Grades:1-6
*This is a lesson I taught to first through sixth grade students as part of a weeklong science camp.
1. Make long strips of bulletin board paper as tall as the following animals: (write the name of the animal, height, and where they live on each strip of paper)
- Bottlenose Dolphins = 9 ft. (warm tropical waters)
- Giraffe = 17 ft. (African Savannah)
- Python = 6 ft. (Western Africa)
- Monitor Crocodile = 7 ft. (New Guinea)
- Emu = 6 ft. (Australia)
- Siberian Tiger = 12 ft long from nose to tail (Mountains in Northern Russia)
2. Have each student measure how tall he or she is – have them record this height on the worksheet.
3. Allow students to lie down next to each animal (paper strips), comparing and contrasting the differences in height.
4. Have the students use measuring tapes to measure each animal (paper strip) and record the height on their worksheet (Math Integration).
5. As the students are circulating among the animals, have them read on the paper where each animals lives. Have them find this location on the classroom map (Geography Integration).
6. On the back of the worksheet, have students write the animals in order from shortest to tallest, including themselves.
7. Have each student draw and label a bar graph showing the comparison of the size of these animals (Math Integration).
