Animal Investigations
We have been discussing habitats a lot lately. In order to know which animals live where and why, I thought we should take a closer look at what the characteristics of each animal were and what made them live where they live.
Earlier in the week, Ms. Gillespie did a farm animal investigation and the children made a list of which animals they wanted to investigate. She then went to the library and borrowed a variety of books about the animals the children requested. I borrowed those books and supplemented my own for a more in depth investigation.
The children took some time this morning to research. Mr. Matt took small groups into an office where the children chose an animal from our animal basket that they were interested in learning more about.
After the children chose an animal to study, they drew a picture of their animal. Then they talked about the characteristics that they already were familiar with for their chosen animal, and things that they would like to find out. The students were given books to look through, and Mr. Matt would work with them to find answers using the Ipad. After the children finished doing their research, they talked with Mr. Matt about the new things they learned about their animal. It was very exciting to see the children doing research on the animal they chose!
In some instances, the children even discovered their initial thoughts about the animal changed after researching. One child chose to study an eagle and in their initial discussion said, "This eagle looks like it has brown hair on its body." Then, while researching how birds can fly they noticed "wait, eagles don't have hair, they have feathers to fly with!"
It was very interesting hearing the children's initial ideas about their animals and how they evolved through doing research. I will continue to work with animals and their characteristics to see what else both the children and myself are able to learn!
