Teachers can use these activities however best fit their students and classroom. Many activities can be completed by individual students, small groups, the entire class, or as part of learning centers. In order to address all of the standards listed on the activity overview below, all of these supplemental activities need to be completed. Some of the content statements and elaborations are only addressed through the supplements and are not included in the versions written in the Growing Up WILD (GUW) guide. 

Note: All supplemental materials are protected by copyright and are owned by Ohio Environmental Education Fund and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. They may be used, with attribution, for educational purposes but are not to be used commercially. Please include Curious KIDSS  and www.curiouskidss.org  when citing the supplemental materials.  All references to Growing Up WILD must include a reference to the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, which holds the copyright to Growing Up WILD. Guides can be obtained through a workshop from the ODNR Division of Wildlife. 

When implemented as written, supplemental resources for the Growing Up WILD activities First Impressions and Wildlife as Symbols address the following content statements in the 2017-2018 Ohio Learning Standards for the following disciplines:

Science:

• K.LS.1 Living things have specific characteristics and traits.
• K.LS.2 Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.

Social Studies

• K.SS.4 Symbols and practices of the United States include the flag, Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. Other nations are represented by symbols and practices too.
• K.SS.6 Models and maps represent real places. 
• K.SS.8 Individuals are unique but share common characteristics of multiple groups. 
• 2.SS.13 Information displayed on bar graphs can be used to compare quantities.

Mathematics

• K.CC.6 Orally identify (without using inequality symbols) whether the number of objects in one group is greater/more than, less/fewer than, or the same as the number of objects in another group, not to exceed 10 objects in each group.
• K.MD.3 Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count. The number of objects in each category should be less than or equal to ten. Counting and sorting coins should be limited to pennies.
• 1.MD.4 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.

     Reinforcement of Kindergarten Mathematics Standards:

• K.CC.3 Write numerals from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).
• K.CC.5 Count to answer “how many?” questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20, count out that many objects.

     Extension for 2nd Grade Mathematics Standards:

• 2.MD.10 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to four categories; complete picture graphs when single-unit scales are provided; complete bar graphs when single-unit scales are provided; solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems in a graph.

English Language Arts

• RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
• RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text
• RL.K.5 Recognize common types of text (e.g., storybooks, poems).
• RL.K.6 With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
• RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding. Activate prior knowledge and draw on previous experiences in order to make text-to-self or text-to-text connections and comparisons.
• RI.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.
• RI.K.2 With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
• RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
• RI.K.5 Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.
• RI.K.6 Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.
• RI.K.7 With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).
• W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts that name what is being written about and supply some information about the topic.
• W.K.6 With guidance and support from adults, explore a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
• W.K.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
• W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

While First Impressions introduces students to a variety of living things, the activity itself does not provide examples of characteristics of living things.  Using the Idea Circle graphic organizer as a template, discuss as a class and record the following information for each animal shown in the First Impressions voting activity:

• Recognize that there are different kinds of living things (insects, birds, flowers, trees, etc.).
• All living things grow and reproduce. For example, a spider grows from a spiderling (tiny baby spider) into an adult spider.
• All living things respond to stimuli. A spider will respond to something caught in its web by crawling toward the object.
• All living things require energy. A spider needs to eat insects to acquire energy.
• Living things have parts and because of those parts, living things can do specific things.  (For example, eagles have wings for flying and beaks for eating.  Bears have teeth for eating, eyes for seeing and legs for moving.)

 
Before students begin reading, they may need to brainstorm lists of ways living things:
1.  Get energy

• Plants make their own energy.
• Some animals eat plants.
• Some animals eat animals.
• Some animals eat plants and animals.

 2.  Grow up  (Please note that the names of the different stages of development are not the focus of this content statement.  The focus at this grade level is for students to see a variety of living things and to learn characteristics common to all living things.)

• Trees grow from a seed, to a small tree, to a large tree.
• A chicken starts growing in an egg, then breaks out of the egg as a small chicken, then grows to a bigger chicken.
• A butterfly begins as an egg, emerges as a larva, forms a chrysalis, and emerges as a butterfly. 

