This unit is intended to take approximately 4–6 weeks to complete, with formal lessons taught two to three times a week, and informal lessons, such as the recitation of a chant or the sharing of an interactive read aloud complementing the formal lessons daily. Currently New Haven suggests/requires 100 minutes per week of science instruction, during which time the formal lessons of this unit may be taught. However, as mentioned earlier, this unit is intended to span across the curriculum, so "read–alouds" may take place during the allotted time for reading comprehension instruction, and vocabulary work may be done during the time set aside for word work. Students must be immersed in the material to truly understand and internalize it, so it is important to find as many times throughout the day to review the information, concepts, and vocabulary with your students.
The unit might be introduced through a gallery walk, during which the teacher displays a number of images of bones and skeletons around the classroom. Students walk around in pairs with sticky notes and write and post their initial observations of these images. I would include images of a number of different animal skeletons, as well as some magnified images of individual bones and joints. Once students have finished, this activity leads into a class discussion and the generation of a KWL chart (noting what students know, want to know, and learned at the end of the unit) to collect background knowledge about what students already know about skeletons as well as what they would like to know.
As the unit progresses, some daily activities could include interactive "read–alouds" about the human skeleton and other animals, the singing of songs about skeletons or animals (see resource lists at the end of this unit), exploration with puzzles and/or modeling clay, and any other creative activities you can think of! Students should also be encouraged to journal about what they are learning in a science notebook where they can draw or write about information they have learned or engage in creative tasks such as writing poetry or short stories based on the content material. Resources handed out throughout the unit can be kept in these journals to refer to later. As described earlier, one of the first activities should be the introduction of the cognitive content dictionary, where new vocabulary words are presented and defined, to be reviewed and used frequently. Ongoing assessment may be conducted orally or through worksheets, such as the labeling of a skeleton, a vocabulary quiz, or presenting students information about an animal's skeleton and asking them to make inferences about this animal's patterns of movement, feeding, strengths, and weaknesses.
This unit opens up opportunities for many different field trips as well. Perhaps your class can visit the Peabody museum in New Haven, where students can learn about animals and see fossils, and see the discovery room where they can have hands–on experiences with some animal species (http://peabody.yale.edu/exhibits). Some of the museum's resources are even available online through podcasts and online tours. The Maritime and Mystic Aquariums are two more locations that are convenient to New Haven schools and sometimes even provide funding for school field trips. For classes with more time and financial resources, a trip could be made to New York City to visit the Natural History Museum or the Bronx Zoo.
Final Performance Assessment
One option for a final performance assessment is to have students create their own animal, focusing on its skeletal system. It can be related to one of the animals they have already learned about, but could possibly have some unique features of its skeleton. Students should focus on how the animal moves and how it hunts and eats when planning its skeletal system. They might draw a labeled diagram of the animal, highlighting its important features, and write a description of the animal's anatomy, its patterns of movement and feeding, and its strengths and weaknesses. As a teacher, you can be creative about your expectations—students might complete this assignment in groups, or after creating animals individually, the class can sort them according to features and create a class presentation. Another option is to create large murals or dioramas of animal habitats that these animals would live in. And, of course expectations must be modified for students with special needs (including language support).
It is important that students be purposeful in their design of an animal, choosing features that are common across vertebrates as well as some unique features that make the animal different from others. To complete this assignment, students should begin by planning, using books and other materials for reference. Next, they create a clear diagram of the skeleton of their animal, labeling the important parts (these skeletons should be somewhat, but need not be entirely, realistic). Finally, they will write a description of their animal, with paragraphs describing its anatomy, feeding patterns, movement, strengths, and weaknesses, and present it in whatever way you see fit to the rest of the class and/or school. A sample rubric for this performance assessment can be found in Appendix C.
Formal activities (see below for lesson plans for italicized lessons):
1.
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Gallery walk of vertebrates with KWL chart to assess background knowledge
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2.
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Sing song "Dem Bones," first with common names of bones and then with scientific names. Have students cut out skeletons, put together using paper fasteners, and label the bones with their common and scientific names.
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3.
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Use modeling clay to fashion some of the bones in the human skeleton.
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4.
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Using cutout bones to scale, measure and compare lengths of bones in different animals. Facilitate a conversation about the differences between the bones and their forms/functions.
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5.
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Present x–ray images of bones over the course of development: in utero, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age. Have students practice classifying x–rayed bones according to age range.
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6.
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Comparison of pterosaurs, birds, and bats. See below for more information.
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7.
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Comparisons between other animals (using information from read–alouds or information you present to students through pictorials or other methods).
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8.
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Final project (this will take a number of sessions): students create and present their own animals and discuss their feeding patterns, movement capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses as based on their skeletal features.
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