Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 minutes

Internal and external structures of animals

Animals and habitats

CCSS NGSS.4-LS1-1England: KS2 Y4 Animals, including humansEngland: KS2 Y3 Animals, including humans

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Internal and external structures of animals.

  • 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: Animal body parts and the jobs they do

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 · 6 min

  • 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: a butterfly's long tongue (proboscis)? (to grab food and suck up water / to keep enemies away / to protect its soft body / to sip nectar from flowers) → to sip nectar from flowersPrompt: Think about where the animal lives and what it eats.
  2. Which body part helps an animal grab food and suck up water? (an elephant's trunk / a porcupine's quills / a bird's beak / a cat's whiskers) → an elephant's trunkPrompt: Picture the animal doing the job.
  3. Why do fish have fins and a tail? (to keep warm / to breathe air / to see in the dark / to swim and steer in water) → to swim and steer in waterPrompt: How does a fish move forward and turn?

Hook · 6 min

  • Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
  • Share the objective: Internal and external structures of animals. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Is this an internal or an external structure: a turtle's shell?
  • Step 1: External structures are on the outside, where we can see them.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: external (outside the body)
  • Answer: external (outside the body)
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 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. Is this an internal or an external structure: the brain? (external (outside the body) / internal (inside the body)) → internal (inside the body)Prompt: Could you see it without looking inside the animal?
  2. What does this internal structure do: stomach? (take in oxygen from water / supports and protects the body / pumps blood around the body / breaks down food) → breaks down foodPrompt: Think about what keeps an animal alive: blood, air, food, control, support.

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. What does this internal structure do: skeleton? (pumps blood around the body / take in oxygen from water / supports and protects the body / take in oxygen from the air) → supports and protects the bodyPrompt: Think about what keeps an animal alive: blood, air, food, control, support.
  2. Is this an internal or an external structure: a turtle's shell? (external (outside the body) / internal (inside the body)) → external (outside the body)Prompt: Could you see it without looking inside the animal?

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: Animal body parts and the jobs they do.
  • 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-4.

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

eurekami

Internal and external structures of animals

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    What does this internal structure do: brain?

    • A. breaks down food
    • B. controls the body and processes information
    • C. pumps blood around the body
    • D. take in oxygen from water

  2. Question 2

    A crab sheds its shell as it grows. Why?

    • A. It is too hot inside.
    • B. Its shell is made of skin.
    • C. The hard external shell cannot stretch, so it must be replaced by a bigger one.
    • D. To change colour.

  3. Question 3

    Is this an internal or an external structure: a turtle's shell?

    • A. external (outside the body)
    • B. internal (inside the body)

  4. Question 4

    What does this internal structure do: stomach?

    • A. controls the body and processes information
    • B. pumps blood around the body
    • C. breaks down food
    • D. take in oxygen from water

  5. Question 5

    Insects have no bones. What holds their bodies up?

    • A. air inside them
    • B. nothing; they are floppy
    • C. their wings only
    • D. a hard outer covering (exoskeleton)

  6. Question 6

    Why is a skull (an internal structure) important?

    • A. It digests food.
    • B. It pumps blood.
    • C. It protects the brain.
    • D. It helps you breathe.

  7. Question 7

    Is this an internal or an external structure: the heart?

    • A. external (outside the body)
    • B. internal (inside the body)

  8. Question 8

    What does this internal structure do: gills?

    • A. pumps blood around the body
    • B. supports and protects the body
    • C. take in oxygen from water
    • D. take in oxygen from the air

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Internal and external structures of animals

  1. 1. B. controls the body and processes information

  2. 2. C. The hard external shell cannot stretch, so it must be replaced by a bigger one.

  3. 3. A. external (outside the body)

  4. 4. C. breaks down food

  5. 5. D. a hard outer covering (exoskeleton)

  6. 6. C. It protects the brain.

  7. 7. B. internal (inside the body)

  8. 8. C. take in oxygen from water