Fieldtrip

to Potter Park Zoo Lesson Plan

Grade: First Grade Science Class

Objective: Students will be able to identify animals and demonstrate knowledge
about the animals. Students will be able to explain to their peers characteristics
about different animals and also share facts about them. Students will recognize
that animals can be found all over the world and will be able to recognize that there
are many different species of animals. Students will be able to recognize important
characteristics of animals

Materials Needed:
Notebook
Power point
Computer
projector
Pencils
Markers

Pre-Lesson: Before the activity we will discuss the animal kingdom and the
different animal classification systems (mammal, amphibian etc.) We will also look
at a power point that includes information about a few different animals family
groups, appearance, life cycles and characteristics.
Examples of pre activity questions we can ask include: Do all animals look alike?
What colors do they come in? About how many kinds do you think you might find in
one place? What kind of animals can you see in a park? What kind of animals can
you see in a zoo?
Teach vocabulary words by showing pictures on a powerpoint and discussing the
pictures as a class. Introduce the vocab: mammal, amphibian, reptile, fishes, birds,
and include an example of each as well as a few characteristics.

Activity: Taking the tools we have in our materials pile students will take a field trip
to the zoo! They will bring a notebook and a pencil and will write down one
mammal, one amphibian, one fish, one bird and one reptile that they see at the zoo
and draw a picture of the animal. Then once they go home they can color in the
picture. The students in class the next day after the field trip will use computers to
research a few facts about their animal to add to the drawings!
The students fact will be written underneath their drawings from the zoo. This
activity will require students to choose their favorite fact about the animals they
saw in order to put a fact on the paper. We will engage in discussion with the class
about the different animals we saw and what some fun facts about the animals were.


Rationale for this lesson: To teach children about animals and their classification
systems. Students will be able to identify animals and demonstrate knowledge about
the animals. Students will be able to explain to their peers characteristics about

different animals and also share facts about them. Students will recognize that
animals can be found all over the world and will be able to recognize that there are
many different species of animals. Students will be able to recognize important
characteristics of animals