Subject: Science

Activity: Discovering Squirrels

Setting: 3rd Grade General Education Classroom
Number of Students: 26
Components Teacher Student Accommodations
Activity Activity
Behavior Hello, class, today we *Thumbs up* Have a visual of our behavior
Expectations are going to be focusing expectations on the PowerPoint
(1 minute) on squirrels. I expect
everyone to be focused,
and participate in our
discussion. Thumbs up
if you understand!

Driving Question Driving Question: How Three students will PPT will have questions up on board
do you think the answer after each (one at a time).
squirrel’s structure of question is posed
their teeth and jaw help I think most students
them survive outside? will have responses
Probing Questions: such as:
1. What kind of “I think most squirrels
food do squirrels eat nuts like peanuts.”
eat? (Choose 3 “I think squirrels use
volunteers) their teeth to eat their
2. Where do they food.”
get their food? “I think their jaw helps
(Choose 3 their teeth chew and
volunteers) bite the nuts.”
3. Where do
squirrels live?
(Choose 3
volunteers)

Activity I Ask students to describe
and discuss what the
eastern grey squirrel
eats. Pass out acorns and
pine cones. Watch
videos of the squirrel
eating the nuts and pine
cones. Prior to watching
the video, I will provide
them with questions to
think about while
watching: “How do you
think the squirrel will
get their food?” “Do you
think the squirrel will
easily be able to eat their
food?” “What will the
Students will describe Narrating the video as they are
and discuss what the playing.
eastern grey squirrel
eats. Students will pass
around and examine
nuts (acorns and pine
cones). Watch videos
of the squirrel eating
the nuts and pine cone.
Listen to me narrate the
videos as you watch
them.
 squirrel use to eat their
food?”

Transition Okay, now that we have *Thumbs up*

seen these videos we are
going to do our
investigation. Thumbs
up if you are ready to
investigate!

Activity II Pass out the nuts and ask Students will

them how they, as investigate and try
humans would eat them. breaking apart the nuts.
Tell them you want them They will answer the
to break them apart, with questions I ask them in
their hands. They can small groups, and then
use no tools. They share out with the
should NOT eat them. entire class (one from
As they are breaking each table).
them apart, they should
think about eating like a Students will most
squirrel. likely respond to the
questions:
Possible questions: “The squirrels eat the
Which part of the nut inside of the nut and
and the pinecone do the outside of the
squirrels eat? Why is it pinecone.”
so hard for people to “The squirrels have
crack open and eat these sharper teeth than
things? The squirrel eats people and claws to
the inside (seed) of the help them open the
nut(s) and removes the nuts.”
outside parts, how do “The squirrel uses its
you think it does that? strong jaw, sharp teeth,
and sharp claws to get
inside the nut(s).”

Transition: Have students put the Students will clean up

nuts in the basket area.
provided for them in the
middle of the table and
clean up their area.
Activity 3 In large group, pass out Students will describe Have PPT with all questions on
the skulls and show and analyze the separate slides so it is easily understood
pictures of the skull of structures. They will and can be followed.
the squirrel. As they go most-likely say “The
around the circle, help structure of the squirrel
students describe and is smaller than we
analyze the structures. thought it would be.”
“The teeth are really
Guide the students in a sharp.” “The skull
large group, to make structure and jaw does
claims about how the not look like that when
shape of the teeth and a squirrel is alive.”
jaw help the squirrel
meet its needs to survive Students will make
by pressing for evidence claims about the shape
and reasoning. “How do of the teeth and jaw in
the teeth help the regards to how
squirrel survive? The squirrels eats and
jaw? The claws?” survives. Potential
responses: “The
squirrel has really
sharp teeth and they
look kind of brown.” “I
wonder if the food they
eat makes their teeth
dirty.” “Their jaw must
be really strong if they
can bite and crack open
a nut.”

Transition: Students, clean up at Students clean up and

your small group so we put papers in the
can go into our wrap-up middle of their tables.
discussion.

Conclusion: Lead class in creating a Students will provide PPT Visuals

claim with evidence for answers to making our
the DQ board under claim as a group. They
‘structure’ about eastern will raise their hands
grey squirrel structures when they have an idea
and how its structure or something to add.
helps to meet its needs. Possible responses:
“The structure of the
squirrel’s teeth help it
open nuts because they
are sharp.”
“The jaw helps the
squirrel chew its food.”
“The claws of the
squirrel need to be
sharp so they can crack
 open the nuts.”
“The claws also will
help the squirrel defend
itself against
predators.”

Assessment Task Show and describe the Possible responses: PPT Visuals
pictures of the marmot, “The marmot lives in
and the eastern grey burrows, not trees, and
squirrel. Note how the he doesn’t eat nuts, but
marmot teeth are smaller grasses and leaves,
and rounded while the flowers, grasses and
squirrel’s front teeth are sedges.”
chiseled and sharper. “The squirrel eats
differently because
Tell the students that the they eat harder foods
marmot is another kind so they need sharper
of squirrel in the same teeth to open them.”
family as the ones we “Marmots have
see in our community: different jaw and teeth
the eastern grey squirrel structures because they
(the squirrel whose skull eat different types of
we have), and the red foods and live in a
squirrel, and maybe the different area.”
the fox and flying
squirrels (if applicable).
The marmot lives very
high in the Rocky
Mountain tundra.

Play the one video of the

eastern grey squirrel
eating nuts and /or
pinecones again, and
then the marmot eating
for comparison. “Let’s
watch what it eats.
Think about if its teeth
would be different from
the eastern grey
squirrel.”

Students write three

complete sentences on a
piece of paper about the
question: “You watched
a video of the eastern
grey squirrel and a video
of another kind of
squirrel, a marmot,
eating. Compare the two
kinds of squirrels: What
did you notice the
marmot eating? What
does the eastern grey
squirrel eat? Do you
think the marmot skull
and teeth would be
different from the
eastern grey squirrel?
Why?”