles, fish, amphibians,
mammals, and birds. Each student will get a picture or two of different animals and will
then place them in the right category. The next way we will classify will be by vertebrate
and invertebrate. What does vertebrae mean? What does invertebrate mean? Now I will
ask the students another way we can classify the animals. Is anybody seeing any patterns
with the animals that we are classifying? Students will choose an animal to do a report
on, and this way, when we go to the zoo tomorrow if their animal is there, they can pay
more attention to how their habitat is set up and the info on them. They can also ask the
zookeepers questions about their animal, even if their animal is not at the zoo.
Wednesday- Today we will take a field trip to the zoo. With the field trip, the students
can observe animals in somewhat a natural environment. Pictures will be taken of the
different animals and of their habitat. As we are going through the zoo and seeing the
different animals, I will ask the students questions. The students will be able to ask the
zookeepers questions about the animals. When we return back to school, the students
will be divided into groups and they will discuss amongst themselves what they learned
at the zoo today.
Thursday- Today I will give the student’s class time to get on the computers to research
and type up their reports. What the students will have to have in their reports is: facts
about the habitat, animal’s classification, why the animal is able to survive in its
environment, what the animal eats, what would happen to the animal if it lived in a
different environment? One other thing the students will collect is the average
measurements of their animals. Students will add any other facts about the animal that
they would like to add. To add in art, the students will make a habitat for their animal in

2. a shoebox for a diorama. Language Arts 5.5.3 Research Application: Write or deliver a
research report that has been developed using a systematic research process (defines the
topic, gathers information, determines credibility, reports findings) and that:
• uses information from a variety of sources (books, technology, multimedia) and
documents sources (titles and authors).
• demonstrates that information that has been gathered has been summarized.
• organizes information by categorizing and sequencing
Friday- Today to get the students up and moving around and have fun, they will use a
material to measure out the different lengths of the animals. Students will have another
day to work on their report. I will also have them write a paragraph reflecting on their
own work so far on the report. Assessment will not be done until the students have
turned in and presented their reports. At that time I will have the students come up with
questions from either their report or another students report, and the students will then
take the quiz.