University of Maine Cooperative Extension   4-H Earth Connections "Creating Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century"
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AGE LEVEL = 8-10 (5-11) DURATION = 20-40 min. LEARNING STATION = Anywhere RELATED ACTIVITIES = ←→ Animal Charades ←→ Home Search WHEN =

UNDERSTANDING: There are patterns to the ways animals live, patterns that revolve around habitat, food, movement, physiology and niche.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is a good filler activity between learning stations.

MATERIALS:
For each child:

• Animal Card (word, picture, or drawing)

• Tape, string or safety pin to attach card to the child’s back

PREPARATION: None.

LESSON:

Warm-up: Tell the children they are going to be animal detectives, and identify a mystery animal by asking only yes or no questions. (With younger children, give examples of questions to ask.)

Activity: Assign each child an animal, or have them select their animal cards randomly, being sure in either case that they don’t see what animal it is. Place the card on their backs. Select one child to start, and have the child show the animal to the group. Let the child question the group and guess the animal. Give everyone a chance to guess. You may have to help the children develop their questions efficiently. Start with general questions, then narrow down the possibilities. (Am I a mammal? Am I a carnivore? Do I fly?)

OPTIONS AND FURTHER EXPLORATIONS:

1. Icebreaker: Have the children mill about, asking each other questions.

2. Use plants or other aspects of nature instead of animals.