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Title:
Type:
Subject:
Grade Range:
Description:
Duration:
Author(s):

Mystery
Lesson Plan
Science
1st
Animal Parents and Offsprings
90 Minutes
Anthy Baracos

Instructional Unit Content

Standard(s)/Element(s)
Content Area Standard
S1CS5.a - Describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight,
color, and motion.
a. Explain the similarities and differences in animals. (color, size, appearance, etc.)
.
TAG Standard
Advanced Communication Skills
10. The student supports and defends his/her own opinions while respecting the opinions of others.
Advanced Research Skills
5. The student gathers, organizes, analyzes, and synthesizes data from multiple sources to support
or disprove a hypothesis.
Higher Order Critical Thinking Skills
11. The student draws conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant
information.
Summary/Overview
The focus of this lesson is to solve a mystery to determine what the features of parent and baby
animals.

Enduring Understanding(s)
At the end of this lesson the student will understand:
Although babies and parents may look similar to each other, they are also different in certain ways. .
Essential Question(s)
How are babies similar and yet different from their parents?

Concept(s) to Maintain

Revised April 2009

Student will explain how babies are similar but yet different from their parents.

Evidence of Learning
What students should know:
a. A baby is similar to the parent in certain ways.
b. A baby is different from the parent in certain ways.
c. Pictures of animal parents and their offspring can be used to explain the similarities and
differences between the parents and the offspring.
What students should be able to do:
a. Identify the similarities between a baby and the parents.
b. Identify differences between a baby and the parents.
c. Describe and explain the similarities and differences between a baby and the parents.
d. Supports and defends his/her opinions while respecting the opinions of others.
e. Gather, organize, analyze, and synthesize data from multiple sources to support or disprove
a hypothesis.
f. Draw conclusions based upon relevant information while discarding irrelevant information.
Suggested Vocabulary

Off spring
Parent
Grow
Change
Mother
Father
Similar
Different
life cycle

Procedure(s)
Phase 1: Hook
1. Ask the class if they ever got separated from their parents. How did find your mother or father?
Who could help you if are lost? Who can help your parents? Detectives can help people solve
mysteries. You are going to now become detectives to help solve a mystery. The teacher will read,
Are You MY Mother?
Phase 2: Examine the Content
1. Share the Mystery. Distribute Baby Animal Loses her Mother at the Zoo to students, animal
classification chart and animal sorting cards. After reading about missing animal, students will
work individually to develop a list of tentative hypotheses.
2.

Knowing how upset the baby animal is about losing her mother, you have been asked to help ACE
Detective Agency to solve the mystery of who this baby animals mother is. Divide class into
Animal Expert Teams. Each team will develop a team hypothesis for the lost baby animal
mystery.

Revised April 2009

3.

Present the Clues.

a. Distribute the clues from Meeting 1 with the police officer.
b. Distribute the clue for Meeting 2 with the police officer.
c. Distribute the clues for Meeting 3 with the police officer.
d. Distribute the clues for Meeting 4 with the police officer
a. Distribute the clues for Meeting 5 with the police officer.

4.

Each team will categorize its clues and determine who the baby animals mother is.

5.

Based each clue the children will be able to refine its hypothesis and propose a solution to
the mystery.

Phase 3: Synthesis Activity

6.

Each Animal Expert Team will create a picture to share its solution with ACE Detective Agency
Team. Each student will write letter to the police officer explaining how they solved mystery and
describing what clues helped them determine who the baby animals mother was.

7.

Class Discussion: What features help you decide what animal was the baby animals mother?
Was there more than one animal with the same features, baby names, habitat?

8.

Each Animal Expert Team will sort and determine which baby animal goes with each parent
animal.

Summarizing Activity
Wraparounds
In a circle, each student will take a turn telling
Something I will use from what I learned today
Something I will remember from today
A significant AHA from today
Resource(s):

Anchor Text(s):

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

Technology:
Handouts:
Handout 1:
Handout 2:
Handout 3:
Handout 4:
Handout 5:
Handout 6:
Handout 7:
Handout 8:
Handout 9:

Baby Animal Loses her Mother at the Zoo

Meeting 1 with the Zookeeper
Meeting 2 with the Zookeeper
Meeting 3 with the Zookeeper
Meeting 4 with the Zookeeper
Animal Classification Chart
Animal Sorting Cards Parents
Animal Sorting Cards Baby animals
Solution

Revised April 2009

Revised April 2009