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Science lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 45 minutes

When an environment changes: move, adjust or die out

Animals and habitats

CCSS NGSS.3-LS4-4CCSS NGSS.3-LS4-3England: KS2 Y6 Evolution and inheritanceEngland: KS2 Y4 Living things and their habitats

Objective and success criteria

Students will: When an environment changes: move, adjust or die out.

  • 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: Adaptations to habitats

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Animal picture cards, Habitat maps, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Adaptations to habitats). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Why do owls have very large eyes? (to keep warm / to smell food / to look scary / to see well at night when they hunt) → to see well at night when they huntPrompt: When are most owls active?
  2. Adaptations: which statement is true? (Every animal can live in every habitat. / A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Fish have gills to take oxygen from water. / Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them.) → Fish have gills to take oxygen from water.Prompt: Adaptations take many generations to appear.
  3. Adaptations: which statement is NOT true? (Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them. / An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive in its habitat. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals. / Some animals use camouflage to hide from predators.) → Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them.Prompt: Can an animal decide to change its body for its babies?

Hook · 5 min

  • Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
  • Share the objective: When an environment changes: move, adjust or die out. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: What is a likely effect of this change: a pond dries up in a drought?
  • Step 1: So the answer is: frogs and fish that cannot leave may die
  • Answer: frogs and fish that cannot leave may die
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 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. What is a likely effect of this change: Arctic sea ice melts earlier each spring? (polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice / woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away / flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch / animal homes are split and crossing becomes dangerous) → polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the icePrompt: Which living things depend on what was lost or changed?
  2. Which kind of animal is most at risk when its habitat changes? (one that can fly far / one that can eat only one kind of food and lives in only one place / one that can live in many places / one that eats many foods) → one that can eat only one kind of food and lives in only one placePrompt: Pandas eat almost only bamboo.

You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. True or false? All animals can adapt to any change straight away. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think about moving, surviving and dying out.
  2. What is a likely effect of this change: a forest is cut down for farmland? (woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away / polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice / frogs and fish that cannot leave may die / flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch) → woodland birds lose nest sites and many move awayPrompt: Which living things depend on what was lost or changed?

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: Adaptations to habitats.
  • Use concrete materials: animal picture 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/grade-3.

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

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When an environment changes: move, adjust or die out

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    True or false? Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to wildlife.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    What is a likely effect of this change: spring arrives earlier as the climate warms?

    • A. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch
    • B. woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away
    • C. frogs and fish that cannot leave may die
    • D. animal homes are split and crossing becomes dangerous

  3. Question 3

    Which kind of animal is most at risk when its habitat changes?

    • A. one that can fly far
    • B. one that can eat only one kind of food and lives in only one place
    • C. one that eats many foods
    • D. one that can live in many places

  4. Question 4

    True or false? All animals can adapt to any change straight away.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  5. Question 5

    What is a likely effect of this change: a forest is cut down for farmland?

    • A. woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away
    • B. animal homes are split and crossing becomes dangerous
    • C. polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice
    • D. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch

  6. Question 6

    Why are wildlife bridges and tunnels built over and under busy roads?

    • A. To give cars more space.
    • B. So animals can watch traffic.
    • C. To keep animals in one place.
    • D. So animals can cross safely between parts of their habitat.

  7. Question 7

    After a forest fire, which living things usually return first?

    • A. old oak trees
    • B. owls that nest in big trees
    • C. grasses and small fast-growing plants
    • D. bears

  8. Question 8

    True or false? Plants can walk to a new place when their habitat changes.

    • A. True
    • B. False

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Answer key: When an environment changes: move, adjust or die out

  1. 1. A. True

  2. 2. A. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch

  3. 3. B. one that can eat only one kind of food and lives in only one place

  4. 4. B. False

  5. 5. A. woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away

  6. 6. D. So animals can cross safely between parts of their habitat.

  7. 7. C. grasses and small fast-growing plants

  8. 8. B. False