How to Explode Student Engagement with this Habitat Research Project
One HUGE 2nd grade standard is researching and learning about animals and their adaptations. Students LOVE this unit, but teachers can be intimidated by the overwhelming pressure involved in guiding student research at such a young age. I love doing this 2nd grade animal research project with my students every March! This project has been reworked for a digital platform as well .
I love to start by playing a Brain Pop Jr, Flocabulary or YouTube video for my kids on all of the different habitats that exist. Typically, we have previously researched habitats during our social studies unit before starting this writing project, so they already have the background knowledge.
Then, I let students pick the habitat they are most interested in studying. From there, they pick 3-4 animals that live in the habitat that they would like to research more about. We use National Geographic Kids , Epic! Books and library books [all free resources] to learn about our animals.
2. RESEARCH/PLANNING
The next day, I model my own notes for students. Then, I give students lots of time to research their animals and take notes. It is really important that you are walking around the room and guiding students during this time.
If you have a struggling group of writers, I like to work with them at the back table during this time. We all research the same animals and take notes together. This helps them build confidence and feel sure about their writing in future days.
3. DRAFTING
I break drafting days up into 2 days so that students can really focus on the craft of what they are writing. I also always model before releasing students to write on their own.
Depending on what we have covered so far in the year, I encourage students to be sure to add:
- embedded definitions
- transition words
- conjunctions
- adjectives, adverbs and prepositions where appropriate
- 3-4 details per fact
4. PUBLISHING/GRADING
On the last day for each animal (typically Friday), I give students time to publish. While they publish, I model then ask them to add a map and diagram to their writing. I also show them how to grade themselves on the rubric, so they can double check that they are not missing anything.
After they finish, I give them free time to explore other animals in their habitat while I grade their writing. I find grading at the end of each animal rather than at the end of the entire project saves me a TON of time.
We repeat steps 2-4 for either 3 or 4 animals. Some students may work faster, while some may take a bit more time on each step. I try to adjust the project to be appropriate for the majority of the class.
When the project is done, I try to find a special way for us to share our work. This can include sharing to younger buddies, parents or doing an author’s chair.
Since they work so hard on this project, we make a BIG DEAL out of the finished project, and I typically send it home with parents during conferences. It makes a great writing portfolio and talking piece with parents.
Teaching digitally or wanting to add a digital component to your writing block? This project can also be completed in a digital format . Students will go through the same process, completing all of their work on Google Slides rather than writing using paper and pencil.
Grab the resources pictured above here:
Do you teach about a 2nd grade animal research project each year? Drop your ideas in the comments below!
Some other posts you might find helpful are:
- Teaching Animal Habitats During Science Ideas
- Animal Adaptations Writing Project
- Life Science Unit: Animal Adaptation
Emily - The Mountain Teacher
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Writing Unit of Study: Animal Research Project
This free animal research project will provide you with a writing unit of study that will help you build excitement about writing informational text in your classroom.
You can download this free animal research project to help your writers develop their research and writing skills.
This project will be a great fit for your first, second or third grade writing workshop.
This is another free resource for teachers and homeschool families from The Curriculum Corner.
Why should I introduce my students to research through animal study?
Animal research can be a great topic for writing informational text because students tend to be curious about animals.
Nothing seems to spark interest in most kids like learning about animals in our world. Turn their enthusiasm into an engaging animal research writing project.
They can take the time to learn about different habitats and diets.
You can also encourage students to expand their vocabulary by having them create a glossary to accompany their writing.
About this animal research project
Within this post you will find over 30 pages of anchor charts, mini-lesson ideas, writing planners and graphic organizers.
The unit will help guide your students through the complete process. In the end, you will be helping to teach your students how to write their own pieces of informational text.
The intended end product for students is an animal booklet that they can staple together to share with others.
Students who are ready for more advanced work, can create a larger project with less direction.
A description of the mini-lessons
Lesson 1: introduction.
- Begin the unit by having the students brainstorm a list of animals that they might see everyday.
- Then, have them brainstorm a list of animals they see when they visit the zoo or walk in the forest. You can do this on the blank anchor chart provided or on cart paper.
- Another option is to place students in groups. They could work to create a list together.
- You might assign each group a continent and have them find animals that live there.
- Pull the class together and have each group share what animals they found that live on their continent.
Lesson 2: Noticings
- Next you might want to get your students familiar with common characteristics about informational texts that teach about animals.
- Have them work in pairs or small groups to go through some books and record their “noticings” about the writing.
- Then come together in a community circle to discuss those noticings and create a class anchor chart.
