At a Glance Grade Level: Senior Infants-1st Class Subjects: Science, Mathematics, Writing Topics: Animals Time Needed: 3 - 4 weeks, three periods weekly, 40 minutes each period Key Learnings: Natural History, Comparison, Measurement, Graphing Background: From the Classroom in Arizona, United States     Things You Need Standards Resources Print This Unit (PDF; 16 pages)

	Essential Question How are we like other animals?
	Unit Questions Are we so different from bears? What do animals need to live?
	Sample Content Questions What do bears eat? What is "family life" like for a bear?

Week One: Begin with a discussion of bears, enlisting ideas from students about what they know and would like to learn. Record vocabulary and ideas on chart paper for upcoming activities. Teach students the distinction between fiction and non-fiction, then engage in the following activity: Using a mixed set of books about bears, describe each one and a read its summary from the flyleaf or back cover. Ask questions such as: Is this book fiction or non-fiction? How can you tell? Introduce students to Internet navigation by having them engage in a bears scavenger hunt with a 4^th class mentor at Bears at Enchanted Learning*. Challenge students to answer the question: What makes a bear a bear? This question will elicit many ideas, and serves as the basis for a discussion about the characteristics of bears.

Week Two: Research time. Support teams as they spend the week researching different questions about bears. Topics might include:

1. "Bears Compare" Teams study and contrast two bear species. Brainstorm ideas of everything that can be compared: size, lifespan, biome and habitat, habits, diet, growth and development, and so on. This Compare the Bears sheet can be used. Have students write diet, weight and length for each bear on large "Bears Compare" posters. The information from this is used in Bears and Me activities, below.

Other group study questions might include:

2. Are there more bears in captivity or in the wild?
3. Are any bear species endangered?
4. Where's the closest place I can go to see a bear in the wild and what kind of bear would it be?
5. Why do bears hibernate? Do all bears hibernate?
6. Who has more to fear from the other, man or bear?

Using cooperative experts, such as wildlife biologists at the local ranger district, books, and these Web sites Bear Den*, Polar Bears Alive*, Bears at Enchanted Learning*, students study their topic and present what they've learned to the class. As a nice break from all this mind-bending study, consider using this nice mother bear movement activity*.

Bears and Me
Use the Bears and Me sample as a guide for activities 1 and 2. Have the class agree on one bear species to compare themselves to.

1. Compare What We Eat Using information from the "Bears Compare" poster, each student pair compares his diet to that of one bear species, and makes a Venn diagram of similarities and differences. For a greater comparison make a Venn diagram with three circles, comparing three bears. Show students how Venn diagrams display overlapping information.
2. Compare Our Size (Prepare your computer projection system for this demonstration) Ask this question: Let's guess how many of us would it take to weigh the same as a bear. What do you want to know before you make your best guess? Answer questions and write predictions on the board. Ask, How can we answer this question? Refer to the weight data of the different bear species from the "Bears Compare" poster and ask students to choose which they'd like to be compared to. Weigh students one at a time, and guide students as they add the weights until the pounds add up to the weight of the bear. Have students being weighed stay in a cluster at the front of the room until weighing is complete. Next, have students work with buddies to do repeated addition (or multiplication) of their individual weights to see how many "Andrews," for instance, it would take to make one. Try to get all the species represented. Show students how the information can be shown in a spreadsheet table, and model how the data can be presented in a graph or chart.

Week Three: Develop linear measurement concepts with the following activity: Using a piece of string the length of the bear, send students around the school finding objects that are the same length, or smaller and bigger. Help students illustrate their findings on chart paper. In cooperative groups, students and their buddies use butcher paper to create a life size image of their bear. Buddies trace and cut out students onto butcher paper as well as to compare height.

Week Four: In this activity, students complete research on bears and create a brochure about their bears to be distributed at the local zoo. Have each student collect information about their bear's habitat and compare with a bear found. Color world maps showing the different ranges for different bears on the planet. Have buddies help with the next activity: Import a graphic of a bear, either by scanning original paintings or drawings by students or using photo galleries on the Internet (such as Yahoo*, Animal Clipart*, Desktop Publishing*). Guide students as they write three sentences describing the physical features of their bear on their Bear Facts paper. Show students how to use the Bears Rubric and Student Rubric as a guide for content and quality as they make their brochure.

	Resource Student
	— Modifications as dictated in the student's IEP — Students work with a more able buddy — They will have access to more picture books about their bear — Work with parent volunteer or teacher's aide
	Gifted Student
	— Encourage broad and deep research — Add comparisons, such as life span — Students research more than one bear
	English Language Learner (ELL)
	— Encourage support from first language speakers who are more proficient in English — Provide extra time for completing assignments — Have parent volunteer or teacher's aide provide assistance — Teacher-created templates/graphic organizers for students to fill in — Use of visuals, manipulative learning tools, and illustrated text