Year 4 Science Living Things & their Habitats – Block 4LvH – Name That Living Thing!

Session 4: Closer Inspection
Science curriculum area: Living Things / i. recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways
ii. explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment
Working Scientifically (LKS2) / i. asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them
ii. making systematic and careful observations and, where appropriate, taking accurate measurements using standard units, using a range of equipment, including thermometers and data logger
Teaching Objectives /
  • To know that scientists are able to classify living things by closely observing them.

Other Curriculum areas / Art
  • create sketch books to record their observations and use them to review and revisit ideas
  • to improve their mastery of art and design techniques, including drawing

Teaching Objectives / To look at the work of artist LevonBiss and to record the details of local living things using close observational drawings.
Key Vocabularyobservation, details, identify, classify, invertebrate
Resources
Drawing PowerPoint, images of British invertebrates, drawing paper and pencils, rulers, magnifying glasses,watercolour paints, sticky tack. / Weblinks
Levon Bliss site, watch the film (play in bottom left).
Whole Class: Have portions of fruit to share if possible (not essential) at the end of the session.
Begin with a quick assessment activity - as the chn arrive in class, put them in mixed ability pairs and have the first slide of the PowerPoint on display. Give them a chance to choose a fruit and then create a branching database that will determine which fruit their partner has chosen. Allow them 5mins for this task and move around the class assessing their understanding of using classification keys to identify something. Explain that they will have an opportunity to try out their classification key at the end of the session.Move through the slides of the PowerPoint, and allow them to discuss some of the drawings. Slides 2 and 3 - do you think scientific sketches can be considered art? Would you want one of these pictures on your bedroom wall? Why? Click on the link on slide 5 and watch the 5-minute clip about LevonBiss. Why do you think he chose to make his photos of insects so large? Discuss with a partner. Explore some of the images of his work on the website. Do you like the photos? Why? Look at the different photographs of the beetles. Point out that careful questions would be needed to classify the different beetles. They are all beetles, but can look very, very different.Explain that they will be creating larger scale observational drawings of some common British insects. Give each child one image of an insect (session resources or class photos from Session 2), an A4 sheet of drawing paper, a drawing pencil and a ruler. Guide the class, step-by-step, on how to scale-up their image (session resources). Do each step slowly, while the chn copy what you do, and continually assess which chn may need some more adult support. Remind them to make faint lines with their pencils
Activities:
From your input assessment, choose the chn who are able to continue independently to do so. For the others, take groups of 6/7 chn and move through the scaling process again until the whole class are at the same point and are able to continue independently. Chn take time carefully drawing a larger scale insect (either from images on session resource, from downloading some of the LevonBiss images or from their photos from the field trip). This should be a calm and independent activity. Consider playing some music quietly in the background to encourage a calm and thoughtful classroom. Throughout the independent task, stop the class and get them to check their lines, are they all faint enough that they could easily be rubbed out?When they have finished sketching their insect, give them a rubber to carefully rub out the criss-cross lines (some chn may need some help with this). The lines of the criss-cross and the sketch should be so faint that this is a relatively easy task. Allow them to add a touch of colour with a light wash of watercolour paint.
Plenary / Choose drawings of 6 different insects. Attach them to the board with sticky tack. As a class, create a dichotomous classification key to identify each one. Remind the children of how important it is that they record the tiny details of the insects accurately. This accuracy is vital in helping scientists to classify living things correctly.
Go back to their fruit classification. Get each pair of chn to question each other, and see if they were able to determine their partner’s favourite fruit. Once they have shared, allow them to take a share of fruit (if possible).
Outcomes / Children will
  • Use a branching database/dichotomous classification key
  • Look at the photographs by artist LevonBiss
  • Discuss the photographs and consider whether or not they like them and why
  • Make careful and accurate observational drawings of an invertebrate found in the local environment
  • Make a larger scale drawing of the insect to show the details more clearly

© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.

We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.