Lesson 3: Opinion vs. Facts
- Before getting truly into this unit, you might need to conduct a lesson on opinions vs. facts.
- After a brief discussion you can use the giraffe paragraph provided in our resources to give your students some practice differentiating between the two. This paragraph contains both opinions and facts.
- With your class read through the paragraph and record facts and opinions on the T-chart.
- Discuss both sides and how they are different from each other.
- A black & white copy of this giraffe paragraph has also been provided. You can have them work in pairs or groups to distinguish between the facts and opinions.
- If you need more resources for your students surrounding fact & opinion check out our Fact & Opinion Sort .
Lesson 4: Choosing a Topic for the Animal Research Project
- We want to help students to narrow their topic choices by giving them some guidance.
- Gather students and begin a discussion about choosing an animal research topic.
- For this lesson we have provided two pages where students can individually brainstorm the animals they are interested in.
- You might have students work in groups or independently to make their choice. Conference with students as needed to help.
- Don’t shy away from letting more than one student research about the same animal. This can be a great way to promote group work. It might also help out with some of your literacy center choices throughout this unit.
Lesson 5: Good Places to Find Information about an Animal
- At this age we want students to begin to understand that all they read online about animals isn’t always true. Sometimes writing might sound true without being filled with facts.
- Show students two possible places to find information online about their animal. One should be a trusted site with reliable and accurate information. Another should be a site that perhaps a child has created. (There are many that you can find if you search.)
- Pose these questions: Is everything on the internet true? Why? How can you tell? Why is it important for your research writing to contain accurate information?
Lesson 6: Taking Notes
- Sometimes giving students resources and a blank sheet of notebook paper can be too overwhelming for them. Some students will copy word for word. Others might feel overwhelmed. We need to guide them to read and pull out facts & relevant information to use later in their writing.
- For this lesson we have provided four templates for note-taking that you might choose to use for your students.
- You might need to provide different organizers to students depending on their needs.
- You will want to model the organizers your students are use. Show them how to take notes as they read.
- After initial teaching, you may find that you need to pull small groups for extra practice. Others might benefit from a conference as you take a look at the notes they are taking.
Lesson 7: Word Choice in Research Writing
- To help students think about making their writing more interesting, have them brainstorm words about their animal.
- Together brainstorm words that would be appropriate for animals. They might add words about what they look like, their movement, their habitats, their life cycles, their diets, etc. You can create a class anchor chart on the page provided. You might even think about using the real life picture of the wolf in the download. This can get the students to begin thinking of more interesting words for animals (fierce, mighty, strong, etc).
- Then, pass out the individual brainstorm pages. Students can use the anchor chart as a guide to begin their own word choice pages about their animal. This might be a good partner activity as well.
Lesson 8: Writing Sketch for the Animal Research Project
- Next, you can model the writing sketch planner for your class.
- One idea to help your students narrow down all of the information they have learned about their animals is to give them a specific number of animals facts that they can focus on.
- Each of these facts can serve as the actual text that they will put on each page of their animal research book. Or the facts could serve as a focus for each paragraph in their writing.
- You might find that this would be a good mini-lesson to do with smaller groups of children.
Lesson 9: Creating a Table of Contents
- Another idea that can be a writing planner AND a page in their animal research book is the table of contents. Pull out one of the Table of Contents pages from the resources provided and model how to fill in the blanks on each page.
- This page will then serve as their Table of Contents (with a focus discussion on what that is and the purpose it serves) and also their writing planner so they know what they will put in the pages of their booklet.
Lesson 10: Creating a Glossary
- There are two pages provided in the resources that might help your students to learn to pull out topic specific words to put into a glossary for the end of their animal research book.
- Be sure to model how you would like for your students to use these organizers (keeping in mind that you may need to copy more than one page if there are more words than the page provides for).
- If your students need a refresher on ABC order check out these links for some added practice/review: ABC Order Task Cards & Fry Word ABC Order Task Cards
Lesson 11: Writing Your Animal Research
- You will decide on the best method for your students to showcase their published animal research.
- You may want your students to use their own creativity in the texts that they write and share. If you’d like a first experience to provide a bit more guidance, we have provided two different sets of pages for booklets.
- One is more guided and the other has less structure and smaller lines for more writing. 15 pages are provided so that you or students can pick what fits their needs.
- This “lesson” may actually become a series of lessons if you choose to model how each page can be used. (We have also included a page with simple writing lines in case students need less guidance than the booklet pages provided.)
Lesson 12: Labeling Pictures
- One final lesson idea that pairs well with writing informational text is to teach your students how to label pictures.
- Since most nonfiction writing has real photographs, students can find some pictures online to print out and label for their booklet. Hand-drawn pictures are also great if you would rather encourage some or all of your students in that direction.
