Lion Country Safari Investigators: Animal Mystery
(Designed for Grades 3-5)
Purpose:
Students will use observation and inference to become zoo detectives to solve an animal “who done-it.” In this program, students review the food chain and respective terminology and use clues to solve an animal mystery.
Program length:
30 minutes
Class Size Limit:
100
Background:
The transfer of energy from its source to one or more organisms is called a food chain. Some animals eat plants and some animals eat other animals. A food chain always starts with plant life and ends with an animal. Plants are called producers because they are able to use light energy from the Sun to produce food. Animals cannot make their own food so they must eat plants and/or other animals. They are called consumers. There are three groups of consumers: herbivores (or primary consumers) are animals that eat only plants; carnivores are animals that eat other animals; omnivores are animals and people who eat both animals and plants. Decomposers (ex. bacteria and fungi) feed on decaying matter. These decomposers speed up the decaying process that releases nutrients back into the food chain for absorption by plants. Scientific inquiry is a multifaceted activity; students will work as a team to gather evidence, investigate the clues, and use deductive reasoning in order to solve an animal mystery based on the food chain.
This program meets the following Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and is STEAM compliant:
SC.3.N.1.1: Raise questions about the natural world, investigate, generate explanations based on explorations.
SC.3.N.1.6: Infer based on observation.
SC.4.L.17.2: Explain that animals, including humans, cannot make their own food and that when animals eat plants or other animals, the energy stored in the food source is passed to them.
SC.5.N.1.6: Recognize and explain the difference between personal opinion/interpretation and verified observation. (assessed as SC.5.N.2.1)
MAFS.K12.MP.3.1: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
VA.3.F.1.1: Manipulate art media and incorporate a variety of subject matter to create imaginative artwork.
VA.4.C.2.3: Develop and support ideas from various resources to create unique artworks.
VA.4.H.3.1: Discuss how analytical skills and thinking strategies are applied to both art production and problem-solving in other content areas.
VA.5.F.1.1: Examine and experiment with traditional or non-traditional uses of media to apply imaginative techniques in two- and/or three-dimensional artworks.
Pre-Visit Activity:
The animal mystery program helps utilize deductive reasoning. Practice your detective skills to classify an animal in this pre-visit activity.
Post-Visit Activity:
The animal mystery program helps utilize deductive reasoning. Practice the detective skills that you learned during your program at Lion Country Safari in this post-visit activity.
Want to add an art activity to this program? Click here.
