• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Compare life cycles: mammals, birds, amphibians and insects; Growing up: stages of a human life). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: horse? (born live / hatch from eggs) → born livePrompt: Is it a mammal?
2. Why do frogs lay thousands of eggs but elephants have one calf at a time? (Frogs are bigger than elephants. / Elephant calves hatch from eggs. / Most frog eggs and tadpoles get eaten, while elephant mothers protect their calf for years. / Elephants cannot count.) → Most frog eggs and tadpoles get eaten, while elephant mothers protect their calf for years.Prompt: Which young get more parental care?
3. Are the young of this animal born live or do they hatch from eggs: crocodile? (born live / hatch from eggs) → hatch from eggsPrompt: Is it a mammal?

• Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
• Share the objective: Compare how long mammals grow before birth. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Mice have a gestation of about 3 weeks. How does this fit the pattern?
• Step 1: Mice are tiny and have very short gestation, which fits the pattern.
• Step 2: So the answer is: Small mammal, short gestation
• Answer: Small mammal, short gestation
• 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. Mice have a gestation of about 3 weeks. How does this fit the pattern? (It breaks the pattern completely / Small mammal, short gestation / Small mammal, very long gestation / Mice are not mammals) → Small mammal, short gestationPrompt: Compare a mouse's size with a dog's.
2. What is gestation? (the time an egg takes to hatch in a nest / how long an animal lives / the time a baby mammal grows inside its mother before birth / the time it takes to learn to walk) → the time a baby mammal grows inside its mother before birthPrompt: Humans: about 9 months.

• 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. Mice have a gestation of about 3 weeks. How does this fit the pattern? (Small mammal, short gestation / It breaks the pattern completely / Mice are not mammals / Small mammal, very long gestation) → Small mammal, short gestationPrompt: Compare a mouse's size with a dog's.
2. Looking at dogs, humans, horses and elephants, what pattern do you notice? (Smaller mammals always have longer gestation. / Gestation has nothing to do with size. / All mammals have the same gestation. / Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods.) → Larger mammals tend to have longer gestation periods.Prompt: Compare the dog with the elephant.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.