- Whatever you choose, show your class how to effectively label a picture so that it teaches the reader more. You can use the picture of the polar bear provided to model how to add words or even short facts as labels. (For example if the simple label “fur” wouldn’t add additional information to the book, you might teach them to label it with a short fact such as “dense fur protects the animal’s skin from the weather”.
- To make this idea more user friendly, you might want them to use the page of blank white boxes provided to write their labels for their pictures. Then all they need to do is cut them out and glue them to a printed picture.
Lesson 13: Writing Celebration
As always, find a way to celebrate your students’ writing.
Invite guests (younger students or special adults) to read the books with your young authors. You might simply want to pair or group them, or some students might choose to present their book to everyone.
Provide some light snacks if possible to give it a party atmosphere and pass out the author certificates to each child for his/her hard work.
You can download this free writing unit of study here:
Writing Download
As with all of our resources, The Curriculum Corner creates these for free classroom use. Our products may not be sold. You may print and copy for your personal classroom use. These are also great for home school families!
You may not modify and resell in any form. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Christine E.
Saturday 8th of May 2021
Thank you so much for this resource and the many pages that I can use in my homeschooling. It is exactly what I've been looking for to help me get my kids to write about our animal units! You are doing a great job, keep up the amazing work you do. I appreciate the hard work you put into putting these together.
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Animal Research Project for Kids at the Elementary Level in 2024
Whether you are doing a simple animal study or a fully integrated science, reading, and writing unit, this animal research project for kids includes everything you need. From the graphic organizer worksheets and guided note templates to the writing stationary, printable activities, projects, and rubrics.
Thousands of teachers have used this 5-star resource to have students complete self-guided animal research projects to learn about any animal they choose. The best part is, the resource can be used over and over again all year long by just picking a new animal! Learn all about this animal research project for kids at the elementary level below!
What is the Animal Research Project?
The animal research project is a resource that is packed with printable and digital activities and projects to choose from. It is perfect for elementary teachers doing a simple animal study or a month-long, fully integrated unit. It’s open-ended nature allows it to be used over and over again throughout the school year. In addition, it includes tons of differentiated materials so you can continue to use it even if you change grade levels. Learn about what’s included in it below!
What is Included in the Animal Research Project
The following resources are included in the animal research project :
Teacher’s Guide
The teacher’s guide includes tips and instructions to support you with your lesson planning and delivery.
Parent Letter
The parent communication letter promotes family involvement.
Graphic Organizers
There are graphic organizers for brainstorming a topic, activating schema, taking notes, and drafting writing.
Research Report
There are research report publishing printables including a cover, writing templates, and resource pages.
There is a grading rubric so expectations are clear for students and grading is quick and easy for you.
Research Activities
The research activities include a KWL chart, can have are chart, compare and contrast venn diagram, habitat map, vocabulary pages, illustration page, and life cycle charts.
Animal Flip Book Project
There are animal flip book project printables to give an additional choice of how students can demonstrate their understanding.
Animal Flap Book Project
There is an animal flap book project printables that offers students yet another way to demonstrate their learning.
Animal Research Poster
The animal research poster serves as an additional way to demonstrate student understanding.
Poetry Activities
The resource includes poetry activities to offer students an alternative way to demonstrate their learning.
Digital Versions
There is a digital version of the resource so your students can access this resource in school or at home.
Why Teachers love the Animal Research Project
Teachers love this animal research project because of the following reasons:
- This resource guides students through the research and writing process, so they can confidently work their way through this project.
- It is a great value because it can be used over and over again throughout the school year because the pages can be used to learn about any animal.
- It offers several ways students can demonstrate their learning.
- It includes a ton of resources, so you can pick and choose which ones work best for you and your students.
- It is printable and digital so it can be used for in-class and at-home learning.
This animal research packet is great because it can be used over and over again using absolutely any animal at all. The printables in this packet are ideal to use with your entire class in school, as an at-home learning extension project or as a purposeful, open-ended, independent choice for your students who often finish early and need an enrichment activity that is so much more than “busy work.”
The Research Report Process
This animal research project packet was designed in a manner that allows you to use all of the components when studying any animal. Because the printables can be used over and over, I will often work through the entire researching and writing process with the whole class focusing on one animal together, This allows me to model the procedure and provide them with support as they “get their feet wet” as researchers. Afterwards I then have them work through the process with an animal of choice. You may find it helpful to have them select from a specific category (i.e. ocean animals, rainforest animals, etc) as this will help to streamline the resources you’ll need to obtain.
