In the beginning of the unit we start with a general concept that there are two living organisms on this Earth, plants and animals. From this very basic division we slowly introduce characteristics that cause the animals to be further broken down into more specific groups. I am trying to sequence my lessons to match what is being taught in the other content areas. Since the goals of this unit is to have the students think scientifically, it seemed only logical to start the Animal Unit with a lesson that required the students to create groupings of their own. I then transferred their knowledge to animals and we discussed how animals can be classified into different groups using similar criteria.
Every lesson follows the next with at least one link from the previous one.
In lesson one we cover the first major division in classification, vertebrates vs. non-vertebrates. We discuss exactly what a back bone is and then imagine what it would be like not to have one. From here, we think about animals that look like they have a back bone and ones that do not. Then, we group a bag full of stuffed animals into two groups using the presence and absence of vertebrae as the only criteria. From this lesson we move on to further divide the vertebrate group into the second largest division, cold vs. warm-blooded.