Standard #: SC.K.L.14.3


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Observe plants and animals, describe how they are alike and how they are different in the way they look and in the things they do.


General Information

Subject Area: Science
Grade: K
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Big Idea: Organization and Development of Living Organisms -

A. All plants and animals, including humans, are alike in some ways and different in others.

B. All plants and animals, including humans, have internal parts and external structures that function to keep them alive and help them grow and reproduce.

C. Humans can better understand the natural world through careful observation.

Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved

Related Courses

Course Number1111 Course Title222
5020010: Science - Grade K (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
7720015: Access Science Grade Kindergarten (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))


Related Access Points

Access Point Number Access Point Title
SC.K.L.14.Pa.2 Distinguish between a plant and animal.
SC.K.L.14.In.3 Identify differences in characteristics of plants and animals.
SC.K.L.14.Su.3 Match identical animals and plants.


Related Resources

Lesson Plans

Name Description
Flora and Fauna in Florida

Students will learn about the Florida state flag and understand that it represents the state of Florida. They will learn about the visual elements of the flag by observing representations of living organisms and discussing their similarities and differences in this integrated lesson plan.

National Bird Debate Part 2

Students reflect on the Founders’ decision to name the bald eagle as our national bird and symbol.  They form their own opinion about whether bald eagles or wild turkeys would make a better national symbol and express their opinion with supporting reasons or facts.  Students consider their classmates’ arguments before voting as a group to make a decision whether bald eagles or wild turkeys would make a better symbol for a country in part 2 of this integrated lesson plan.

National Bird Debate Part 1

Students use information from the book, The Bald Eagle by Norman Pearl, to compare the look and behavior of bald eagles and wild turkeys.  They explore early debates over the bald eagle as our national symbol as a way to differentiate fact from opinion in part 1 of this integrated lesson plan.

Gr. K Lesson 2-Everglades Animals

Students will revisit the Everglades discussing the similarities and differences between some of the animals that were presented in lesson one. They will continue to color and build their Everglades class book. Students will draw and write the similarities and differences using a Comparing Everglades Animals worksheet. Everglades Animals is lesson 2 out of 3.

Gr. K Lesson 1-What is the Everglades?

Students will be introduced to the Everglades, learning about this special place for plants and animals that is unlike anywhere else on Earth. They will watch a presentation on some of the animals that live in the Everglades and start working on their Everglades Class Book.

 

 

A Home for All

This unit opens with a walking field trip to a local community pond. In this Project-Based Learning experience students explore their local environment and describe the different habitats for plants and animals. The class will create a KWL Chart and Word Web for habitats. Individually, students will write an informative report about a chosen animal and its habitat. As teams, students will sort and present animal/plant cards according to their given habitat/environment. Students will individually create and present a habitat using a diorama for a chosen plant/animal.

Spring Festival Flower

In this MEA, students will help pick a flower that will be the focus of the Spring Festival.  They will practice counting pictures and representing the number of pictures with a written numeral.

Zoo-rrific!

Students will be asked to choose a new animal for a zoo. They will be asked to rank four animals from best to worst, based on popularity, food needs, danger to zookeepers, etc.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem, while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought process. MEAs follow a problem-based, student centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEA’s visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

Calling All Authors!

In this lesson, students are engaged in a science project where the local library is hosting a book writing contest. Students will brainstorm ideas, work in rotating center stations, complete checklists and create a nonfiction book about how plant and animals are alike and different featuring what they learned about plants and animals during the lesson.

Whose Baby is That?

This inquiry-based 5E lesson provides an initial look at categorizing items into 2 categories. Visuals of animals are used to begin the classifying/categorizing of animals and their babies. Students will practice categorizing in pairs and will be given the categories to use. They will then explain the placement of each item in the category. The teacher will ask guiding questions and facilitate the lesson to ensure comprehension of the material.

Investigating Local Ecosystems This lesson provides students with opportunities to investigate the habitats of local plants and animals and explore some of the ways animals depend on plants and each other.
Hatching Chickens This lesson will help students understand the importance of carefully observing and caring for eggs and chickens in the classroom.

Professional Development

Name Description
Environmental Education for Kids

Website explaining when and how to start environmental education for kids. There are practical suggestions for teachers to incorporate environmental education into their curriculum.

Resource Collection

Name Description
BioEd Online K-2 Educational Resources for Educators, Students, and Parents

Biology lesson plans for a Living Things Unit of study.

Teaching Ideas

Name Description
Why do animals look the way they do?

This teaching idea describes a project for kindergarten students to create a nonfiction book. After studying animal adaptations, students learned about the adaptations of different local animals and created a nonfiction book with illustrations.

Where Plants and Animals Live This site features activity ideas on comparing plants and animals in different habitats. It also includes a virtual manipulative, black line masters for activity ideas, and a family newsletter to encourage family involvement.
The Incredible Invertebrate Counting Book-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, the students will define invertebrate. The student will answer various questions about invertebrates that result in numeric answers and place the answers in numerical order.
Animal Sing Along-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, students will be able to name warm- and cold-blooded animals through role play and song and demonstrate the behaviors used to dissipate excess body heat.
Birdie on my Finger-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, students will identify bird body parts and adaptations (feathers, wings, bill, tail) while creating paper finger puppets.
Baby Shamu Suit-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, students will be able to name whale body parts (flipper, flukes, fins) and describe the function of each. In addition, they will role-play whale behavior.
Birds' Bills Students will compare and contrast different kinds of birds' bills and categorize pictures. After drawing the bills in each category, they will then compare the bill types with common household items.
Color Me Ape~ish-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, the students will distinguish the differences between apes and monkeys by listening to different characteristics and coloring the corresponding animal.
Fingerprint Fish-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, students explore how schooling behavior is an adaptation for avoiding predators.
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Students discuss living and nonliving organisms, including plants and animals.

Sort it Out-SeaWorld Classroom Activity In this activity, students develop logic skills by investigating various ways to sort by attribute. At the same time, they are exposed to principles of scientific classification.
Webcams: Animal Inquiry and Observation

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What Is a Bird? In this activity students will compare characteristics of birds with characteristics of animals from other classifications. They will list the characteristics that are unique to birds.

Unit/Lesson Sequences

Name Description
Ladybugs

These lessons explore the characteristics and behavior of ladybugs, and to create their own paper model of a ladybug.

Touching and Fair Tests with Pill Bugs and Earthworms

This unit shows students how to humanely handle pill bugs ("roly polies") and earthworms while observing their characteristics. Students will explore the types of conditions that each bug prefers to live in (eg., wet or dry, dark or light).

Comparing Plants, Animals, and Seeds

These lessons compare and contrast plants versus animals and seeds versus plants in regards to both appearance and behavior/function.

Parent Resources

Resource Collection

Name Description
BioEd Online K-2 Educational Resources for Educators, Students, and Parents:

Biology lesson plans for a Living Things Unit of study.

Teaching Ideas

Name Description
Where Plants and Animals Live: This site features activity ideas on comparing plants and animals in different habitats. It also includes a virtual manipulative, black line masters for activity ideas, and a family newsletter to encourage family involvement.
Color Me Ape~ish-SeaWorld Classroom Activity: In this activity, the students will distinguish the differences between apes and monkeys by listening to different characteristics and coloring the corresponding animal.


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