• 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: an eagle's sharp claws (talons)? (to breathe underwater / to paddle through water / to grip and carry prey / to protect its soft body) → to grip and carry preyPrompt: Think about where the animal lives and what it eats.
2. Which body part helps an animal protect its soft body? (a porcupine's quills / a cat's whiskers / an elephant's trunk / a tortoise's shell) → a tortoise's shellPrompt: Picture the animal doing the job.
3. A hummingbird has a long, thin beak. What does this suggest about its food? (It tears meat. / It eats leaves from tall trees. / It cracks hard nuts. / It reaches deep into flowers for nectar.) → It reaches deep into flowers for nectar.Prompt: What shape of tool would you use to reach inside a narrow tube?

• 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: wind turbine blades with bumps on the edge? (a humpback whale's bumpy flippers / burrs that stick to dog fur / a lotus leaf / a cat's eyes shining in headlights) → a humpback whale's bumpy flippersPrompt: Which animal or plant part does the same job?
2. Gecko lizards can walk up walls. What have scientists made by copying their feet? (louder alarms / heavier boots / smoother ice skates / grippy pads that stick without glue) → grippy pads that stick without gluePrompt: How do geckos stay on smooth glass?

• 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? (Animals ask them to. / It is the only way to invent anything. / Living things are made of metal. / 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. True or false? Engineers never learn anything from animals. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think of Velcro, flippers and reflectors.

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