Last updated: September 13, 2023
Lesson Plan
I Spy
- Grade Level:
- Lower Elementary: Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Science
- Lesson Duration:
- 30 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- K.L.4, K.L.4.a, K.L.5.c
- State Standards:
- Minnesota Academic Science Standards
2.1.1.2.1, 2.2.1.1.1, and 2.3.2.2 - Thinking Skills:
- Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Applying: Apply an abstract idea in a concrete situation to solve a problem or relate it to a prior experience. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts.
Essential Question
How do the wildlife, plants, and people in Voyageurs National Park adapt to seasonal changes?
Objective
Students will be able to:
1. Describe three colors of the changing leaves.
2. Describe three signs animals are changing.
3. Describe three ways the weather is changing.
4. Describe one way how the students and their parents get ready for a season change.
5. Describe one reason why changes and adaptations are necessary for survival in this environment.
6. Draw a sequence of pictures (ex: home, school, park) as it might change through the seasons.
Background
This lesson plan focuses on the seasonal changes that are a result from the angle of the Earth’s axis and the Earth’s movement around the sun. Between June and September the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, giving us warmer summer days. Between October and May the earth is titled away from the sun, giving us colder winter days.
As winter approaches, you can see changes all around. As temperatures cool, frost or ice may start to form and eventually moisture in the form of snow will start to cover the ground. In the fall, leaves on the deciduous trees start changing colors and fall to the ground. This helps the tree keep water and nutrients in the main trunk so it can survive in the harsh winter temperatures. The students may notice the evergreen (coniferous trees) are not changing colors or losing their needles. This is because they have special leaves resistant to cold and moisture loss. Animals start migrating south to open water and warmer temperatures. The animals that stay here during the winter start to grow a thick fur coat, or their fur may even change colors, like the snowshoe hare, to help them blend in with the environment and hide away from predators. Others, like squirrels start gathering nuts, for winter storage. People start adding on an extra layer of clothing and turning on the heat. The students may help their parents put the lawn furniture away. The students may even see mom and/or dad switch the lawn mower for the snow blower and the boat for the snowmobile.This lesson plan focuses on the seasonal changes that are a result from the angle of the Earth’s axis and the Earth’s movement around the sun. Between June and September the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, giving us warmer summer days. Between October and May the earth is titled away from the sun, giving us colder winter days.As winter approaches, you can see changes all around. As temperatures cool, frost or ice may start to form and eventually moisture in the form of snow will start to cover the ground. In the fall, leaves on the deciduous trees start changing colors and fall to the ground. This helps the tree keep water and nutrients in the main trunk so it can survive in the harsh winter temperatures. The students may notice the evergreen (coniferous trees) are not changing colors or losing their needles. This is because they have special leaves resistant to cold and moisture loss.
Animals start migrating south to open water and warmer temperatures. The animals that stay here during the winter start to grow a thick fur coat, or their fur may even change colors, like the snowshoe hare, to help them blend in with the environment and hide away from predators. Others, like squirrels start gathering nuts, for winter storage. People start adding on an extra layer of clothing and turning on the heat. The students may help their parents put the lawn furniture away. The students may even see mom and/or dad switch the lawn mower for the snow blower and the boat for the snowmobile.
Preparation
- Gather Materials
- Find an outdoors location to take studetns for a walk
Lesson Hook/Preview
Ask students:
"What are the four seasons we have?
Spring, summer, fall and winter.
Right now we are moving from summer into fall and soon winter will be here.
Today we are going to be detectives.
What do detectives do?
They look for clues.
I want you to be detectives that look for clues that tell us the season is changing.”
Procedure
- Take the group for a short walk around visitor center or school.
- Ask them to find as many clues as possible that indicate fall and/or winter are approaching.
- Gather the group around a chalk board or paper and easel.
- Have the group describe their clues as you record their observations.
- Have the students describe the colors of leaves they saw.
- Have the students describe the signs of animals preparing.
- Have the students describe the signs of the changing weather.
- Have the students describe how they, themselves, get ready for the changing of seasons.
Vocabulary
- Phenology-the science dealing with the influence of climate on the recurrence of such annual phenomena of animal and plant life as budding and bird migrations.
- Weather-the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
- Migrate- to pass periodically from one region or climate to another, as certain birds, fish, and animals.
- Deciduous- shedding the leaves annually as certain trees and shrubs.
- Coniferous- evergreen trees Coniferinae-(or group Coniferales), including the pine, fir, spruce, and other cone-bearing trees and shrubs.
- Habitat- the natural environment of an organism; place that is natural for the life and growth of an organism. The place where a person or thing is usually found.
- Adaptation- any alteration in the structure or function of an organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive and multiply in its environment.