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	Mrs. VanLaecken's First Grade Plankinton School
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Hop on in for some fun activities!

Down By the Pond
(A Unit of Study
for First Grade)

Books	Videos	Activities
Poems	Assessments	Related Websites

A pond is a habitat that includes many different kinds of plant and animal life. The pond changes through the seasons and plant and animal life is affected. As the seasons change, the plants and animals progress through their life cycles. The animal babies have physical similarities and differences when compared to their parents. Animals and plants are dependent upon each other for survival as evidenced in a food chain.

Book List

Follow this link to an online pond book! http://magickeys.com/books/sniffy/index.html

Ponds:
A Freshwater Pond by Adam Hilbert
Life in a Pond (Rookie Read-About Science) by Allan Fowler
Down by the Cool of the Pond by Tony Milton
Look Closer: Pond Life by Barbara Taylor
In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming
The Sunset Pond Laura Appleton Smith
Farmer’s Pond by Rob Guthrie
Pond by Lizi Boyd
Pond Year by Kathryn Lasky
Around the Pond by Ann Cooper

Pond Animals:
Butterfly by Michael Berenstain
From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heilegman
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Butterflies and Moths by Jim Arnosky
Frogs and Toads and Tadpoles, Too by Allan Fowler
From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer
Frog Hunt by Sandra Jordan
Tadpoles by Betsy James
Jump, Frog, Jump by Robert Kalan
The Little Duck by Judy Dunn
Make Way for Ducklings Robert McCloskey
What’s it Like to be a Fish? By Wendy Pfeffer
Beaver Pond Moose Pond by Jim Arnosky

Baby Animals:
Welcome, Little Chick by Janet Craig
Animal Babies by Harry McNaught
Baby Pig by P. Mignon Hinds
Little Lions by Jim Arnosky
Baby Grizzly by Beth Spanjian
Baby Farm Animals by Garth Williams
Wild Baby Animals by Marty Stouffer
A Pinky is a Baby Mouse by Pam Munoz Ryan
Baby Animals Karen Rissing

Seasons:
What is a Season? By Gene Darby
Seasons by Peggy Gavan

Food Chain:
The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten by Joanna Cole
Who Eats What?: Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber/Holly Keller
The Science of Living Things “What Are Food Chains and Webs?” by Bobbie Kalman

Other:
What is a Life Cycle? by Bobbie Kalman
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats by Jim Arnosky
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Videos

These videos are all Insect Lore Products. The numbers included are numbers you can use to order these from their website. (Great Site!)

http://www.insectlore.com/

"The Magic School Bus-Butterflies" order #6318

"The Magic School Bus Hops Home" order #6321

"Pond Animals" order #9121

Activities

Day 1:

A. Begin constructing a K-W-L chart about ponds. Make three large lily pads from light green butcher paper. Label one K (What We Know); label another one W (What We Want to Know); and the final one L (What We Learned). Have the children share facts they know about ponds. Write these on the K part of the chart. Then have children form questions they have about ponds/pond life and write these on the W part of the chart. The L part of the chart will be constructed during the unit.

B. Share the following books with the children: Life in a Pond by Allan Fowler; Down by the Cool of the Pond by Tony Mitton; In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming.

Day 2:

A. Review K-W-L chart and discuss any questions that were answered while listening to the pond books on Day 1. Add new facts to the L part of the chart.

B. Watch and discuss the video "Pond Animals." Also choose a few books from the book list to share with the children.

C. Give each child a booklet titled "My Science Book." The cover should be decorated with pond pictures and the inside pages should be plain or lined. Have the children write 2 facts they have learned about ponds/pond life. When finished have the children share their facts orally within their groups.

Day 3:

Children will do Explore Activity: How Can You Make a Pond?" McGraw-Hill Science-Grade 1 p.203.

Day 4:

Read "Ponds Change" and discuss. McGraw-Hill Science-Grade 1 p. 209.

Day 5:

Read and discuss "How Does a Pond Change in Winter?" McGraw-Hill Science-Grade 1 p.210-211. Also read and discuss "Hibernation and Migration" handout. Children will add to their "My Science Book" by writing 2 facts about hibernation and/or migration.

Day 6:

Read and discuss "How Does Pond Change in Spring?" McGraw-Hill Science-Grade 1 p. 212. Use as a springboard to begin discussing the life cycles of a frog, a butterfly, and a duck. Share the book What is a Life Cycle? by Bobbie Kalman.

Day 7:

Share the books: From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heilegman; From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer; The Little Duck by Judy Dunn. Make "A Frog's Life" mini book from "May Reproducible Activities" (The Education Center #TEC952) p. 12. Also make butterfly life cycle project: Give each child a small colored paper plate divided into 4 parts. In Part 1 glue rice for eggs; in part 2 glue an egg noodle for a caterpillar; in part 3 glue a shell pasta for the chrysalis; and in part 4 glue a bow tie pasta (colored with a marker or painted) for a butterfly. Glue labels on each part. Display past Big Issues of Weekly Reader with the frog life cycle and butterfly life cycle.

Day 8:

Watch and discuss the video "The Magic School Bus Hops Home."

Day 9:

Watch and discuss the video "The Magic School Bus-Butterflies."

Day 10:

Read and discuss "What Do Pond Animals Eat?" McGraw-Hill Science-Grade1 p.226-227 and "What is a Food Chain?" p.228-229

Day 11:

Share and discuss the books: The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten by Joanna Cole and Who Eats What?: Food Chains and Food Webs by Patricia Lauber. Children will complete the food chain activity (3-4 step food chain) found at http://www.crayola.com/educators/lessons/print_version.cfm?id=150. Lists of pond animals for food chain (McGraw-Hill Science Grade 1 TE p.228. Children will add 2 facts about food chains to their "My Science Book."

