Fifteen pictures go into a five-column chart on this 3-page 3rd grade science sheet about the vertebrate groups. Students sort a bat, a whale and a cow, a penguin, an owl and a robin, a shark, a goldfish and a tuna, a turtle, a lizard and a crocodile, and a frog, a toad and a salamander. Page 2 asks why a bat is a mammal, why a penguin is a bird, and for one more animal in each group. The answers page names every group and gives sample answers.
“Name the five groups of vertebrates: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians.”
Page 1 sorts three animals into each group and the table on page 2 asks for one more in each.
“Use traits such as fur, feathers and warm blood to explain why an animal belongs to its group.”
Questions 1 and 2 on page 2 cover the bat and the penguin.
Fifteen labeled pictures in three rows of five, with a chart below headed MAMMALS, BIRDS, FISH, REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS. Each column has four lines.
Two written questions about the bat and the penguin, each beside a picture. Then a table where students add one new animal for each of the five groups.
The sorted chart, a trait-based answer for the bat and the penguin, and sample animals for each group, from newt to ostrich.
Hard cases first
Ask students to place the bat, the whale and the penguin before anything else. Those three look like they belong somewhere else, so the sort doubles as a quick check on traits.
Follow with a traits table
Give students a chart of body covering and breathing next, so they can back each sort with fur, feathers, gills or scales.
Make question 3 a race
Pairs list one new animal for each group on the page 2 table. The first pair with five correct answers reads them out for the class to check.
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