Step 1: Brainstorm a list of animals to research. Select one animal.
During this stage you may want to provide the students with a collection of books and magazines to explore and help them narrow down their choice.
Step 2: Set a purpose and activate schema.
Students share why they selected the animal and tell what they already know about it. Next, they generate a list of things they are wondering about the animal. This will help to guide their research.
Step 3: Send home the family letter.
To save you time, involve families, and communicate what is happening in the classroom, you may want to send home a copy of the family letter. It’s so helpful when they send in additional research materials for the students.
Step 4: Research and take notes.
The two-column notes template is a research-based tool that helps the kids organize their notes. I added bulleted prompts to guide the students in finding specific information within each category. This method has proven to be highly effective with all students, but is especially useful with writers who need extra support.
I have included two versions of the organizers (with and without lines). I print a copy of the organizer for each student. I also copy the lined paper back to back so it is available to students who need more space.
Step 5: Write a draft.
Using the information gathered through the research process, the students next compose drafts. The draft papers were designed to guide the students through their writing by providing prompts in the form of questions. Answering these questions in complete sentences will result in strong paragraphs. It may be helpful to give them only one page at a time instead of a packet as it make the task more manageable.
Step 6: Edit the draft.
Editing can be done in many ways, but it is most effective when a qualified editor sits 1:1 with a student to provides effective feedback to them while editing.
Step 7: Publish.
Print several copies of the publishing pages. I like to have all my students start with the page that has a large space for an illustration, but then let them pick the pages they want to use in the order they prefer after that. I have them complete all the writing first and then add the illustrations.
Finally, have the children design a cover for the report. Add that to the front and add the resources citation page to the back. Use the criteria for success scoring rubric to assign a grade. The rubric was designed using a 20 point total so you can simply multiply their score by 5 to obtain a percentage grade. The end result is a beautiful product that showcases their new learning as well as documents their reading and writing skills.
In closing, we hope you found this animal research project for kids helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in these posts:
- How to Teach Research Skills to Elementary Students
- 15 Animals in Winter Picture Books for Elementary Teachers
- How to Teach Informative Writing at the Elementary Level
- Read more about: ELEMENTARY TEACHING , INTEGRATED CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES
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Animal Research Projects
The students then put their information into a paragraph, each paragraph covering one topic. We practiced this quite a bit together as a class. We also discussed proper paragraph format, using an opening and closing sentence.
As students were researching, I noticed that they find quite a bit of information that didn’t quite fit into their 3 topics. The students wanted to include these interesting facts, but weren’t sure where to put them. So we created a “Fun Facts” page!
The students also created diagrams of their animal, labeling its parts.
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2nd Grade Animal Project
Animal Websites
- National Geographic - Animals
- Defenders of Wildlife
- Smithsonian's National Zoo
- Science Kids
- Science Facts
- Animal Facts
Choose your animal
- Ball Python
- Hippopotamus
- Laughing Dove (high level)
- Nile Crocodile
- Polar Bears
