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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 smell food / to see well at night when they hunt / to keep warm / to look scary) → to see well at night when they huntPrompt: When are most owls active?
  2. Adaptations: which statement is true? (A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them. / Every animal can live in every habitat. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals.) → Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals.Prompt: Adaptations take many generations to appear.
  3. Adaptations: which statement is NOT true? (Fish have gills to take oxygen from water. / Some animals use camouflage to hide from predators. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals. / Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them.) → 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? (animal homes are split and crossing becomes dangerous / flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch / frogs and fish that cannot leave may die / polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice) → polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the icePrompt: Which living things depend on what was lost or changed?
  2. A wetland is drained to build houses. What can the ducks living there do? (fly to another wetland if one is nearby / live inside the new houses / grow gills / turn into land animals overnight) → fly to another wetland if one is nearbyPrompt: Birds can travel. Can every animal?

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. What is a likely effect of this change: spring arrives earlier as the climate warms? (flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch / woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away / animal homes are split and crossing becomes dangerous / polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice) → flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatchPrompt: Which living things depend on what was lost or changed?
  2. True or false? Changes to habitats are always caused by people. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Think about moving, surviving and dying out.

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? Some animals survive habitat change because they can eat many different foods.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    What is a likely effect of this change: Arctic sea ice melts earlier each spring?

    • A. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch
    • B. polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice
    • C. woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away
    • D. frogs and fish that cannot leave may die

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

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

    • A. polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice
    • B. woodland birds lose nest sites and many move away
    • C. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch
    • D. frogs and fish that cannot leave may die

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

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

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    What is a likely effect of this change: a pond dries up in a drought?

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

  8. Question 8

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

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

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

  1. 1. A. True

  2. 2. B. polar bears have less time to hunt seals on the ice

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

  4. 4. C. flowers may bloom before the insects that feed on them hatch

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

  6. 6. A. True

  7. 7. B. frogs and fish that cannot leave may die

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