Animal Coverings and Parts!

 

Hey Science Friends,

For some of us animal coverings and animal parts are two of our Science objectives that we spend a good amount of time on. I found these magnetic animal pictures from Lakeshore Learning and it is one of my favorite tools for Science when covering these two objectives. I love these magnetic pictures so much that I had to write about them here. I usually spend a few sessions on different days just showing the children all the different ways these pictures can be sorted. It never takes long for the children to start thinking of different ways the picture cards can be sorted as they use them. What I like about this product is that it shows real pictures of real animals and it has a ton of animals in the set. There really are so many possibilities for just about any animal sort you can think of. I have had my set for years and they still look new even though we have used them year after year. The set is $30 and comes with 54 animal magnets. This really is worth the price. If you are interested just click on the picture above for more information.

 

 

And here is a new book I will be using this year! I was so excited to find this in my school library! Here is the Amazon book description...

Get off on the right foot! Join the animals in their foot-frolicking fun running, jumping, leaping, and hopping and then resting, just like the critters and creatures featured in Kimberly Hutmachers Paws, Claws, Hands, and Feet. Go along on the exciting dream journey from morning to night, using hands and feet just like squirrels, monkeys, rats, spiders, frogs, penguins, elephants, lions, kangaroos, pandas, and eagles. Travel to the lush jungle, the African savannah, Australian outback, and to the frozen Antarctic. Finally, as the sun sets, snuggle beneath the covers and snooze, with recollections of animals at play, inspired by the imaginative illustrations of Sherry Rogers. After all, even the wild things need some time to rest after a day of fast-footed play!

 

 

Another great new find...

Fur and Feathers is the winner of a Gold Moonbeam Children's Book Award. When Sophia dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends, she shares some of her clothes with them. But her clothing doesn't work well for the animals. Seeing their disappointment, she offers to sew each one the right coat. Animals line up to explain what they need and why. Polar Bear needs white fur to stay warm and hide in the snow. Fish needs scales, but with slime. Snake needs scales too, but dry ones. And how will Sophia make a prickly coat for Porcupine? The award-winning team of Halfmann and Klein (Little Skink's Tail) reunite to bring animal coverings (and classification) to life in an imaginative way. Sophia's friends include Duck, Fish, Frog, Ladybug, Polar Bear, Porcupine, Snail, and Snake. The For Creative Minds educational section includes: Scientific Classification, Skin Coverings, and Animal Classification. Additional Teaching Activities and Interactive Quizzes are available on the Sylvan Dell Publishing website.