Pre-Show Activity

Pre-Show Lesson: Animal Classification

Post this question on the board: “How do vertebrates fit into the animal classification system?”

Materials:

Per class: What is the Animal Kingdom? by Bobbie Kalman, diagram in Appendix A-1

Per group: animal pictures (Appendix A-2)

Per student: vertebrate group characteristics chart (Appendix A-3)

Procedure:

1. Give students about three minutes to write down the names of as many animals as they

can think of. These can be general, like bugs, or specific, like butterfly, ant, etc.

2. Have students count the number of animals that they listed. Students can share animals

that they think no one else may have thought of. Students may add animals to their list.

3. Read aloud What is the Animal Kingdom? by Bobbie Kalman. Advise students to pay close

attention to the Chordata phylum. What are the characteristics of animals in this phylum?

Tell students to circle any animals on their list that belong in this phylum.

Life Science TEKS

Sixth Grade: 6.12C, 6.12E,

Seventh Grade: 7.10A, 7.10B, 7.11B, 7.12A, 7.12B

Eighth Grade: 8.11A, 8.11B, 8.11C

Vertebrates

Middle School

Vocabulary

abiotic, adaptations, biotic, class, cold blooded, ecosystem, endothermic, exothermic, external, family, genus, invertebrate, kingdom, nervous system, order, phylum, reproduction, species, subphylum, taxonomy, vertebrate, warm-blooded

4. Review the system that scientists use to classify organisms. Use information from the book

and the diagram in Appendix A-1. Lead students to understand that animals in the chordate

phylum all have a notochord. A subphylum in the chordate group is vertebrata.

Teacher Information:

Many different hypotheses have been presented as a result of new evidence that is

uncovered and studied. What is clear is that at some point, hundreds of millions of

years after the earliest animals evolved, a group of animals called chordates arose

that had the beginnings of an internal skeleton and a rudimentary backbone in the

form of a notochord, a semi flexible structure made of cartilage. In addition to their

rudimentary backbones, the early chordates also had a cord of nervous tissue

running along their backs—the forerunner of a spinal cord. Within this group arose a

subgroup of animals with an internal skeleton and spine made of bone. This latter

group included the earliest vertebrates. Today, vertebrates are among the most

familiar animals, although they make up only about five percent of all animal

species. They include the mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians.

A notochord is an internal supporting rod extending the length of the body. It is found

in the embryos of all chordates, including human beings. Only the most primitive

chordates, such as the amphioxus, or lancelet, the lamprey, and the hagfish, retain

the notochord as adults, though remnants of the notochord are also present in

sharks. In other chordates, such as amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, the

notochord is replaced during development of the embryo by a bony column of

vertebrae, which gives the column and the animal flexibility.

This information is taken from: http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-196399/animal

5. Write the names of the groups within the subphylum vertebrata on the board. These will be

Fish, Mammals, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds. Students will sort pictures into the

vertebrate groups (see Appendix A-2).

6. Students will come up with a list of characteristics that they used to make their decisions of

where to place each animal. They should list these characteristics under each group name

in their science notebook.

7. Students will compare their description with the actual scientific classification for each

group. They should be able to find this information in their science textbook. Or they can

use the chart in Appendix A-3. Using a different color pen or colored pencil, they will make

corrections to the characteristic list that they made in their science notebook.

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Post-Show Enrichment Activities

Activity One: Vertebrate Guessing Game

Procedure:

1. For the game, a student will come up to the front of the room and think of an animal that

was discussed in the show.

2. The student will then give clues about the animal. For example: “I am endothermic”, “I have

thin, moist skin”, etc.

3. Students should be able to guess the vertebrate group first. After they guess the group, the

clues will need to get more specific. “I have leaping legs”.

Make sure to model the game first.

To make it easier, you can go to the National Geographic website for kids and print off some of

their animal trading cards or just put one up on a laptop for the student who is at the front of the

class to see.

Activity Two: Vertebrate Classification

Materials: index cards, Appendix A-4

Procedure:

1. In small groups, students can make up a pneumonic device to remember the classification

system: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

2. Student will be given a vertebrate picture. They will make a trading card for it on an index

card. On the front, students should put a picture and its classification by kingdom, phylum,

subphylum and class. The back the card should give specific information about this animal:

external features, how it breathes, how it reproduces, diet, habitat and any problems facing

its survival (Appendix A-4).

