This Smart Board activity is designed to follow a science lesson or lessons on mammals and reptiles and their respective characteristics. To accompany this lesson you will need to prepare the following Smart Board activity: In the Smart Notebook program, select the Lesson Activity Toolkit from the picture icon on the left-hand toolbar. Select Activities and then Vortex Sort-Image. Click on the edit button and set the two categories as Mammal and Reptile. Next, find the pictures of several mammals and reptiles and drag and drop them to the image boxes. Here is the lesson plan to accompany the activity:
Grade: 3rd
Science Objectives
· Students will distinguish between mammals and reptiles. · Students will identify basic characteristics of mammals and reptiles.
Vocabulary
· Mammals · Reptiles
About the Activity
Students will come up to the meeting area in the room in front of the Smart Board. Go over the characteristics of mammals (ex. They have hair or fur, they feed their young milk, etc.) and the characteristics of reptiles (many have scales, they give birth to their babies in eggs, etc.) Then one by one choose a student to come up to the board and place one of the animal names inside either the reptile or mammal vortex. Before each student places the animal name in a vortex ask him or her to explain their reasoning behind choosing that particular category.
Wrap Up and Assessment
As an assessment the students will choose one example of a mammal and one example of a reptile and draw them. They will also write a sentence under their picture about one thing that makes the animal a mammal or reptile.
Adaptations
Students who need extra help can be prompted with questions when they are choosing a category. For example, ask, “Think about whether this animal has hair or fur” to help them identify that a particular animal is a mammal.