SUBJECT
Research Skills, Expository Writing, Charts and Graphs, Biology and Life Science, Animals, Crafts, Computers and the Internet

GRADE
3-5

DURATION
3 Weeks

A Wild Family Album!

By Genia Connell

Animal Albums on Display!

As part of a life science unit, students select and research an animal of their choice. Using resources such as the Internet, books, magazines, and encyclopedias, students use a graphic organizer note the animal’s classification, food, shelter, geographical range, family members, and interesting facts. Following project guidelines and a rubric, students then gather a wide assortment of pictures of their animal and its food, prey, shelter, and homes, presenting all the written information in first person captions under the photographs. Pictures and captions are mounted in a binder, folder, or photo album. The completed project is a scrapbook-style Animal Family Album that students share with their classmates and display for the school.

OBJECTIVE
Students will:

Use varied resources to gather information about an animal of their choice.
Gather pictures of their animal, components of its habitat, and family members from magazines and the Internet.
Use their research material to write informative captions for each photo.
Follow a rubric to publish their research information and photos as a scrapbook style Animal Family Album.

LESSONS FOR THIS UNIT
Lesson 1: Creating a Wild Family Album

REPRODUCIBLES
Animal Family Album Research Organizer (PDF)
Animal Family Guidelines with Rubric (PDF)

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Students orally present their completed Animal Family Albums to the class. Afterwards, their work is displayed for all the school to see.

SUPPORTING BOOKS

Books for Teaching about Animals and Research Reports

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Tiger Math

by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel

Using graphs, photographs and narrative text, this innovative book tells the story of the orphaned Siberian tiger, T.J., as he is cared for by the staff at the Denver Zoo. Each cleverly planned spread features a circle, picture, bar, or line graph on one page and on the other, photographs and the continuing drama of this beautiful tiger's struggle to survive.

$6.95
Paperback Book | Grades 3-5

Tiger Math

Grades 3-5 $6.95

Teacher Store

The Teacher Store

Coral Reef

By looking at small, specialized habitats, this series brings to life the multiple complexities present in even the most common or simple environments.

$6.95
Paperback Book | Grades K-3

Coral Reef

Grades K-3 $6.95

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