Studying Animals by Groups

All animals are classified in a scientific system. This is called taxonomy. Each species belongs to a genus, which belongs to a family, which belongs to an order, which belongs to a class, which belongs to a phylum (the largest grouping). Teachers often study animals in groups, most commonly by class (birds, mammals, reptiles, fish) or by family (cats, bears, ducks, snails, owls). It isn't necessary to know the Latin names for these groups, but it's fun to see how often they relate to words that we know and use, such as felidae (cats)> to feline. When you study a group of animals, you can learn about how they are the same and how they are different. What do all birds have in common? What is the smallest bird? The largest? Do all fish have scales? How is a house cat like a tiger? You and the children can generate many interesting questions to look into. Field guides are excellent resources for studying groups of animals, and there are several series for children in particular. There are also hundreds of websites. Here are a few resources to check out:

1. Peterson Field Guides, such as The Young Birders Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, 2008.

2. National Audubon Society First Field Guides, such as Insects. 1998

3. National Geographic Society kids site:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Animals/

This site has video clips, stories, games, photographs, etc. about hundreds of animals.

Studying Individual Animal Species

Children often become very interested and engaged in the study of one particular animal, such as the horseshoe crab project pictured here. The study can be inspired by seeing the animal in the schoolyard, reading about it in a book, seeing a photograph that someone brings in, or a visit to a nature museum or zoo. There are literally thousands of resources available for teachers to implement a them or project about one specific type of animal. Here are a few examples:

1. Getting to Know Nature's Children series by Scholastic. This is a great set of 30 different volumes, each focusing on one animal. Most libraries have these in the children's non-fiction section.

2. Google Images. Search on an animal and click on images. You will be able to find hundreds of images for each animal.

3. Live webcams and YouTube videos. There are dozens of live webcams and hundreds of You Tube videos for many animals. Here are two examples:

http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/exploreTheAquarium/webcam-beluga.aspx

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SRAfjvws13E

Try these and then search for more that go along with the animal you are studying.

Approaches to Teaching Nature Science to Young Children

There are many, many approaches to teaching nature science to young children, from micro to macro:

1. Individual species, such as gray squirrels, polar bears, monarch butterflies, or emperor penguins.

2. Groups by classification, such as insects, birds, or bears.

3. Groups by habitats, such as pond, woodland, meadow, or marine coast.

In my next few Blogs, I will focus on each one of these approaches, including strategies, resources, and photographs, as well as ideas for invitations to learning for each topic. Whether you use the thematic or the project approach, you can introduce children to nature science using approaches that will engage them, and engage you as well.

There are literally hundreds of books and web site resources for teachers and children. Here is one to consider.

Sharing Nature with Children, 20th Anniversary Edition, by Joseph Bharat Cornell, Dawn Publications, 1998.