Nature’s Transformers
A Classrooms Unleashed Program
for First Grade Students
Students learn about animal and plant adaptations, as well as biomimicry — the process of using nature to help solve human problems. Through the integration of modeling, engineering design, critical thinking, and practicing observation skills, students will come to understand that nature’s designs have inspired inventions and solutions to human problems.
All of our lessons are backward designed from Next Generation Science Standards for first grade. In addition to the Sierra Nevada Journeys-led lessons, classroom teachers will be provided with 3-4 easy-to-use learning experiences to reinforce concepts and vocabulary.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Classroom Lesson: NATURE DID IT FIRST
First graders will become scientists, exploring the relationship between the structure of an external part and its function through the study of various animals. Students use animals to discuss with their classmates the function of different animal structures, drawing and labeling a diagram based on what they learn.
Additionally, your student scientists learn about mimicry and biomimicry. In pairs, they will sort cards to match the structures of plant and animal adaptations with their functions, and they will explore burdock seeds and learn about how humans have copied their form to invent something new. Finally, they’ll design solutions for a real-world problem using animal structures as models.
OUtdoors at a local Nature Area: SCIENTISTS IN THE FIELD
Scientists journey to a nearby nature area with Sierra Nevada Journeys educators. They will explore real-life examples in nature of how organisms use their adaptations of external parts to help them survive and connect how those adaptations in nature have helped humans solve problems.
FIELD TRIP LOCATIONS
Camp Pollock, Sacramento, CA
Crystal Peak Park, Reno, NV
River Fork Ranch, Minden, NV (for Carson and Douglas Counties)
TEACHER INFORMATION
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
PE: K-2-ETS1-1: Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
PE: K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
PE: 1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
DCI: LS1.D: Information Processing
California partnership with:
