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Museum
Educator-led Programs
Pre & Post Visit Resources
Animals Undercover
Grades 1 - 2
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Program Description and
Frameworks
Program Outline
Key Terms and Concepts
Classroom Activities
Suggested Print and Web Resources
Learn More About the Special Exhibit: In the Dark
Click here for printable version of all resources listed above
Program Description and Frameworks
Imagine being a bat, a firefly, a viper, or a mole! How would you find your way in the dark? Discover how these amazing creatures survive in caves, burrows, and the darkness of night.
Location: Last Gallery of In the Dark Exhibit*
Gallery Length: 1 hour
Grades: 1-2
* PLEASE NOTE: Groups should schedule a separate time for self-guiding exploration of the In the Dark exhibit. This program will enhance and deepen student understanding of material presented in the exhibit, but it does not take students into the exhibit.
Massachusetts
Science and Technology/Engineering
Strand 1 Earth and Space Science Standard 1
1 Recognize that water, rocks, soil, and living organisms are found on
the earth’s surface.
Strand 2 Life Science Standards 1, 2, 6, 8
1 Recognize that animals (including humans) and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air, and water.
2 Differentiate between living and nonliving things. Group both living and nonliving things according to the characteristics that they share.
6 Recognize that people and other animals interact with the environment through their senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.
8 Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its basic needs (plants require air, water, nutrients, and light; animals require food, water, air, and shelter).
New York
Math, Science, Technology: Standard 1 Science Inquiry 1
1 The central purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process.
Students will
- describe quantities, express relationships, and relate mathematics to their immediate environments.
- ask “why” questions in attempts to seek greater understanding concerning objects and events they have observed and heard about.
- question the explanations they hear from others and read about, seeking clarification and comparing them with their own observations and understandings.
- develop relationships among observations to construct descriptions of objects and events and to form their own tentative explanations of what they have observed.
Standard 4 Science the Living Environment 1, 3
1 Living things are both similar to and different from each other and
nonliving things.
Students will
- describe the characteristics of and variations between living and nonliving things.
- describe the life processes common to all living things.
3 Individual organisms and species change over time.
Students will
- describe how the structures of plants and animals complement the environment of the plant or animal.
- observe that differences within a species may give individuals an advantage in surviving and reproducing.
Standard 4 Science Physical Setting 1
1 The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective.
Students will
• describe patterns of daily, monthly, and seasonal changes in their
environment.
Program Outline
Introduction
Students consider how many animals are active
outside after dark, even in their own back yards.
Night Vision
Using visual props, students discuss animals like
cats and owls who have good night vision.
Mystery Object Game
An exploration of non-visual senses that help
Game humans and other animals to survive in the dark.
Students reach into boxes with mystery objects hidden inside, and use their senses of hearing, smell
and touch to identify the mystery objects.
•
Dark Ecosystems
After being introduced to four dark habitats featured in
the In the Dark exhibit (caves, underground, forest at
night, and deep sea), students place images of
different animals on murals depicting the different
habitats, and discuss how these animals are suited to their habitats. This activity creates a frame of reference for the rest of the program.
Sound
Studentsexplore different ways that animals use
sound in the dark. After listening to the calls of a cricket, owl, frog, and toad, students use simple props to mimic these sounds in a nighttime pond chorus, and discuss the meaning of the sounds. Students will also learn a group echolocation game as an introduction to this unique bat adaptation.
Smell
A student volunteer takes part in a quick, active
demonstration of the use of scent trails by ants to lead to food supplies.
Touch
Through puppets and pictures, students learn about
the amazing tactile sense of the star-nosed mole and
the heat-sensing "pits" of vipers.
Make Your Own Light!
Students play a firefly game and learn about other
amazing creatures who create their own light and live
in the ocean.
Animals specifically discussed during the program include: star-nosed mole, ant, cricket, anglerfish, little brown bat, bobcat, American toad, spring peeper (frog), fireflies, snakes and owls. Click here for a list of some nocturnal Berkshire animals.
Concepts
Covered
- Many animals are active in the dark (nocturnal), some are active during
daylight hours (diurnal),and others are active mostly at dawn and dusk (crepuscular).
- Some animals live in places like forests and deserts, and are active at night.
Others live in places like caves, underground, and the deep sea, which are dark all of the time.
- Animals have different ways of surviving in the dark. Some have
well-developed senses of smell, hearing, or touch. Some have special body parts, and some can do things that our bodies can't do (like bat echolocation).
- Ocean waters are very, very deep. Sunlight reaches the top layers of water,
but not the very deepest.
- Some animals can see very well in the dark and others cannot.
- Many animals use sounds or smells to communicate.
Key Terms Used During the Program
Bat
|
a flying mammal with featherless wings that is active at night and uses echolocation.
|
Cave
|
a natural hollow area with an opening leading into or
under the earth.
|
| Diorama |
A 3-D or sculptural model showing a scene or a group
of figures (animals, people, etc.) and their surroundings.
|
| Diurnal |
a word used to describe an animal that is active
during the day.
|
| Echolocation |
the ability of some animals like bats and dolphins to
give off high-pitched sounds that bounce off of objects in the area and return to the animal, who can then figure out the size, shape, and location of the objects from this "echo;" bats use echolocation to navigate (find their way) and to find prey (food).
|
| Mole |
a small, furry animal who digs tunnels underground
and eats insects.
|
| Nocturnal |
a word to describe an animal that is active at night.
|
| Ocean |
a very large body of salt water.
|
| Owl |
a nocturnal bird that hunts small animals; owls have hooked talons (claws), large heads with short beaks, large eyes set looking forward, and fluffy feathers that let them fly very quietly.
|
| Pupil |
the dark area in the center of the colored part of the
eye that lets light into the eye.
|
| Predator |
an animal that hunts other animals.
|
| Prey |
an animal that is hunted by other animals.
|
| Stalactite |
a cave formation that hangs from the “ceiling” of the
cave. Though it looks like an icicle, it is not made of
frozen water, but hardened minerals.
|
| Stalagmite |
a cave formation that looks like an icicle standing up
on the floor of a cave. Though it looks like an icicle, it
is not made of frozen water, but hardened minerals.
|
To remember which is which: StalaGmites are on the Ground; StalaCtites are on the Ceiling.
Activities: Before and After Your Visit
In the Dark Scavenger Hunt
This is a great activity to do during your visit to the Museum, but you should print out and copy the worksheets ahead of time and bring them with you on your visit. During your time self-guiding through In the Dark, students can search through the exhibit to find the animals in this scavenger hunt. They can circle each animal as they find them. These animals will be further investigated during the Night Life program. Can you find any clues to tell you how these animals survive in the dark? Click here for hunt worksheet.
Sound Mapping
Complete this sound mapping lesson from the Living Landscapes Curriculum Guide with students during the school day. Click here for complete lesson. . Have students complete a sound map at home in the evening, which can be completed in their own yard, or on a walk with their parents. As a class, compare the data from the daytime maps and the evening maps. What differences and similarities do you notice? Do students have any new questions that they would like to explore?
Developed by the Berkshire Museum, Living Landscapes: Teaching in Nature is an interdisciplinary curriculum guide designed to help educators teach environmental education to elementary-age students-- fostering greater appreciation for the natural world in the Berkshires. Educators will find ready-to-use, student-centered lesson plans, including activities, assessments, extensions, and suggested print and web materials. To request a copy, email education@berkshiremuseum.org.
Introduction to Soil
Before doing this lesson, ask students to bring in a sandwich bag of dirt from their yard at home. Have students work in small groups, and give each group several small plastic cups, an eye dropper, plastic spoons, and samples of sand, potting soil or humus, and clay (any natural art clay will work). Tell students they will be soil scientists and they will be studying these soils by conducting “tests.” Discuss a couple of examples of different types of tests.
Different types of tests might include: What do they smell like? What do they feel like and sound like when rubbed between your fingers? What happens when you place a drop of water on top? What happens when you place a spoonful of soil in water? When you squeeze a clump together in your hand and then let go, what happens? What do they look like under a magnifying glass?
Discuss only a couple of examples together, and encourage students to develop their own tests. Make sure to set ground rules first: keep all soil on the table, and keep the soils separate (do not mix them together). After a few minutes of exploration, ask students to share their testing methods with the whole class, listing them on the board.
Then allow students a few more minutes to conduct tests. Regroup to discuss the properties of each soil observed by students. Take notes on the board, in chart form or (depending on student familiarity) a triple Venn diagram. Explain that most soils are a mixture of these different types.
Ask each group to test their soil samples from home using the same tests they used previously. How does it compare with sand, potting soil/humus, and clay? What do they think their soil is made of? Which type of soil is it most like?
Vermicompost
A great way for students to learn about the important role earthworms play in
the soil is through first-hand observation of worms in a classroom or school
compost bin. You can download or order a free worm composting guide for teachers put together by >California Integrated Waste Management or go to the Resourceful School Project's page on vermicompost. For more information, Worms Eat My Garbage by Mary Applehof, a guide to classroom vermiculture, is available through Berkshire Athenaeum’s on-line catalogue.
The World of Earthworms
Students experiment with common substances with distinctive scents like
vinegar in order to observe the reactions of live earthworms. This can serve
as a springboard for other worm experiments exploring other questions
students may have. Developed by the Cincinnati Museum Center; used here with permission. Click here for complete lesson. .
Cave Survival Kit
Ask students what 3 items they would bring with them if they knew they would be going into a cave. Ask students to draw and label the items at the top of a piece of paper and to write 2 – 3 sentences underneath explaining why they would bring those things.
Variation: Place the question on the board. Ask students to draw three items
and then cut them out. To share, have one student at a time come up to a large piece of paper, tell the class what their three items were and why they chose them, and then tape one item onto the paper. When everyone is done, you'll have a class cave kit collage. Students could also vote on the top 3 items that the whole class would like to have in the kit.
My Deep Sea Adventure Cartoon
Have students create a cartoon with at least 5 boxes showing them going on
an imaginary adventure into the deep sea. Each box should have a brief
caption.
Pond Water Experiment
With this simple, hands-on experiment designed by the Cincinnati Museum Center students will see first-hand what effect darkness has on water plants that are accustomed to sunlight. This can help students understand why living things in the dark depths of the ocean are much different from the aquatic life forms in sunlit waters that we are used to seeing.
Used here with permission. Click here for complete lesson. .
Ant Farm
Having a classroom ant farm is a great way to allow students to observe all of the activity that usually goes on completely out-of-sight underground. Ant farms can serve as great science lesson tools, but can also be incorporated into other core subject areas. Students can keep an ant log or journal with quick daily observations about temperature, weather, and ant activity. Ant observations could be a launching point for students to develop an ant cartoon, or to write a paragraph from the perspective of an ant. By creating a simple grid system on one side of the ant farm, students can keep a map of ant activity and use ordered pairs to describe the location of different activities. Students can also measure tunnel distances.
To introduce the ant farm to students, have them search for ant hills on the school grounds. Have students observe one hill for a few minutes. Then ask them to draw what they think is going on under the soil. Hand these drawings back to students after they have been observing the ant farm for several weeks. How has their understanding changed?
Ant farms are generally available from education science suppliers like Carolina Biological Supply. Also available from the Berkshire Museum Shop.
Diurnal and Nocturnal
Show students pictures of pairs of animals who are similar, except one is diurnal (active during the day) and one is nocturnal (active at night). (Some animals like rabbits belong to a third category-- crepuscular, meaning active at dawn and dusk; these animals are sometimes included in the category of nocturnal). Images can easily be found on the internet by using Google's image search function, or you can give students a list of animals to search for and clip out of wildlife magazines.
Examples might include butterflies and moths, a blue jay and an owl, a grey squirrel and a flying squirrel, a groundhog and an opossum. (In each example, the diurnal animal in the pair was listed first). Ask students to view each pair and ask the class to guess which animal is nocturnal and which is diurnal. How are these animals suited to the dark of night or the light of day? Ask students to explain the reasoning behind their answers and encourage more than one response for each animal.
Island Discovery Tours, Canada: Nocturnal Animal Sounds Game
A simple online game that students can play on their own. First students
listen to a sound made by a mystery nocturnal animal. Then students guess the identity of the animal and check their answers. They'll find pictures and information about each animal. TIP: students may need to hit the "back" button after listening to the sound to get back to the web page for the answer.
Suggested Web and Print Resources
All print
resources listed are available through the Central/Western Massachusetts
Library System.
Use the Berkshire
Athenaeum's on-line catalogue to search for these print
resources in Western Massachusetts.
Web and Print Materials For Students
Bash, Barbara. Shadows of Night: The Little Brown Bat. San Francisco: Sierra
Club Books for Children, 1993. A lively and well-illustrated non-fiction book
that follows the life cycle of the little brown bat as it engages in activities like
hunting for insects and hibernating in caves.
Brinckloe, Julie. Fireflies! NY: Collier Macmillan, 1985. The illustrated story of a
young boy who catches fireflies, only to realize that he must let them go to allow them to live.