Day 12:

Watch Power Point presentation "Down By the Pond" to review the unit. Then add facts to the L part of the K-W-L chart.

Make Stained Glass Butterflies: Spread glue on a piece of Saran Wrap and lay tissue paper (all colors) over it. Then paint glue on top of the tissue paper. Once dried, give each child a butterfly pattern to cut out of the dried paper. It looks really neat and the sun catches all the colors and the glued tissue paper is really strong.

Make and eat butterfly snack. (Mailbox Yearbook (K) 2000-2001 p. 289-290.

Days 13-15:

These days will be used to complete the following assessments:

1. Draw a picture to depict physical similarities and differences of animal babies and their parents and include at least 2 facts.

2. Construct a mobile to depict a food chain that includes a pond animal.

3. Groups of 3-4 will construct a pond mural to show the difference between a pond in the winter and a pond in the spring. Each child will write 1 fact about the mural.

Additional Notes:

Throughout this unit I will share many of the books listed on the "Book List" during teacher read-aloud time each day. The children will also be able to check these books out to share with their families at home.

Also at some point following the conclusion of this unit we will be sending for live tadpole and caterpillar kits from Insect Lore http://www.insectlore.com/ to observe actual life cycles. The children will keep journal entries to record the process (may include illustrations).

During my Guided Reading time each day the children will have the opportunity to complete some optional activities related to the pond unit. These include:

1. Life cycle flip books: Fold a piece of paper in half the long way. Cut four slits (only 3 for duck) to make a flap book. On each part the child writes one part of the life cycle of a duck, frog, or butterfly,then opens each flap to illustrate.

2. Complete butterfly life cycle worksheet from "April Idea Book" page 56-57 (Teacher's Friend Publications #TF400).

3. The children can draw butterflies, turtles, and/or frogs using the directions found on p. 22, 24, and 52 of "Follow the Directions and Draw It All By Yourself" (Scholastic). The children are expected to write something about their pictures.

4. Read the following stories found in "Sight Word Stories" (Bryan House #BH-88911):
p. 2 "Big Fish, Little Fish"
p. 25 "Little Lost Duckling"
p. 32 "Frog Song"

5. Read "The Mallard Duck" (p. 9) from "Grade 1 Teacher's Helper" (April/May 2002) The Education Center.

6. Complete and read silently and orally to a partner "The Pond Where Timothy Lives" from the Spring "I Can Make It! I Can Read It!" (The Education Center #TEC3507)

7. Make "A Frog's Life" mobile on p. 25-26 in "Animals" (Frank Schaffer Theme Books #FS-8057).

8. Make and read mini frog facts book p. 68-69 and or/ mini turtle facts book p. 76-77 in "June Idea Book" (Teacher's Friend Publications #TF600).

9. Work with a partner to complete "Animal Picture" activity from McGraw-Hill Science-Grade 1. (TE. p. 195) (information will be recorded on chart)

10. Complete "Pond Animal Parents and Babies" word search.

Poems

The following poems will be written on large chart paper and/or sentence strips for the pocket chart and posted around the room throughout this unit. The children will read these orally during calendar time each day and silently during "Read the Room" time. You can make pointers from dowels and glue frog, duck, and butterfly erasers on the ends for the children to use as they are tracking print. The poems will also be added to the binders kept in the children's desks along with the handout about hibernation and migration.

Birth of a Butterfly by Meish Goldish

A mama butterfly lays all her eggs,
Out pops a caterpillar, crawling on its legs.
The caterpillar at first is rather thin,
But then it eats till it bursts through its skin.

After growing nice and big,
The caterpillar climbs on a leaf or a twig.
It makes a shell where it hangs inside,
The shell then cracks, and the parts divide.

Inside the shell, a change is going on,
The form of the caterpillar now is gone.
When the shell opens, what comes out?
A beautiful butterfly fluttering about.

Five Little Frogs by Cynthia Cappetta

Five little frogs sitting by a lake,
The first was scared away by a snake.
The next one decided to take a swim.
The third one followed him right in.
The fourth little frog took a great big leap.
So the last little frog just went to sleep!

Guessing Game by Kate Davis

I come from eggs like jelly.
I have a chubby belly.
My tail will disappear,
But I won't shed a tear.
I'll hip-hop when I grow.
What am I-do you know?
(a tadpole)

Tadpoles by Carol Quinn

Tadpoles hatch
In early spring
And swim 'round ponds
Where blackbirds sing.
Tadpoles wiggle
As they go
Where turtles snap
And cattails grow.
Tadpoles change to
Jumping frogs
Hop out of ponds
To sleep on logs.

Who Lives in a Pond? by Cynthia Cappetta

Who lives in a pond?
Little frogs green,
They croak as they catch
The bugs that they've seen.
Who lives in a pond?
Fish swimming around,
They're blue, gold, and green,
And they don't make a sound.
Who lives in a pond?
Yellow ducklings that quack.
They paddle their feet,
Moving forward and back.

A Fuzzy Riddle by Vivian Gouled
It doesn't purr.
It doesn't quack.
It has soft fur
all down its back.
It doesn't bark.
(It doesn't try.)
It turns into
a BUTTERFLY.
What is it?
(a caterpillar)

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Assessments