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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 30 minutes

How plants, animals and people change their surroundings

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.K-ESS2-2CCSS NGSS.K-ESS3-1England: EYFS Understanding the World: The natural world

Objective and success criteria

Students will: How plants, animals and people change their surroundings.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: What plants and animals need to stay alive

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (What plants and animals need to stay alive). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. A goldfish lives in a tank. Which of these does it need to survive? (a sandy beach / a bed and a blanket / clean water with air in it, and food / bright lights all night) → clean water with air in it, and foodPrompt: Fish breathe air that is mixed into the water.
  2. Needs of living things: which statement is true? (Only animals need water. / Pets do not need air. / Both plants and animals need water. / Plants eat bugs to get all their food.) → Both plants and animals need water.Prompt: Plants make food; animals eat food.
  3. Who needs this, plants or animals: leaves to catch light? (plants / animals) → plantsPrompt: Who makes its own food, and who has to find it?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: How plants, animals and people change their surroundings. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Who made this change: earthworms mixing the soil?
  • Step 1: Animals dig, build and move things to meet their needs.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: an animal
  • Answer: an animal
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Who made this change: building a playground? (a plant / an animal / people) → peoplePrompt: Is it something growing, an animal at work, or people building?
  2. A beaver builds a dam across a stream. What changes? (Nothing changes. / The stream turns into ice. / The trees grow faster. / Water backs up and makes a pond.) → Water backs up and makes a pond.Prompt: What happens when you block water with a wall of sticks?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • 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.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. A pavement (sidewalk) next to an old tree is cracked and lifted up. What most likely did it? (people walking on it / the wind / the leaves falling / the tree's roots growing underneath) → the tree's roots growing underneathPrompt: What part of a tree grows under the ground?
  2. True or false? Only people can change the places they live. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think of beavers, roots and builders.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: What plants and animals need to stay alive.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

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

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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How plants, animals and people change their surroundings

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Why does a squirrel bury acorns in the ground?

    • A. to make the ground flat
    • B. to store food for later
    • C. to keep the acorns warm for fun
    • D. to grow a nest

  2. Question 2

    Who made this change: planting a field of wheat?

    • A. a plant
    • B. an animal
    • C. people

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Animals can change the land to meet their needs.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    How do earthworms change the soil?

    • A. They make the soil hard and dry.
    • B. They turn soil into rocks.
    • C. They paint it brown.
    • D. They dig tunnels that let in air and water.

  5. Question 5

    Who made this change: a big tree shading the grass so less grows under it?

    • A. a plant
    • B. an animal
    • C. people

  6. Question 6

    True or false? People change the land when they build towns and farms.

    • A. True
    • B. False

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Answer key: How plants, animals and people change their surroundings

  1. 1. B. to store food for later

  2. 2. C. people

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. D. They dig tunnels that let in air and water.

  5. 5. A. a plant

  6. 6. A. True