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Mythical Animals
Administration Procedures

Kindergarten Performance Task
Developed for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
Authors: Betty Crocker, Janette Fentress, Virginia Malone, Theresa Weeks, Vanessa Westbrook

Description:

Students create an imaginary animal by assembling pictures of body parts from pictures of real animals. Note: This task is one of three linked tasks. The others are "Who's Parts Do I Have?" and "Animals Piece by Piece."

This task assesses students' abilities to sort organisms and objects into groups according to their parts and describe how the groups are formed; record observations about parts of animals including wings, feet, heads, and tails; and identify parts that, when separated from the whole, may result in the part or the whole not working, such as cars without wheels, and plants without roots.

This task is designed to take 3-4 class periods of 15 minutes each.

Overall Task Content Area:

Life Science

Specific Knowledge Areas:

The characteristics of organisms

Performance Expectations:

  • conducting investigations
  • gathering, organizing, and representing data
  • formulating conclusions from investigational data
  • applying scientific principles to develop explanations and solve new problems

National Science Education Standards:

4 A SI 1: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry: Grades K-4
1.4 Use data to construct a reasonable explanation. This aspect of the standard emphasizes the students’ thinking as they use data to formulate explanations. Even at the earliest grade levels, students should learn what constitutes evidence and judge the merits or strength of the data and information that will be used to make explanations. After students propose an explanation, they will appeal to the knowledge and evidence they obtained to support their explanations. Students should check their explanations against scientific knowledge, experiences, and observations of others.

4 C LS 1: The characteristics of organisms: Grades K-4
1.2 Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking.

(Use the "hot" link on the PALS home page to check the full text of related National Science Education Standards, if desired.)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:

AL1: Understand patterns, relations and functions:
Grades pre K-5 a. sort, classify, and order objects by size, number, and other properties.

PS2: Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in other contexts:
Grades pre K-5

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS):

(K.6) Science concept. The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects. The student is expected to:

(A) sort organisms and objects into groups according to their parts and describe how the groups are formed;
(B) record observations about parts of animals including wings, feet, heads, and tails; and
(C) identify parts that, when separated from the whole, may result in the part or the whole not working, such as cars without wheels, and plants without roots.

General Instructions to the Teacher:

This task is designed to take students approximately 3-4 class periods of 15 minutes each, or 15 minutes per puzzle, to complete.

Students will be working both individually and in groups during this exercise.

Students should be ready to work as soon as the period begins. The materials should be set out at each lab station, if possible. A central supply area, if needed, should be easily accessible. All supplies should be clearly labeled.

Materials for "Mythical Animals":

At each station students should have:

  • Story such as Eric Carle's The Mixed Up Chameleon
  • Animal pictures cut from magazines, coloring books, etc.
  • Boxes or tubs labeled: arms, wings, heads, legs, tails, etc.
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Paper
  • Animal Journal

Advance Preparation:

Cut animal pictures from magazines or cut body parts off the animal picture and sort into the correct box or tub.

Safety:

  • Be careful.
  • Teachers and students should always exercise appropriate safety precautions and utilize appropriate laboratory safety procedures and equipment when working on science performance tasks.

Extensions/Modifications:

  • This task is one of three related tasks. The other two are "Who's Parts Do I Have" and "Mythical Animals."
  • Have a pet day
    -Arrange to have students bring pets confined to cages to school for a visit. Arrange to have some unique pets such as a hermit crab, a worm, an insect, or a fish visit. Name and describe the parts of each animal. Have students observe the animals and record their observations in their journals.
  • Centers
    - Mathematics: one-to-one correspondence; counting parts;
    - Language Arts: positional terms, such as above, below, on, in, under, left and right;
    - Social Studies: sort into farm or zoo animals and place in categories; place farm animals in the barn and zoo animals in the habitat;
    - Art: clay animals; tracing animal shapes; lacing animal shapes;
    - Science: animal puzzles; handle animal coverings such as feathers, fur, scales, etc.
  • Field Trips
    - Visit a petting zoo, a farm, or a pet store.
  • No possible NCTM criteria to add to rubric

Resources:

Web sites

Science TEKS Toolkit Website

The purpose is to provide the science education community with resources for implementing the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Science.

Visit the site at: http://www.tenet.edu/teks/science/

Texas Parks and Wildlife web site features a special section for children.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/adv/kidspage/kidspage/htm

USGS Endangered Species On-line Coloring Book and Kid's Corner features a children's section.

http://www.nbs.gov/features/kidscorner/

Books

Bailey, Carolyn Sherwin. The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings. Stern Sloan Publishing. ISBN 0448190893. When a little bunny's wish for red wings is granted, all is not as expected.

 

 

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