1st Grade Plants and Animals Unit Blueprint

Lesson 9: Observing Pill Bugs
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Pacing Suggestions:

See Unit Calendar for details.

Essential & Unit Questions* 1 Benchmarks 2 Formative and Summative Assessments 3 Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning
How can we learn about living things around us?

How can tools help us learn about living things?

1B(K-2)#2: Tools such as thermometers, magnifiers, rulers, or balances often give more information about things than can be obtained by just observing things without their help.

6D(K-2)#1: People use their senses to find out about their surroundings and themselves. Different senses give different information. Sometimes a person can get different information about the same thing by moving closer to it or further away from it.

Class list What We Would Like to Find Out about Pill Bugs and discussion about pill bugs (See Preparation Step 5 on page 113 and Procedure Step 4 on page 113 in Teacher's Guide.)
  • Do students list items that can be found out by making detailed observations of the snails?
  • Do they suggest using hand lenses to make observations?
What are some ways to describe objects? 12D(K-2)#2: Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.

12D(K-2)#1: Describe and compare things in terms of number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion.

11B(K-2)#3: One way to describe something is to say how it is like something else.

  • Record Sheet 7-A: Observing Woodland Animals (See Procedure Step 2 on page 113 in Teacher's Guide.)
  • Class Venn Diagram--Pill Bug portion (See Procedure Step 8 on page 114 in Teacher's Guide.)
Record Sheet 7-A
  • Do the students' drawings accurately contain one or more identifying features?
  • Are students' written observations descriptive and accurate?
  • Are their drawings and written observations improving in quality and accuracy?
Venn Diagram
  • Do students share observations, not facts they know about the pill bugs?
  • Do students describe the shape, color, size, and movement of the pill bugs without prompting by the teacher?
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* Essential/Unit questions are major questions driving the unit. They are directly aligned with the benchmarks. No single lesson addresses each question in its entirety. By the end of the unit, students should be able to answer these core questions.

1. For conceptual benchmarks.
2. Bolded sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed
3. Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.

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