Teacher Resources

Student Handouts	Items for Group Display	Material Items	Facility/Equipment Requirements
Investigation 1: Notice the Plants and Animals
Science notebooks	O-W-L Chart: Large piece of chart paper labeled with columns Book: One Small Square Backyard by Donald M. Silver and Patricia Wynne, McGraw Hill, 1997.	Student kits: Surveyor’s tape, magnifying glass, science notebook, pencil, toothpick flags Biologist backpack: clipboard, notebook, pencil, magnifying glass or hand lens, tide book, field guide, ruler or measuring tape, camera, map, warm clothes (hat, gloves), thermometer, maps, aerial photo, sampling jars, first-aid kit, flashlight, water bottle, snack, cell phone or VHF radio Subsistence backpack: tide book, flashlight, pail, gloves, hat, raincoat, piece of net, knife (pretend), fishing pole, berry-picker, map, identification chart, water bottle, snack, cell phone or VHF radio Shells Sand Water Plastic marine animals Plankton nets Magnetic board with pictures of aquatic animals Flannel board with cutouts of aquatic animals Collection of books, puzzles, old calendars, commercial games Pan balance Measuring tools Magnifiers Photos Posters Puppets Soft sculpture animals--clams, sea stars, scallops Bingo games and cards Sample and instructions Freshwater Bingo boards and cards Marine Bingo boards and cards Learning Centers checklist Attitude Checklist	Outdoor area near school Sand table
Investigation 2: Plant and Animal Characteristics
Science notebooks Shell observation page	Book: Seashells by the Seashore by Marianne Berkes. Dawn Publications, California, 2002, ISBN 978-1584690344 Book: Creature Features (need more info) Shell Property Chart Chart Paper Yarn Loops (about 1 yard long)	A large quantity of shells (or substitutes) Alaska Native art forms of local animals Local field guides for aquatic creatures Pictures and sketches of animals What Do You Know? game board What Do you Know? game cards Dice (2 per board) Markers for players Shell Sort Levels of Understanding Continuum For extensions: Graph or grid paper, 2 inch x 1/2 inch Unifix cubes or wood block cubes for measuring length Dried lima beans and kidney beans Animal dice for Dice Toss Game	Ordinary classroom facilities
Investigation 3: Plant and Animal Experts
Science notebooks Science notebook glue-ins for: Research Animal Riddles High Tide, Low Tide glue-in	The Ocean Alphabet Book, and/or other alphabet books Everything Grows book, by Raffi Everything Grows (album or MP3 download), by Raffi A book about tides Life Cycle Wheel (Directions for the wheel book )	12 x 18 pieces of paper Spiral binding or 3 rings Drawing and coloring materials (colored pencils, crayons) Books, field guides, and/or posters showing local marine/aquatic plants and animals Large rolls or sheets of paper (variety of colors) Newsprint or newspaper Staplers, scissors, markers Construction paper Brads Tagboard and circle template Life cycle pictures to cut out	Laminator Space to manipulate tools and large sheets of paper
Investigation 4: Field Trip Session
Science notebooks Close and closer pages for notebooks	Chart Paper	Biologists Backpacks containing: Magnifying glass or hand lens Notebook, clipboard/Rite in the Rain paper Pencil Camera Tide book Identification charts Field guide books (marine or freshwater) Measuring tape or ruler, Thermometer Maps and/or aerial photo if available Sampling jars First-aid kit Flashlight Cell phone or VHF radio Extra clothing Water bottles Snacks Survey tape cut into one-meter lengths 11 x 14 construction paper Colored pencils Magnifiers Buckets Science notebooks Writing tools (pencils, colored pencils) Small rulers Thermometer Digital camera	Field site at a beach or riverbank A tarp for shelter
Investigation 5: Sharing What We Know
Science notebooks	Photos Class ABC book Research results Animal Sculptures Life Cycle Wheels Riddles “Backpacks” Science Notebooks Charts created by class Creature Feature Class Book “What Do You Know” Board game	Art supplies for invitations and decorations	Hallway, wall, and other display space. Gathering space for student presentations with "audience seating."

Teacher Background – Plants and Animals of Seas and Rivers

Investigation 1: Notice the Plants and Animals

Activity 1A: Around Our School
Enlist the help of local naturalists to develop knowledge of plants and animals around the school environment. Prior to taking children outside, preview the area and have ideas about what they can discover. Plants and animals discovered on this walk are not necessarily the aquatic life forms that they will focus on during the remainder of the unit, but this initial activity is important to support observation skills and to begin to understand how plants and animals can be sorted and how they are used by people. Sharing the Joy of Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell has ideas for focus games or initial nature walks.

