The Animal Kingdom: Comparative Study - Five Classes of Vertebrates

Age
6-9.

Materials

 * 1) The wall charts of the five vertebrate classes ( or one set of function labels from one of the classes).
 * 2) The names fish (or Pisces), amphibian, reptile, bird ,, and mammal on the side going down.

Presentation

 * 1) Have a group of children lay out the loose pictures of the fish in order of their function.
 * 2) Next a group of children can lay out the pictures of the amphibian, then the reptile, then the bird, then the mammal.
 * 3) The elements are compared, discussing the characteristics of each class and how this contributes to the evolutionary process.
 * 4) Example: The fish lay many eggs in the water and the young when they are born are abandoned. The same is true for the amphibians.
 * 5) The adult who lives on land, returns to the water to lay many eggs. The young are abandoned and live for a time in the water.
 * 6) The reptile also lays eggs and abandons them. But reptiles are land animals, so their eggs are laid on land.
 * 7) A damp environment is needed for the egg, so Nature put water inside the egg and a hard shell on the outside.
 * 8) The mother sometimes leaves the eggs on the sand to warm.
 * 9) With birds, we see the first real caring for the young. The male and female sometimes build a nest together where the eggs are laid.
 * 10) The female keeps the eggs warm by sitting on them.
 * 11) When the eggs hatch, the male or the female goes to find food for the young.
 * 12) The young are taught how to search for food and to escape danger.
 * 13) The mammals do not lay eggs.
 * 14) The female keeps the egg inside her body and the young are born alive.
 * 15) The female cares for the newborn, and changes some of the blood into milk to feed it.

Purpose

 * To examine the process of evolution through animal characteristics.
 * To give children a sense of the process scientist go through in classification.