Through observing animals in a variety of environments such as terrariums and aquariums, students describe interactions, behaviours, structures, and changes that can affect animals' life cycles. This enhances their understanding of how organisms, objects, and systems interact with each other. Activities Students research the life cycle of their pet or an animal of their choice and present their findings to the class. They then make comparisons between animal and plant life cycles. Students look at videos, pictures, and examples of animals and plants living in a variety of ecological conditions and compare and contrast their characteristics and requirements.
Students observe a variety of animal fossils and infer the animal associated with the fossil.
They then research to find scientists' inferences about the same type of fossil and evaluate their own inferences. Students use plaster of paris to make imprints of various animals' footprints. They then compare and contrast the imprint with the footprint. Students research a variety of endangered or extinct animals and infer reasons why they are endangered or extinct. They then compare their reasons with those given by scientists.