Cannon, Jannell. Stellaluna. NY: Scholastic Books, 1993. The story of a bat
who is raised by a bird until she is reunited with her family. A good way to get students to compare and contrast birds and bats.
Demuth, Patricia Brennan and Jim Deal (Illus.). Way Down Deep: Strange
Ocean Creatures. NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1995. An illustrated introduction
to the creatures that live in the deep sea.
Earle, Ann and Henry Cole (Illus.). Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. NY:
HarperCollins, 1995. A very informative, yet accessible and fun non-fiction
book on bats for children. Includes information on how people can help bat
populations prosper, including building bat houses. Pairs nicely with the fiction
book Stellaluna.
Fraser, Mary Ann. Where Are the Night Animals? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out
Science 1). NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. A fun and colorfully
illustrated book about the activities and habitats of common nocturnal
animals. The book ends by revealing where these animals are “hiding” during
the daylight hours.
Hawes, Judy and Ellen Alexander (Illus.). Fireflies in the Night. NY:
Harper Collins, 1991. The story of a young girl who learns about fireflies from her grandfather.
Island Discovery Tours, Canada: Nocturnal Animal Sounds Game
A simple online game that students can play on their own. First students
listen to a sound made by a mystery nocturnal animal. Then students guess the identity of the animal and check their answers. They'll find pictures and
information about each animal. TIP: students may need to hit the "back"
button after listening to the sound to get back to the web page for the answer.
Jeunesse, Gallimard and Sylvaine Perols (Illus.). Night Creatures (First
Discovery Books). NY: Scholastic, 1998. A concise, illustrated introduction
to nocturnal animals, focusing mainly on owls and bats.
Milton, Joyce. Bats: Creatures of the Night. NY: Gosset & Dunlap, 1993.
A clear and simply-written non-fiction book covering the importance of bats as
insect-eaters and indicators of ecological balance. It also addresses common
misconceptions about bats.
Milton, Joyce. Bats and Other Creatures of the Night. NY: Random House,
1994. A simple text for young readers describing and illustrating the
nocturnal activities of such animals as bats, scorpions, skunks, frogs,
raccoons, owls, and foxes.
Ryder, Joanne and Don Bolognese (Illus.). Fireflies. NY: Harper & Row, 1977.
An illustrated non-fiction book for young readers that follows the development
of fireflies throughout their lifecycles.
Web and Print Materials For Educators
Applehof, Mary. Worms Eat My Garbage. MI: Flower Press, 1997. A guide to starting and maintaining a worm composting system in your classroom.
BioMEDIA: How Do Animals See in the Dark?
This visually striking page focuses on the vision of animals at night and during the day. Though the language is far too sophisticated to use directly with young students, teachers will find it a clear and concise source of important background information and good visual aids.
eNature.com: Starnosed Mole
A brief description of basic information about this unusual mammal, including an up-close photo of the nose.
The Firefly Files
In this website sponsored by the University of Ohio and the Museum of
Biological Diversity, you’ll find information about where to find fireflies,
their behavior, their range, their glow, and how to encourage them to come
to your yard.
Howe Caverns
Howe Caverns is a school group/tourist friendly cave system in New York
State. The web site offers an online tour of the cavern system with photos,
information and a few quicktime video clips. Its Cavern Classroom
Educational Resources provide background on the basics of cave formation and cave life.
How Stuff Works: How Bats Work
A very informative article about bats including topics like flight, echolocation, roosting, and their place in the ecosystem.
* Nightlife: Creatures of the Deep. New England Aquarium and Bermuda
Underwater Exploration Institute (Dir.)and Peter Benchley (Nar.).
New England Aquarium and Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, 2001.
This video documents bioluminescent animals of the ocean such as anglerfish, giant tubeworms, and six-gilled sharks through underwater footage. To order this video you may contact New England Aquarium, Conservation Department, Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110-3399, (617) 973-5288, wowfilms@neaq.org.
Ocean Link: The Deep Sea
This section of the Ocean Link site allows you to explore different levels
of the ocean. It provides fantastic images of the organisms that live in
each level, and the images are accompanied by succinct and accessible
information about each species.
Singapore Zoological Gardens Docent Web Site: How Do Snakes Hunt?
A good basic source of information about snake senses and adaptations for hunting, including information on pit vipers.
Bat Facts and Myths
A concise web page with the basic facts about bats that dispels common myths. Click on the "Return to Activities" link at the bottom of the page for activity ideas for young children.
 The
Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal
grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation
of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities
supports the Berkshire Museum.
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