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How are plants and animals alike and different?; STC:
 Lesson
at a Glance:
Curriculum: Science & Technology for Children, National Science Resources
Center, Carolina Biological Supply Center
Topic: How are plants and animals alike and different?
Grade: First
In Program Two, Stephanie taught a lesson from the
Organisms unit of the Science and Technology for Children (STC)
curriculum to a group of first graders. The students had recently
been learning about the characteristics of living things, and had
spent time observing different organisms in the class aquariums
and terrariums. Stephanie wanted to get them to think about the
essential characteristics of plant and animal life and about the
differences between them.
Starting with two charts, Ms. Selznick
asked the class to consider how all plant life is alike and different. “Typically,
I’ll
take two plants and put them on the counter and ask, how are these
two alike? Then I’ll have them compare them to trees outside,
or to the tulips we planted in the fall.” Through discussion,
her students’ ideas, often misconceptions, surface: “that
all plants have flowers, or branches, or that plants breath oxygen,” said
Stephanie.
After her students conducted the same activity for
animals, Stephanie had them discuss the similarities and differences
between
plants
and animals while she recorded their observations on a Venn diagram
at the front of the room. Finally she had the class record what
they thought were the five basic needs of both plants and animals.
The
lesson required the students to work hard on classification: they
needed to determine how each group of organisms was alike
and different, and then to classify them based on their essential
characteristics. “When I start off with classification in
the first grade,” said Stephanie, “I start small and
with something they can handle, like M&Ms or buttons.” Her
students classify them based on color, shape, or number of holes,
while she records the differences in charts at the front of the
class. As her students advance, the classifications become more
difficult and she also has her students write up their observations. “By
the time they’re in fifth grade, it’s like they are
going to be absolutely perfect at observation. And that goes back
to classifying,” said Stephanie, “It all starts with
what they observe – that is classification.”
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