Websites below have advertising
Rhinoceros Facts
Elephant Facts
Giraffe Facts
Flamingo Facts
Chimpanzee Facts
Penguin Facts
Panda Facts
Video Resources
Python Facts
Great White Shark Facts
Tiger Facts
Skunk Facts
Sea Turtle Facts
Porcupine Facts
Panther Facts
Ostrich Facts
Komodo Dragon Facts
Hippopotamus Facts
Tarantula Facts
Piranhas Facts
Orangutan Facts
Octopus Facts
Grizzly Bear Facts
Electric Eel Facts
Dolphin Facts
Crocodile Facts
Loggerhead shrike Facts
Mulga snake Facts
Peregrine falcon Facts
Spiny crayfish Facts
Wildcat Facts
Common kusimanse Facts
Diana monkey Facts
Greater stick-nest rat Facts
Himalayan snowcock Facts
House wren Facts
Mona monkey Facts
Pilot whale Facts
Rosy-faced lovebird Facts
Western brown snake Facts
Remora Facts
Flounder Facts
Gray rat snake Facts
Harpy eagle Facts
Hartebeest Facts
Hornet Facts
Nyala Facts
Pine siskin Facts
Red-naped snake Facts
Red-sided garter snake Facts
Steenbok Facts
Blue tit Facts
Brown-headed cowbird Facts
Click beetles Facts
Curl snake Facts
Daddy longlegs Facts
Dwyer's snake Facts
Earwigs Facts
Leafhoppers Facts
Northern bobwhite Facts
Blackbird Facts
Common redpoll Facts
Dark-eyed junco Facts
Darkling beetles Facts
Eastern cottontail Facts
Eastern meadowlark Facts
Ruby-crowned kinglet Facts
Sawflies Facts
Tiger swallowtail Facts
Woodlouse Facts
Common myna Facts
Crested caracara Facts
European polecat Facts
Froghopper Facts
Pied-billed grebe Facts
Prairie skink Facts
Amargosa toad Facts
Puerto Rican coqui Facts
Crab spider Facts
Red-tailed monkey Facts
Gray brocket deer Facts
Javelina Facts
Sei whale Facts
Musk ox Facts
Western fox snake Facts
Wyoming toad Facts
Walking sticks Facts
Yellow-headed jawfish Facts
Yosemite toad Facts
Amazon horned frog Facts
Broad-headed snake Facts
Common lancehead Facts
Cookiecutter shark Facts
Eastern bluebird Facts
Eastern hognose snake Facts
Eyelash viper Facts
Hen harrier Facts
Spring peeper Facts
Water moccasin Facts
Albacore Facts
Banded cat-eyed snake Facts
Cedar waxwing Facts
Clark's nutcracker Facts
Emperor goose Facts
European plaice Facts
Frogfish Facts
Giant white-tailed rat Facts
Lake sturgeon Facts
Least bittern Facts
Massasauga Facts
Monkfish Facts
Mountain yellow-legged frog Facts
Perentie Facts
Sand diver Facts
Saw-shelled turtle Facts
Spot prawn Facts
Tawny frogmouth Facts
Rainbow bee-eater Facts
Blue-gray gnatcatcher Facts
Firefly Facts
Gemsbok Facts
Gerenuk Facts
Rough-skinned newt Facts
Sitatunga Facts
Springbok Facts
Vervet monkey Facts
Warbling vireo Facts
Oribi Facts
Aphids Facts
Atlantic halibut Facts
Bonnet macaque Facts
Camel spider Facts
Common linnet Facts
Common sandpiper Facts
Giant sea bass Facts
Haddock Facts
Mealybugs Facts
Pseudoscorpions Facts
Agile frog Facts
Amazon milk frog Facts
Black-bellied whistling duck Facts
Fat-tailed dunnart Facts
Hamerkop Facts
Mauritius kestrel Facts
Red-billed chough Facts
Rubber eel Facts
Skeleton shrimp Facts
Yellow warbler Facts
Alewife Facts
Giant tube worms Facts
Menhaden Facts
Sculpin Facts
Sea squirt Facts
Spotted handfish Facts
Thorny skate Facts
Walleye Facts
Wrasse Facts
Bar jack Facts
Black racer Facts
Black-speckled palm viper Facts
Brown-headed nuthatch Facts
Ovenbird Facts
Sand dollars Facts
Scissor-tailed flycatcher Facts
Small-eyed snake Facts
Weakfish Facts
Binturong Facts
Bush rat Facts
Eurasian harvest mouse Facts
Hispid cotton rat Facts
King snake Facts
Marsh rice rat Facts
Parasitic jaeger Facts
Red-breasted sapsucker Facts
Tree kangaroo Facts
Velvet scoter Facts
Black stilt Facts
Blesbok Facts
Bongo Facts
Common nighthawk Facts
European nightjar Facts
False water rat Facts
Regent honeyeater Facts
Sunbirds Facts
Tomato frog Facts
Whippoorwill Facts
Big-eyed bugs Facts
Black turnstone Facts
Cicadas Facts
Green lacewings Facts
Himalayan tahr Facts
Lake whitefish Facts
Little stint Facts
Lumpfish Facts
Yellowhammer Facts
Banded sea krait Facts
Bilby Facts
Brown antechinus Facts
Cape sugarbird Facts
Little red kaluta Facts
Long-tailed planigale Facts
Tiger shark Facts
Warthog Facts
California condor Facts
Cassowary Facts