 
3.  React to the environment

• A squirrel may run away if startled by a dog.
• A spider will crawl toward an insect caught in its web.
• A plant will grow toward a light source.
• A snake may eat a bird.

After completing the First Impressions activity, students will use an Idea Circle approach to find out more information about the characteristics of living things. Encourage students to select a living thing that they dislike or have neutral feelings about.
 
Each student will select a book about a specific plant or animal.  These non-fiction books may be in the teacher’s classroom library, the school library, borrowed from public libraries or online libraries.  See “Resources for eBooks and Digital Media” for suggestions on finding content online.
 
1.  Students begin by selecting a book about an animal. Some books will not provide all of the information requested on the graphic organizer.  Teachers can decide to implement any of the following as a whole class, or differentiate strategies for individuals or small groups. Students can use:

• Any information students do find and skip the other details.
• Several books to find all of the information.
• Carefully selected (by the teacher) books that contain all of the details requested. 

 
2.  As they read, students fill out a graphic organizer about how their living thing gets its energy, grows up and reacts to its environment.  If needed, this activity could be completed as a small group working collaboratively to complete one graphic organizer. Another option could be for students to add the characteristics of their living thing to a class chart as they complete their individual or small group research.

3.  Students share the results of their research on their living thing with their small and/or large group(s). This research can be completed during time allocated for science instruction, as a center activity, or during time allocated for reading.
 
Suggested Text for the Idea Circle

• Ferdinand Fox’s First Summer, by Mary Holland
• Eat Like a Bear, by April Pulley Sayre
• Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature by Nicole Davies, “Caterpillars, Butterflies” (p. 40), “Just Ducks” (p. 98), “Acorn” (p. 68), and “Squirrel” (p. 74) are a few of the poems that could be used to find how living things grow up, get energy, react to the environment, and/or have body parts that help them do specific tasks. While poems are being read, students can also identify words and phrases that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.  They can also use the illustrations and details in the poem to describe the characters, setting and events of the poem. 

• Epic!’s “Living Things” or “Science and Nature” collections contain many books about plants and animals. About Penguins: A Guide for Children, by Cathryn Sill; Gray Foxes by Jane P. Gardner, and Arctic Fox Pups or Lion Cubs, both by Ruth Owen, each provide all of the information requested. This is only a partial list of possible ebooks student may use.

• InfOhio.org
  • BookFlix– The “Animals and Nature” category contains many books about animals that would be appropriate for this activity. A Lady Bug Larvae Grows Up by Katie Marsico, and others in the "Grows Up" series are good choices.
  • World Book Kids – World of Animals provides information, pictures and videos about animals. Selecting “Go to Exhibit” provides facts about the animal.  Clicking on “View Article” links to a brief overview of the animal, in a more student friendly writing style. Users can also select two animals to compare facts about the animals (length, life span, foods, etc.)
  • Early World of Learning – “Know It” provides students with interactive texts about animals and plants. Students can select a category of living things, then select a specific plant or animal.

 

• ReadWorks – “Busy Bees,” “Spiders” and other passages could be used with the First Impressions activity. While question sets are provided for each passage, teachers should decide if the questions are appropriate for use with this activity, could be used later at a center or as part of allocated reading time, or are not aligned.

The Growing Up WILD (GUW) guide provides animal cards for use with the First Impressions activity. Those cards may be used or the 8.5” x 11” full color animal cards provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources can be an excellent source of pictures and information for this activity.  Be sure to select the bald eagle to use as one of the animals students are asked to react to. Revisiting the feelings about eagles will transition from First Impressions to Wildlife As Symbols later in this series of activities. 
 
The book Actual Size by Steve Jenkins can also be used in this activity. This book shows life size images of several different kinds of animals, including a gigantic spider.  The Goliath bird-eating spider usually elicits strong reactions from students, and adults! 
 
Follow the instructions for the Warm Up provided in the GUW guide.
 
