 Adirondack
Curriculum
Project - www.adkcurriculum.org 
NYS Content Area Standard
MST: Standard 1: Elementary Scientific Inquiry
NATIONAL STANDARDS
- Science: Life Science; Nature of Science
- Life
Skills: Working with Others
- Language
Arts: Listening & Speaking
- Arts:
Understands & Applies Media
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Title: Nocturnal Animals: Out there in the Dark
Grade Level: 2nd Grade
Author: Maureen
Peroza, Tupper Lake Central School
Email: maureenp@tupperlakecsd.net
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Adirondack Curriculum Content Area
_X_ Natural History
___ Human History
___ Culture & the Arts
___ Government & Civics
___ Economy
___ Health, Recreation &
Life Skills |
Investigative Question or Issue: Who is out there in
the woods in the dark of night? Which Adirondack animals are up
and about while we humans sleep?
Challenge:
In
small groups of 2 or 3 formed with the help of your teacher, create one
of the following products: poster, painting, diorama, mobile, photo
album, or any other product you can think of that your teacher will
approve. Your product will be used to support a presentation to the
class in which you tell us important information about a nocturnal
animal of the Adirondacks that you have decided to study.
Context for this Challenge:
The teacher will want to ensure the availability of resource materials
appropriate to the number of topics selected. The teacher will want to
guide the class in producing a
brainstorm list of nocturnal animals common to the northern forest and
aid in the selection of 5 or 6 animals from the list for in-depth
study. The teacher will also probably need to “coach” students in
playing specific roles within the group (fact finder, writer,
illustrator, etc) and introduce them to a formal process of researching
and recording data about their animal that they can then use to meet
the challenge described below. Finally, the teacher may want to help
students describe appropriate Criteria for Quality for each of the
products they choose to create.
Directions for Students:
As you research information about your animal, be sure to find out the
following facts:
- The name of the animal
- Distinguishing features features of the animal
by which it could be recognized from a distance
- A general description of the animal (body
colors, covering, size)
- The habitat of the animal
- The food of the animal
- The nighttime activities of the animal
- The daytime activities of the animal
Once your product is completed you will be asked to
give the class a short presentation in which you
use your product to help teach the class about the facts you discovered
regarding your animal. Make
sure all the information you share about your animal is accurate.
Every member of your team should participate in the presentation in
some way.
All team members should be prepared to respond to questions about your
animal if asked to do so.
Examples of Student Work
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Quality Standards:
- Product is completed on time
- Product conforms to Criteria for
Quality described in class
- All the required information/facts
are shared as part of the presentation
- All team members participate in the
presentation in some way
- All information in the product and
the presentation is accurate
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Adapted for the Adirondack
Curriculum Project from
the work of Education By Design TM and Leading EDGE, LLC
©ACP 2002
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I
have done many lessons on this unit throughout the years.Using
researched facts, my students and I have written several fictional
animal stories to be used as plays or puppet shows. We have made
sawdust puppets and clay puppets. We have also used stuffed
animals as puppets. If you are interested in using any of these shows,
just e-mail me and I can send you a list to choose from. The
words to the nocturnal animal booklet are written below. Students
can illustrate the entire book or classes can create one book by each
student doing one or several pages. Enjoy!