Jackal Facts
Oncilla Facts
Prairie dog Facts
Spider monkey Facts
Red panda Facts
Thomson's gazelle Facts
Wild boar Facts
Baboon Facts
Bushbuck Facts
Caribou Facts
Flying fish Facts
Galago Facts
Gila monster Facts
Jaguarondi Facts
Sparrow Facts
Woodpecker Facts
Black mamba Facts
Chipmunk Facts
Goanna Facts
Hammerhead shark Facts
Honey bee Facts
Rattlesnake Facts
Saiga Facts
Squirrel monkey Facts
Tayra Facts
Potto Facts
Heron Facts
Guanaco Facts
Dragonfly Facts
Dall's sheep Facts
Avocet Facts
Atlantic puffin Facts
Flying lizards (draco) Facts
Sloth Facts
Water buffalo Facts
Capuchin monkey Facts
Fire-bellied toad Facts
Blue marlin Facts
Kouprey Facts
Ocelot Facts
Pelican Facts
Pygmy marmoset Facts
Porpoise Facts
Przewalski's horse Facts
Quoll Facts
Sugar glider Facts
Asian golden cat Facts
Bay cat Facts
Canada goose Facts
Earthworm Facts
Herring Facts
Mackerel Facts
Moor frog Facts
Russell's viper Facts
Scarab beetles Facts
Silver arowana Facts
T-Rex Facts
Adélie penguin Facts
African penguin Facts
African tree toad Facts
Aldabra giant tortoise Facts
Alligator Facts
Angelfish Facts
Arctic hare Facts
Arctic wolf Facts
Asian elephant Facts
Asian giant hornet Facts
Asian palm civet Facts
Asiatic black bear Facts
Sea Anemone Facts
Bactrian camel Facts
Badger Facts
Banded palm civet Facts
Barn owl Facts
Basking shark Facts
Barnacle Facts
Black bear Facts
Booby Facts
Bottlenose dolphin Facts
Caiman lizard Facts
Chamois Facts
Chinstrap penguin Facts
Cichlid Facts
Coati Facts
Collared peccary Facts
Common buzzard Facts
Common frog Facts
Coral Facts
Cotton-top tamarin Facts
Erect-crested penguin Facts
Cuttlefish Facts
Dusky dolphin Facts
Eagle Facts
Elephant seal Facts
Elephant shrew Facts
Emperor penguin Facts
Emperor tamarin Facts
Falcon Facts
Ferret Facts
Fennec fox Facts
Frigatebird Facts
Fur seal Facts
Galapagos penguin Facts
Gentoo penguin Facts
Gharial Facts
American marten Facts
Blue jay Facts
Chinese white dolphin Facts
Grey partridge Facts
Iriomote cat Facts
Northern goshawk Facts
Rusty-spotted cat Facts
Sand lizard Facts
Andean cat Facts
Blacknose shark Facts
Colocolo Facts
Crab-eating macaque Facts
Siberian ibex Facts
Speartooth shark Facts
Visayan warty pig Facts
Chinese crocodile lizard Facts
Dog-faced water snake Facts
Finch Facts
Gray catbird Facts
Northern mockingbird Facts
Pygmy hog Facts
Sable Facts
Sociable weaver Facts
Swift Facts
Woma python Facts
Black-footed cat Facts
Blue monkey Facts
Boreal toad Facts
Bryde's whale Facts
Fisher Facts
Liberian mongoose Facts
Red-eyed tree frog Facts
Slow worm Facts
Stone marten Facts
African linsang Facts
Black widow Facts
Common genet Facts
Dusky shark Facts
Ryukyu flying-fox Facts
Snail Facts
Spinner dolphin Facts
Stink bug Facts
Tsetse fly Facts
Atlantic canary Facts
Eastern wood-pewee Facts
Hermit thrush Facts
Moths Facts
Mudskipper Facts
Mullet Facts
Northern cardinal Facts
Parakeet Facts
Rose-breasted grosbeak Facts
Towhee Facts
Boomslang Facts
Ermine Facts
European starling Facts
Great kiskadee Facts
Green toad Facts
Bald Eagle Facts
Zebra Facts
Tapir Facts
Rabbit Facts
Polar Bear Facts
Moose Facts
Meerkat Facts
Jaguar Facts
Hyena Facts
Camel Facts
Antelope Facts
Anaconda Facts
Stingray Facts
Raccoon Facts
Peacock Facts
Opossum Facts
Mongoose Facts
Koala Facts
Cobra Facts
Capybara Facts
Armadillo Facts
Anteater Facts
Serval Facts
Salamander Facts
Puffer fish Facts
Manatee Facts
Giant otter Facts
Fossa Facts
Beaver Facts
Chameleon Facts
Cheetah Facts
Coyote Facts
Flying squirrel Facts
Hummingbird Facts
Kangaroo Facts
Moray eel Facts
Starfish Facts
Wolverine Facts
Snow monkey Facts
Shrew Facts
Pangolin Facts
Loris Facts
Jellyfish Facts
Hoatzin Facts
Giant squid Facts
Dung beetle Facts
Aardvark Facts
Beluga whale Facts
Blue whale Facts
Coral snake Facts
Cuckoo Facts
Golden mole Facts
Peacock Butterfly Facts
Tasmanian Devil Facts
Yellow-Bellied Marmot Facts
Praying Mantis Facts
Butterfly fish Facts
Gecko Facts
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Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Animal research projects.