Activity 1C: Biologist and Subsistence Backpacks
Connect the “Backpack” lesson to children’s prior experiences with using science tools and/or hunting and gathering.

Read about subsistence in Alaska:
Alaska’s Subsistence Fisheries
AK Dept. of fish and Game Division of Subsistence

Investigation 2: Plant and Animal Characteristics
Peer interaction and sharing are important. Students learn from each other and need time to listen to each other and work together.

Activity 2A: Shells: Take a Closer Look.
For the “Measuring Shells” activity in investigation 2A, use concepts of “size” or “space covered” rather than area, to be mathematically correct.

Activity 2B: Sorting Shells
Accept and include different ways to sort the shells. Children may have unique categories that we might not have imagined. Be open to new ideas.

Activity 2C: Let’s Meet the Invertebrates
Detailed information about common Alaska marine invertebrates.
Detailed information about common freshwater invertebrates, amphibians, and mammals.

Activity 2D: Creature Features Class Book
Put the Creature Feature book together in published form and share it with other classes or parents. Bind the pages together with a spiral binder or three rings. Laminating the cover and/or pages will make it last longer and create a special book for the classroom.

Activity 2E: “What Do You Know” Game
Add to the cards based on things your class has learned, and customize the game board to fit your needs.

Investigation 3: Plant and Animal Experts
Activity 3A: ABC Sea/River Book
Examples of sentence frames to include on the student pages for the ABC book:

Basic information:

The _________________ is ____________________. ( an animal or a plant)

It lives in (on) _____________________________________.

It eats ___________________________________________.

Uses:

We use ______________ to feed our families.

We eat _______________ because they taste good.

I put ______________ on my garden to fertilize it.

You may want to decide on a couple of sentences that each student will have on their page, and allow them to come up with others specific to their plant or animal.

ABC examples for Southeast Alaska. Some will also be appropriate for other areas:

A –anemone, abalone

B – barnacle, blenny, bivalve

C – crab, clam, cockle, chiton

D – dall porpoise, dulse

E – eel, echinoderm

F – fish

G – gumboot,

H – hermit crab

I – isopod, invertebrate

J – jellyfish

K – kelp, king crab

L – limpet, (sea) lettuce

M – moon snail, mussel

N - nudibranch

O – octopus, oyster, otter

P – periwinkle, phytoplankton

Q -

R – ribbon worm

S – seaweed, sea cucumber, snail, squid, shrimp, sculpin

T – tidepool sculpin

U - urchin

V - vertebrate

W- whale, whelk, worm

X -

Z - zooplankton

Again, put the book together in published form and share it with other classes or parents. Bind the pages together with a spiral binder or three rings. Laminating the cover and/or pages will make it last longer and create a special book for the classroom.

Activity 3B: Plant or Animal Research
It is important to have enough and appropriate resources. Non-fiction books, ZooBooks, and pamphlets from the Alaska Department of Fish And Game all provide potential pictures and information to inform young scientists.

The sculptures may take 3-4 days to complete depending on the details, size and use of paints or markers. Letting paper dry between project times will assist the sculpture to stay intact. Smaller sculptures could be made using half sheet sized paper with more attention to detail in the drawing.

Activity 3C: Life Cycle Wheels
Help students connect their new learning with previous experiences they may have with life cycles. They may have experience with butterflies or salmon, and most will have observed siblings, grandparents, and other family members.

Students may have learned that plants and animals have an ‘adult’ stage when they did their animal research project. This will have provided some initial thinking about how an animal or plant changes as it grows.

Activity 3D: High-Tide, Low-Tide Game
Use the information from the Meet the Invertebrates lesson. This game assists children in learning more about those creatures: how they move, what they get from high or low tide and how they survive. This is an active game that encourages children to move, supporting those who learn best through using their body ( kinesthetically).

Activity 3E: Marine/Freshwater Animal or Plant Riddle
Information from students’ animal research will be important to the development of the riddle. Paying attention to characteristics and specific traits of plants and animals will enable children to create logical riddles. It’s helpful to have information on local plants and animals so children can create riddles including number of legs, antennae, habitat, life cycle, etc.

