• 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 duck's webbed feet? (to paddle through water / to keep enemies away / to grab food and suck up water / to pick up and eat food) → to paddle through waterPrompt: Think about where the animal lives and what it eats.
2. Which body part helps an animal grab food and suck up water? (a tortoise's shell / an eagle's sharp claws (talons) / a bird's beak / an elephant's trunk) → an elephant's trunkPrompt: Picture the animal doing the job.
3. Why do fish have fins and a tail? (to keep warm / to swim and steer in water / to see in the dark / to breathe air) → 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: Inventions inspired by animals and plants. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which part of nature inspired this design: self-cleaning paint that rain washes clean?
• Step 1: Water rolls off lotus leaves and carries dirt away.
• Step 2: So the answer is: a lotus leaf
• Answer: a lotus leaf
• 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. Which part of nature inspired this design: self-cleaning paint that rain washes clean? (a cat's eyes shining in headlights / a kingfisher's beak / burrs that stick to dog fur / a lotus leaf) → a lotus leafPrompt: Which animal or plant part does the same job?
2. A team wants a coat that keeps people warm in snow. Which animal feature could they copy? (a cactus's spines / a frog's damp skin / a fish's scales / a polar bear's thick fur) → a polar bear's thick furPrompt: Which animal stays warm on the ice?

• 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. Why do engineers copy ideas from living things? (Living things are made of metal. / Animals ask them to. / It is the only way to invent anything. / Plants and animals have useful features that solve problems.) → Plants and animals have useful features that solve problems.Prompt: How long have animals been solving problems like gripping, swimming and keeping warm?
2. Which part of nature inspired this design: hook-and-loop fastener (Velcro)? (burrs that stick to dog fur / a kingfisher's beak / a cat's eyes shining in headlights / a lotus leaf) → burrs that stick to dog furPrompt: Which animal or plant part does the same job?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-1.