- Animals and their Habitats
- Home Sweet Habitat
- A-Z Animals
- Kids National Geographic - Animals
- San Diego Zoo: Animals A-Z
FABULOUS resource!!! We are a homeschooling family and this will work with all the different ages I have!!! THANK YOU!!!!
- Grades 6-12
- School Leaders
FREE Poetry Worksheet Bundle! Perfect for National Poetry Month.
How I Use Research Tools with My Second Graders
It’s all about age-appropriateness.
PebbleGo is a curricular content hub specifically designed for K-3 students. Your students will love exploring PebbleGo time and time again. Get your free preview!
Research skills are super important, but when you teach second grade hybrid like I do, they can be quite a challenge to teach. It’s difficult to find age-appropriate digital research materials when doing a random search. Most of the available material is far above my students’ reading level and isn’t necessarily kid-friendly. Fortunately, I found a great resource. Check out how I made these animal reports happen using age-appropriate research tools with my second graders:
Setting the Stage
My students are obsessed with animals, so I decided to do in-class animal research projects using PebbleGo, a research tool specifically designed for K-3 students. For our first introduction, I displayed PebbleGo on my interactive whiteboard and modeled how to navigate through the program.
My demonstration included how to: go through each tab of information per topic, utilize the read-aloud audio, enlarge photographs, watch videos, listen to the corresponding animal sounds, and view the range map to see where animals are found in the wild. Each animal page (except for common pets) has the following information tabs: body, habitat, food, life cycle, and fun facts.
After my mini-lesson, I gave the students 20 minutes to explore the entire animals’ section independently. Their enthusiasm was infectious! Each student had exciting animal facts to share with me every other second.
This student is learning about jellyfish on PebbleGo.
Working Together
The next day, I picked one animal to explore in-depth together. I chose the cardinal since we have seen some lately on campus and around the community. After going through each section together, each student found the cardinal page on their laptop.
All of the content has a read-aloud audio feature, which is especially helpful for my struggling readers . Additionally, all of the text and audio can be translated into Spanish. I have a new student who just arrived from Colombia and does not speak any English, so this has been a wonderful tool to assist her.
The students worked independently to complete the two activity sheets, which I also got from PebbleGo! I love how the “Share What You Know” sheet correlates with the five information tabs on each specific animal. Once my class was finished, we went over both sheets together through the document camera.
This student is researching and reporting on cardinals using PebbleGo.
Independent Practice
Now it was time for my students to do their own research and mini-reports. To shake things up, we had a drawing to determine what animal each student would research. Each student picked one slip out of a hat (after a round of handwashing, of course!), and things took off from there.
This student is filling in his Share What You Know fact sheet about lions.
Each student completed a hard copy of the two activity sheets correlating to his or her assigned animal. Next, I introduced the students to the Read More eBooks section connected to each animal, which caused another wave of excitement! There were tons of books corresponding to the animal project topics.
This student is researching the red panda and reporting her findings on her fact sheet.
Celebrating Success
Everyone shared their findings with the class in recognition of our success. The students were so proud of their reports, which of course had me kvelling.
These are work samples from two different students.
Two more student work samples from the PebbleGo animal report project.
The Takeaway
Our first research project using PebbleGo was a huge success. Even my students who I struggle with daily to complete assignments were highly motivated. This won’t be our last project. Next up: biographies and weather!
Want to try animal reports or another research project with your K-3 students?
Learn More About PebbleGo
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iRubric: Second Grade Animal Project rubric
- Animals, 2nd grade
COMMENTS
5. REPEAT. We repeat steps 2-4 for either 3 or 4 animals. Some students may work faster, while some may take a bit more time on each step. I try to adjust the project to be appropriate for the majority of the class. 6. SHARE. When the project is done, I try to find a special way for us to share our work.
About this animal research project. Within this post you will find over 30 pages of anchor charts, mini-lesson ideas, writing planners and graphic organizers. The unit will help guide your students through the complete process. In the end, you will be helping to teach your students how to write their own pieces of informational text.
Whether you are doing a simple animal study or a fully integrated science, reading, and writing unit, this animal research project for kids includes everything you need. From the graphic organizer worksheets and guided note templates to the writing stationary, printable activities, projects, and rubrics.
When I introduce animal research, I ask students to tell me some of their favorite animals to get them excited for our writing. Then, I have students brainstorm and write down 3 of their favorite animals they would like to know more about through their research. I then make myself a list of the students' top animals.
Re-envision a tried-and-true project -- first steps. My teaching partner, Theresa, created this sweet project with Robin - one of our 2nd grade teachers. Previously, students drew pictures of an animal in its habitat with its predators and/or prey. They conducted research and wrote what they learned to share with the teacher and parents.
