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About Vertebrates!

· Topic : What is a vertebrate?

· Subject area: Science

· Students’ grade Primary 3

This is an introductory lesson to vertebrates. Students will learn how to identify a vertebrate based on its
characteristics. Teacher and auxiliare work in conjunction with each other. After morning routines, (1) we
will introduce the title of today’s lesson. To engage students, they will be tasked to name all the animals
that they know. (2) Next the auxiliare will introduce a song and students will have to determine what is
the one thing that all vertebrates have in common (a backbone). (3) After we have made a list of the
animals the students have named as a class, we will verify which animals are vertebrates and which
animals are not based on these four characteristics: [- do they have a backbone? – do they have
bones? – do they have at least two pairs of legs, wings, fins – do they have at least one of
these: fins, fur, a heart and blood?] (4)For homework: students will need to find two pictures of a
vertebrate to bring into class the following day. Students will have to present their vertebrate and describe
its characteristics. *In the next lesson students will learn the five groups of vertebrates.

To finish class, an assignment will follow afterwards in their Science book.

Students will be able to (SWBT): analyze animals to Resources / Class notes

determine if they are vertebrates based on their
characteristic traits.

*Lesson begins after morning routine w/aux (5 min) Morning routines includes:
(1) Teacher introduces the topic with the students. Auxiliare Listening to a few minutes of classical music

will be the scribe and help with pronunciation and explanation
of unfamiliar words (10 min) -What day is it today? (to hand claps)
-What is the weather like today? (to hand

claps)
Teacher: Greets class and prepares them for the lesson – ask
-What season are we in? (to hand claps)
them about the animals they know
How was your weekend?
Stu Students: Responses vary

Teacher: Introduces the word: Vertebrates.

1
 Gonoodle is a great tool to use in class. It
offers many interactive videos for the
students to sing along with, create
movement in the class, and correlates to the
Stu Teacher ask student to name all the animals that they know.
lesson. This video specifically talks about
auxiliare writes them down while helping with pronunciation vertebrates.
of the animals. Ccc
Video link: https://youtu.be/ZPlyBWWmu_Q
(2) After students have listed all the animals they can
remember, auxiliare will show video of vertebrate two times.
For the first listen - students are encouraged to get up and
dance (mini brain break) Second time, students must listen to
the one word they keep saying a vertebrate has: (answer –
backbone) (15 min)

Df. After students finish listening to the song a second time, the
students tell the teacher/auxiliare the word they heard.

T Teacher continues with lesson while the auxiliare scribes For an advanced group/pull outs/ or when media is
unavailable here are some review games:
the characteristic chart. Students will write the chart in
True/False – Write or say a statement related to
their journals. Teacher explains that it is a backbone that
vertebrates. The students must answer True/False.
all vertebrates must have. The student who gets it correct must then make a
sentence and it continues on
(3) After creating the chart, auxiliare tells students that they Does your…… – have pictures printed or drawn. Call 5-
will listen to the song one more time. Students will say what 7 students up. They must hide their pictures from
vertebrates the singers named. (The video list both vertebrates their classmates. Their classmates must ask them
questions about their hidden pictures: Does your
and invertebrates so student will have to listen closely and use
animal have a tail? Does your animal breath under
context clues to determine when the singers are listing
water….
vertebrates) students will write down these names in their The student with picture must verify if the answer is
journals. correct or not. When all the animals have been
guessed – have the students place their heads on the
desk and the 5 -7 students must pick someone new.

At At the end of the lesson, when introducing homework

Aux brings slide show presentation of
auxiliare and teacher present examples of their own through
animals from previous travels. Students
PowerPoint. Students will complete assignment in their
will use the checklist (on the board and
textbook. Teacher and auxiliare will walk around to check for
in their journals) to determine if the
understanding (evaluating to make sure students understand).
animal is a vertebrate
(20 min - Until the end of class )