In #1 of the Procedure, instead of using the hula-hoops or masking tape to differentiate the three feelings, provide each student with pieces of paper, or post-it notes, that will represent their feelings about the animal shown.  In #2, continue the lesson by holding up the animal in question and have students draw their face (smile :-) , frown :-( or indifferent :-I ) on the piece of paper and cast their vote for that animal. 
 
Change the directions in #3 as follows. Once votes have been cast for the animal, have one, or a group, of students organize the responses by feelings.  Allowing the students to sort by smile ;-), frown :-( and indifferent :-I faces allows extra practice in the classification of data.  The data can then be graphed as shown on p.66 of the GUW guide.  Ask students to then sort the three feelings by count. Continue with the lesson as described in #4 and #5. 
 
Use the supplemental content that follows in addition to the suggestions in #6, #7 and the Wrap Up.

After the students have received more information addressing their questions, ask to see if students’ opinions about any specific animal have changed. Students share their feelings on the animals previously done.  Have students categorize and count the data with the intent that students will be able to compare the data and graphs from before and after information was received about the animals. 
 
As a closing activity, students complete the “I used to think… but now I know…and still wonder about…” graphic organizer.  There is also a version of the graphic organizer limited to “I used to think… but now I know…” provided to aid in differentiation.

After the First Impressions activities are completed, transition into the Wildlife as Symbols components. Follow the GUW guide suggestions for the Warm Up discussion. Brainstorm where students have seen other symbols of the United States (American Flag, Pledge of Allegiance, National Anthem). Continue through the Procedure steps and Wrap Up questions as written.

Introduce the activity by allowing students to investigate Ohio’s place in the United States and the world by zooming in or out at https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ohio/.  Students can toggle between the Map and Satellite views to see landforms and water, as well as zoom in to see overhead or street views of their school and neighborhood.  Emphasize that the map they are viewing represents real places.
 
Students can work individually, in small groups or as a class to create an Ohio mural, as described in the GUW guide. Students can research Ohio’s symbols to identify the following state symbols:

1. amphibian
2. animal
3. bird
4. flower
5. fossil
6. frog
7. fruit
8. insect
9. native fruit
10. reptile
11. tree
12. wildflower

These symbols of Ohio can be added the mural.
 
The following books about Ohio can be used to discover the different state symbols:

• Ohio Facts and Symbols by Emily McAuliffe (Note: This book is out of print, but many school libraries carry it)
• Exploring the States: Ohio by Amy Rechner (available at Epic!)
• Little Ohio by Marcia Schonberg, the answer to riddles 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9 is an Ohio symbol (available at Epic!)
• Ohio by M.J. York (available at Epic!)
• Ohio: What’s So Great About This State?, by Kate Boehm Jerome lists some of Ohio’s symbols on pages 26-27.
• INFOhio World Book Kids, Compare Places -> US States -> Ohio

 
Ohio’s Learning Standards for Social Studies list the following symbols of the United States that students should recognize: American Flag, Pledge of Allegiance, and National Anthem. Symbols of Ohio will not be assessed at this grade level.

Follow the suggestions in the GUW guide to create a class banner. Once completed, emphasize that students are unique, much like their hand prints, but share common characteristics of their class and its selected wildlife symbol, their school and/or district. Discussions could include a school mascot if appropriate. Reading We Are Alike, We Are Different by Janice Behrens (available in BookFlix, Family and Community) can reinforce these similarities and differences.

Students can work individually, in small groups, or as a class to identify accurate or anthropomorphic representations of wildlife. Epic! and BookFlix have many examples of wildlife talking, wearing clothes, and other unrealistic portrayals.

Students complete the sentence stem “I am (description) like a (wild animal), and draw a picture representing their choices. Several versions of a graphic organizer are provided to support differentiation.  If school district policy allows, scan poems and create an online gallery using www.Padlet.com , www.Gooru.org , www.Storybird.com , or other digital publishing tools.

All other activities in Wildlife as Symbols align to Ohio’s Learning Standards in Social Studies and/or English Language Arts. As time allows, students can do these activities as a class, in small groups, or at centers.