Investigation 4: Field Trip Session
A previous visit to the field session site is strongly suggested. Local knowledge of plants and animals is important for this investigation. Field guides for the local area can help you develop knowledge, as will local naturalists and scientists. Scientists from local government agencies are often eager to help with education projects.

Every previous field session will build experience and understanding of how to more successfully explore during this extended session. Children will have had many scientific conversations to support their use of “claims and evidence”, use of science notebooks for documentation and team building experiences to make this session useful to them. They are no longer “practicing” to be scientists; they are biologists in the field gathering important data and documenting their findings in a scientific notebook.

It’s important to craft this lesson to best match the local environment. Understand and decide what information can be gathered for physical evidence, and what information needs to be acquired before or after the trip through field guides, local scientists and/or Native culture bearers or elders.

Investigation 5: Sharing What We Know
Take note of students’ questions and desires for more information and research. The celebration will be a good time to enlist parents, community members, and other guests to assist students to continue their quest for more information.

Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade Standards Addressed

This is a primary grade unit. There are no GLEs for K-2.
Standards addressed at K-2 are included.

K-2 Standards Addressed	Investigation
K-2 Standards Addressed	1	2	3	4	5
A1 – Science as Inquiry and Process
SA Students develop an understanding of the processes and applications of scientific inquiry.	x	x	x	x	x
SA1 Students develop an understanding of the processes of science used to investigate problems, design and conduct repeatable scientific investigations, and defend scientific arguments	x		x	x	x
SA2 Students develop an understanding that the processes of science require integrity, logical reasoning, skepticism, openness, communication, and peer review.	x	x	x	x	x
SA3 Students develop an understanding that culture, local knowledge, history, and interaction with the environment contribute to the development of scientific knowledge, and that local applications provide opportunity for understanding scientific concepts and global issues.				x
C1 – Concepts of Life Science
SC Students develop an understanding of the concepts, models, theories, facts, evidence, systems, and processes of life science.	x	x	x	x	x
SC2 Students develop an understanding of the structure, function, behavior, development, life cycles, and diversity of living organisms.	x	x	x	x	x
SC3 Students develop an understanding that all organisms are linked to each other and their physical environments through the transfer and transformation of matter and energy.				x
G1 – History and Nature of Science
SG Students develop an understanding of the history and nature of science.	x	x	x	x
SG2 Students develop an understanding that the advancement of scientific knowledge embraces innovation and requires empirical evidence, repeatable investigations, logical arguments, and critical review in striving for the best possible explanations of the natural world.	x
SG3 Students develop an understanding that scientific knowledge is ongoing and subject to change as new evidence becomes available through experimental and/or observational confirmation(s).	x			x
SG4 Students develop an understanding that advancements in science depend on curiosity, creativity, imagination, and a broad knowledge base.	x	x	x

Plants and Animals of Seas and Rivers

Print Resources
Books Needed for Unit:
Berkes, Marianne. Seashells by the Seashore. Dawn Publications, 2002.

Creature Features, Rigby Press.

Pallota, Jerry. The Ocean Alphabet Book. Charlesbridge Publishing, Watertown, MA. 1986.

Raffi. Everything Grows. Rounder Books, 2004.

Raffi. Everything Grows. (album). Rounder, 1996.

Silver, Donald M. and Patricia Wynne. One Small Square: Backyard. McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Silver, Donald M. and Patricia Wynne. One Small Square: Seashore. McGraw-Hill, 1997.

Related books:
Baldwin, Robert F., and Dyen, Don. This Is the Sea That Feeds Us. Dawn Publications, 1998.

Fowler, Allan. Life in a Tide Pool (Rookie Read-About Science). Children’s Press, 1997.

Helman, Andrea, and Wolfe, Art. O is for Orca: An Alphabet Book. Sasquatch Books, 2003.

Hunter, Anne. What's in the Tide Pool? Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

Pallotta, Jerry. The Ocean Alphabet Book. Charlesbridge Publishing, 1989.

Pallotta, Jerry. The Underwater Alphabet Book. Charlesbridge Publishing, 1991.

Schaefer, Lola. Sea Urchins. Heinemann, 2003.

Schaefer, Lola. Hermit Crabs. Heinemann, 2002.

Schaefer, Lola. Sea Anemones. Heinemann, 2003.

Schaefer, Lola. Jellyfish. Heinemann, 2002.

Schaefer, Lola. Octopuses. Capstone Press, 2000.

Schaefer, Lola. Barnacles. Heinemann, 2002.

Schaefer, Lola. Starfish. Children’s Press, 2005.