The final project grade will be figured by the final project rubric and will be what is recorded. This grade will count towards a part of your child's ... Animal Research Project Rubric for _____ Yes Some No 10 points 5 points 0 points 1. I decided on an animal to research. ☺ 2. I researched the information about my animal. ☺ 3. I neatly ...
1 2 >. Delayed Release Pill Challenge. Unleash your curiosity for animals with this collection of zoology science experiments. Explore species, behavior, and biodiversity. Explore, learn, and have fun with a science experiment tailor-made for second graders.
In preparation for this trip, my students would research an animal and become an "expert" on that animal. They would then write a non-fiction book to add to our classroom library. To start, we would pull out a map of the zoo to see all the animals that were there. We would make a list and each student would choose a different one as their ...
Before working at MTT, she taught in Baltimore City public schools for 6 years in grades Pre-K to 1st Grade. She has a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Johns Hopkins University. Macklyn loves creating content that is educational and engaging for students and their families along with creating meaningful content for educators.
A lesson plan map that maps out all steps for creating an animal research project. Writing Standards: 2nd Grade Animal Book Project :1. Exploring the writing process helps to plan and draft a variety of literary genres2. Exploring the writing process helps to plan and draft a variety of simple informational texts 3.
Welcome to the 2nd Grade Animal Research Projects. The children worked very hard to bring you this information. In the process they learned a little bit about how to research using internet sources, how to write informative text, and how to organize a presentation. This was a true collaboration between a community of learners- both teachers and ...
Research. First Grade Projects. 2nd Grade Animal Research Project. Coding. Math. Primary K-2 Resources. Home Interactive Tools. Research. Coding. Math. More. 2nd Grade Animal Project ... 2nd Grade Animal Project Video Resources. Python Facts. Great White Shark Facts. Tiger Facts. Skunk Facts. Seal Facts. Sea Turtle Facts. Porcupine Facts ...
You may want to send home your parent letter 1-2 weeks before you intend to send home the assignment. I like to send everything home with the student on a Friday, so they have the weekend to start gathering supplies and begin working on their project. I usually give students 3-4 weeks to complete the project at home.
This resource was designed to be your guide for a successful animal research book-writing project in second or third grade. Students will research any animal of their choosing and use the provided printables to plan, draft, edit, and publish their writing. Student work will be guided by the teacher-...
Use these animal research booklets for animal reports! These animal templates are made into booklets for students to use while they research and learn about various animals. These tabbed organizers are perfect to use during a nonfiction text features or informational writing unit. Students use the booklets to record what they've learned.
Introduce the project - explain to students what an animal report is and why they should write animal reports. Brainstorm a List of Animals and Choose An Animal to Write About. Outline the tasks and necessary components of an animal report. Research and Write down Facts About the Animal. Provide online resources and books for animal research ...
This Animal Report Template is perfect for helping kindergartners, first graders, 2nd graders, 3rd graders, 4th graders, 5th graders, and 6th grade students learn about zoo animals.As kids reserach and fill out the my animal report they will learn about animal habitats, status in the wild, what it eats, where it lives, who its predators are, intersting facts, and more!
My students are obsessed with animals, so I decided to do in-class animal research projects using PebbleGo, a research tool specifically designed for K-3 students. ... She currently teaches an energetic and whimsical group of second grade gifted students. She has been writing for various publications since high school on a variety of topics ...
Browse 2nd grade animal research project resources on Teachers Pay Teachers, a marketplace trusted by millions of teachers for original educational resources.
Animal Research Report Project ( Grade 2 Science) Created by. Teacher Resource Cabin. This Animal Research Report culminating task for the Growth and Changes in Animals unit for the Grade 2 Ontario Science curriculum (2022) is so much fun for students! It is available as both a DIGITAL (Use with Easel by TPT) and PRINTABLE version.
Students will research an animal and create a poster to illustrate important details in the life of the animal. They must include a written component in the child's handwriting, 2-3 pictures of the animal, a reference list citing the book and website used, a reference for the source of the images. Rubric Code: RX98W39. By Kakmeehan. Ready to use.
A 1-day LOW PREP unit study of the endangered killer whale (Orca). This comprehensive resource includes a lesson plan, videos, worksheets and activities, interactive notebook pieces, and more.It makes a great addition to your endangered, ocean, or arctic animals unit study; writing lessons or centers; or science class. Perfect for first grade, second grade, and third grade classrooms ...
This differentiated resource will support your Kindergarten, first grade, or second grade students to write an animal research report, no matter their level! There are 4 different