• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Animal body parts and the jobs they do). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What job does this body part do: a tortoise's shell? (to grip and carry prey / to protect its soft body / to grab food and suck up water / to breathe underwater) → to protect its soft bodyPrompt: Think about where the animal lives and what it eats.
2. Which body part helps an animal paddle through water? (a porcupine's quills / a duck's webbed feet / a fish's gills / an eagle's sharp claws (talons)) → a duck's webbed feetPrompt: Picture the animal doing the job.
3. Why do fish have fins and a tail? (to breathe air / to keep warm / to swim and steer in water / to see in the dark) → to swim and steer in waterPrompt: How does a fish move forward and turn?

• Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
• Share the objective: Internal and external structures of animals. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Is this an internal or an external structure: a turtle's shell?
• Step 1: External structures are on the outside, where we can see them.
• Step 2: So the answer is: external (outside the body)
• Answer: external (outside the body)
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Is this an internal or an external structure: a hedgehog's spines? (external (outside the body) / internal (inside the body)) → external (outside the body)Prompt: Could you see it without looking inside the animal?
2. What does this internal structure do: stomach? (breaks down food / take in oxygen from water / take in oxygen from the air / controls the body and processes information) → breaks down foodPrompt: Think about what keeps an animal alive: blood, air, food, control, support.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. A crab sheds its shell as it grows. Why? (Its shell is made of skin. / The hard external shell cannot stretch, so it must be replaced by a bigger one. / To change colour. / It is too hot inside.) → The hard external shell cannot stretch, so it must be replaced by a bigger one.Prompt: Could a hard box grow with you?
2. What does this internal structure do: skeleton? (take in oxygen from the air / breaks down food / controls the body and processes information / supports and protects the body) → supports and protects the bodyPrompt: Think about what keeps an animal alive: blood, air, food, control, support.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-4.