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Amphibia, Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia or Fish

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Activity Three: Nervous System and Vertebrate Model

Materials:

Per student: frog template (Appendix A-4), 4 red strings (25 cm each), 4 blue strings (25

cm each), an 8 cm piece of straw, clear tape

Procedure:

1. Cut an 8 cm piece of straw into ten small pieces. These pieces represent the vertebrae.

2. Thread four red and four blue strings though the straws. The red thread represents sensory

neurons that carry messages from sensory receptors in the limbs or an organism to the

brain. The blue threads represent motor neurons which transmit messages from the brain

to the muscles.

3. Attach the straw pieces to the frog template where the vertebrae should be located (see

Appendix A-5).

4. Tape the thread ends at the top to the brain of the frog.

5. Pull two red and two blue thread pieces out through the straw pieces near the arms of the

frog. This should be two to three straw pieces from the top of the vertebrae. Tape one red

and one blue thread down on the left “arm” of the frog template. Tape one red and one blue

thread down on the right “arm” of the frog template. Tape one red and one blue thread

down on the left leg of the frog template. Tape one red and one blue thread down on the

right leg of the frog template.

6. Debrief with students the function of the vertebrae and nervous system.

Teacher Information:

The Spinal Cord is connected to the brain and is about the diameter of a human

finger. From the brain the spinal cord descends down the middle of the back and is

surrounded and protected by the bony vertebral column. The spinal cord is

surrounded by a clear fluid called Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF), that acts as a cushion

to protect the delicate nerve tissues against damage from banging against the inside

of the vertebrae.

The anatomy of the spinal cord itself consists of millions of nerve fibers which

transmit electrical information to and from the limbs, trunk and organs of the

body, back to and from the brain. The nerves that exit the spinal cord in the

upper section of the neck, control breathing and arm movement. The nerves

which exit the spinal cord in the mid and lower section of the back control the

trunk and legs, as well as bladder, bowel and sexual function.

The nerves which carry information from the brain to muscles are called motor

neurons. The nerves which carry information from the body back to the brain are

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called sensory neurons. Sensory neurons carry information to the brain about skin

temperature, touch, pain and joint position.

The brain and spinal cord are referred to as the Central Nervous System, whilst the

nerves connecting the spinal cord to the body are referred to as the Peripheral

Nervous System.

Source: http://www.apparelyzed.com/spinalcord.html

Activity Four: Characteristics of Vertebrates

Materials: reference books, internet, chart (Appendix A-6)

Procedure:

Students will use animal resource books or the Internet to fill out the chart in Appendix A-6.

They can choose any wild animal that fits into each vertebrate group for their example.

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Appendix

A-1

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A-2

Cockatoo fish

Yellow-rumped thornbill

Common death adder

Cow fish

Ablepharus pannonicus

Bolivian chinchilla rat

Northern goshawk

Cheetah

Bishop ray

California sea lions

Pygmy right whale

Orange leaf nose bat

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Gharial

Florida leopard frog

Ambystoma

Siren

Southeast Asian box turtle

Ostrich

All photos are taken from: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html

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A-3

Copycat Page from National Wildlife Federation, Nature Scope - Amazing Animals, Part I, 198

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A-4

Front Back

Golden-headed lion tamarin

Kingdom: Animali

Phylum: Chordata

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Class: Mammalia

Golden-headed lion tamarin

External features:

How it breathes:

Life cycle:

Diet: (include whether it is an herbivore,

omnivore or carnivore)

Predators:

Habitat:

Problems facing its survival:

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A-5

Frog Vertebrae and Spinal Column Model

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A-6

Name ______________________________ Date ________________

Characteristics of Vertebrate

Characteristics Pisces Amphibia Reptilia Aves Mammalia

Respiration

Exothermic or Endothermic

Reproduction

Skeleton

Adaptations for food,

water, shelter, etc.

Food Chain with labels

Environmental

changes to organism’s

habitat.