While there are several classes of living beings, most commonly animals fall into the following: mammals, birds, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods. Once students have gained an appreciation of these classes, they engage in a project where they merge two, unlike animals from different classes. They will present their new alien creations to their peers and have their classmates classify them according to their individual understanding of the alien creations. 

• Problem solving to classify living things based on characteristics

• Reinforce class groupings of mammals, birds, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods and understand their distinctions.

This unit has a creativity and critical thinking focus:

• Explore and generate unusual ideas and propose how to solve a scientific problem in a personally novel way

• Identify and question assumptions and consider several perspectives on a scientific problem

• Appraise, review, and reflect on a scientific solution relative to possible alternatives

Web and Print

• Pictures of animals that represent each of the main classes (mammals, birds, fishes, amphibians, reptiles and arthropods ) 

Other Resources 

• Projector, poster board, markers, and pencils  

• Optional recyclable materials for modeling creatures 

         Opportunities to adapt, extend, and enrich 

• Further links could be made with literacy, language, and visual arts. For example, students could be asked to write a script for an interview with the alien or a play about the process of classification or could be asked to produce a series of visual arts pieces that illustrate the characteristics of different classes in an unusual and memorable way.

English Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/11COd9ca2N4gufvXF9IwQSnIsGzcmZWAxqyU1HQ5nRcg/edit?usp=sharing

Hindi Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HD9Ps_83_BXGybp2DusjlFUU5Q3zcWRagvdZRtTBE8g/edit?usp=sharing

Gujarati Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x5ndZBoybEf6CguVsfSb0cK7ttYyriZ870YBtA2UhE8/edit?usp=sharing

Kannada Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_1ImStlZB7SMvSraCAk4X1vZC8sdjaTfM1YEeWPSOQI/edit?usp=drive_link