CU 5.05The Five Vertebrate Classes
The child sorts animals into fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals using body covering and other simple features.
Presentation
- 1
Lay out the five animal puzzles or pictures: fish, frog, turtle, bird, horse.
- 2
Say: 'Each of these animals belongs to a different group.' Name each class with its animal: fish (fish), amphibian (frog), reptile (turtle), bird (bird), mammal (horse).
- 3
Name one feature for each: fish have scales and gills; amphibians have moist skin; reptiles have dry scales; birds have feathers; mammals have hair or fur and drink milk.
- 4
Pass around the feather and fur sample.
- 5
Place the header cards and sort a few animals together, saying the feature aloud.
- 6
Invite the child to sort the rest.
- 7
Check with the control chart.
Extensions, easiest to hardest
- Play 'What am I?': the guide gives clues and the child names the class
- Sort harder examples: whale and bat (mammals), penguin (bird), salamander (amphibian)
- Read definition cards and match them to header cards
- Make a five-class booklet with one page per class
Control of error
The control chart shows each animal under its class.
Ready to move on when the child…
- Names the five classes
- Sorts common animals correctly
- Names the body covering of each class