Arctic Animals  Lesson Plans

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Building Winter Dens

Lesson Plan:

​Activity:

Building Winter Dens

Lesson plan developed by Ms. Erika Geelhoed, BA Ed

Age Group:

School-Age

* Lesson plan objective and assessment can be adapted to use this activity with preschoolers.

Objectives:  

Children will:

• practice creating drafts before building.
• practice engineering skills.
• tell about their creation.

Building Winter Dens

Washington Common Core Standard

EALR 3

Washington State K-12 Science Learning Standard:
EALR 3: Application
Big Idea: Application (APP)
Core Content: Solving Problems

• 2-3 APPA Simple problems can be solved through a technological design process that includes: defining the problem, gathering information, exploring ideas, making a plan, testing possible solutions to see which is best, and communicating the results.

Materials: 

• marshmallows
• toothpicks
• small animal figurines
• paper
• pencil

Procedure: 

• After learning about various arctic animals, encourage the children to create a den using the toothpicks and marshmallows.
• As they are creating, ask them questions to get them thinking about their work.
  
• Here are some examples:
  • Why do you think an animal would choose your den?
  • How would it keep them safe?
  • Did you stick to your draft or make changes as you went? Why? 

Assessment: 

• Observe and record conversations the children have about their findings. Were their drawings and information similar or were their differences? If there were any differences (size, shape, amount of time it took for crystal to form, etc.), have a discussion about it with children. 

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