Table Of ContentAnimal
A
n
Animal Investigations im Investigations
a
l
I
n
v
e
s
Collecting Data t
ig
a
t
io Collecting Data
Follow a fourth-grade class field trip to a n
s
park, where students study and investigate
different animals, including dragonflies,
honeybees, mallard
ducks, sparrows, rabbits,
and chipmunks. Data
is collected and then
predictions are made about
these animals. Diagrams,
charts, tables, and graphs
all become useful tools for
organizing this data.
N
o
o
n
a
n
Diana Noonan
Data Analysis and
●
TCM 10908
Probability
Quality Resources for Every Classroom
Instant Delivery 24 Hours a Day
Thank you for purchasing the following e-book
–another quality product from Teacher Created Materials Publishing
For more information or to purchase additional books and materials, please visit our website at:
www.tcmpub.com
For further information about our products and services, please e-mail us at:
[email protected]
To receive special offers via e-mail, please join our mailing list at:
www.tcmpub.com/emailOffers
5301 Oceanus Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1030 800.858.7339 FAX 714.230.7070 www.tcmpub.com
Animal
Investigations
Collecting Data
Diana Noonan
Table of Contents
Publishing Credits
Editor
Sara Johnson
Animals in the City 4
Editorial Director
Emily R. Smith, M.A.Ed. Dragonflies 6
Editor-in-Chief
Sharon Coan, M.S.Ed. Honeybees 8
Creative Director
Mallard Ducks 9
Lee Aucoin
Publisher Sparrows 10
Rachelle Cracchiolo, M.S.Ed.
Rabbits 11
Chipmunks 12
Predictions at the Park 13
Image Credits
Dragonfly Prediction 15
The author and publisher would like to gratefully credit or acknowledge the following for permission Honeybee and Duck Predictions 17
to reproduce copyright material: cover BigStockPhoto.com; p.4 istockphoto; p.5 Shutterstock; p.8
Shutterstock; p.10 BigStockPhoto.com; p.12 Alamy; p.13 Shutterstock; p.15 (main) Shutterstock; p.15 Sparrow Prediction 18
(inset) BigStockPhoto.com; p.16 Alamy; p.17 (top left) Shutterstock; p.17 (top right) Shutterstock;
p.17 (bottom) Photolibrary.com; p.18 istockphoto; p.19 BigStockPhoto.com; p.20 Alamy; p.21 (left) Rabbit Prediction 19
Shutterstock; p.21 (right) Alamy; p.22 Science Photo Library; p.23 istockphoto; p.24 Alamy; p.25 Science
Photo Library; p.27 istockphoto; p.29 Alamy. Illustrations on pp. 6, 7,11, 14, 21, 23, and 24 by Xiangyi Mo. Chipmunk Prediction 20
While every care has been taken to trace and acknowledge copyright, the publishers tender their
apologies for any accidental infringement where copyright has proved untraceable. They would be Accurate Predictions 21
pleased to come to a suitable arrangement with the rightful owner in each case.
One Last Prediction 27
Problem-Solving Activity 28
Teacher Created Materials
Glossary 30
5301 Oceanus Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1030 Index 31
http://www.tcmpub.com
ISBN 978-0-7439-0908-2
Answer Key 32
© 2009 by Teacher Created Materials, Inc.
Reprinted 2012
Animals in
the City
Mr. Martin’s fourth grade class is learning about
animals that live in the city. Mr. Martin says that they
Learning about Learning!
will go to City Park on Friday this week. They will
try to find the animals they have learned about. The Wildlife Trackers team needs to do research.
Research means to study and investigate
TT ’’SS EE XX PPLLOORREE MMaatthh something. Then the team needs to collect data.
LL EE The data can be put together in many ways.
Mr. Martin’s class draws a chart showing the weather predictions
for the week that they are going to City Park. They do this so they
will know what types of clothing to wear on Friday.
Weather This Week
Day of the Week Temperature
Monday 68°F
Tuesday 64°F
Wednesday 66°F
Thursday 70°F
Friday 76°F
Use the table above to answer these questions.
a. Which days have a predicted temperature of 70°F or more?
b. Based on the predictions, how many degrees warmer will
Friday be than Monday?
4 5
Dragonflies
Dragonfly Nymphs
life cycle
Marcy uses the Internet to find data on dragonflies.
Dragonflies are insects. They have 3 parts to their
bodies. All dragonflies have 4 long wings.
Adult dragonflies lay eggs in water or on plants over
water. And some dragonflies lay their eggs in mud at the
edge of water. Dragonfly Life Cycle
First, Marcy makes a diagram to show the information
she found.
adult dragonfly
nymph
A Dragonfly
head
abdomen
thorax
Feeding wings
eggs
Adult dragonflies eat other insects. They often
feed on mosquitoes and pond insects.
6 7
Honeybees Mallard Ducks
Afua also learns about an insect. She learns about Todd reads books to learn about the mallard duck.
the honeybee. Afua sends an e-mail with questions to Then he makes a chart. He collects his information
an entomologist (en-tuh-MOL-uh-jist). Then Afua uses under different headings.
a star diagram to record her information.
The Mallard Duck
A Honeybee
wide with rounded tip, used for
beak
scooping and eating from soft ground
Bees have long
Bees are insects.
legs short (mallard ducks waddle)
tongues. They use
their tongues to feet webbed to help duck swim
collect pollen and
seed (e.g., corn, barley, wheat), small
food
nectar from flowers.
fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails
TT ’’SS EE XX PPLLOORREE MMaatthh
LL EE
Bees use the sun
Bees store flower to help them Todd also read about mallard duck eggs. He learned that
pollen in pollen find their way. a mallard duck lays between 9 and 13 eggs each breeding
sacks on their legs. season. This table shows how many eggs were laid each
year over 4 years by a mallard duck.
Mallard Duck Eggs
Year Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Bees visit hundreds
Eggs laid 9 12 11 10
of flowers each day.
a. What is the total number of eggs the mallard duck laid?
b. Draw a bar graph to show the data.
8 9
Sparrows Rabbits
Luis studies sparrows. He asks his uncle for help. Sheng and Emily are both studying mammals.
Uncle Marco is a bird watcher. He gives Luis some Sheng learns about rabbits on the Internet. He records
sparrow facts. Then Luis makes a list of those facts. his information in a diagram.
A Rabbit
Sparrow Facts
long ears help
1. tSop ahrerlopw ths ehma veea ts hsoeerdt,s b alnudn tg braeainkss. rabbits hear danger wothhieter rtaabilb fliatss hoef sd taon gwearrn
2. Sparrows also eat bugs and
household scraps.
3. A sparrow’s claws help it hold
tight to small branches.
4. Sparrows feed together in flocks.
TT ’’SS EE XX PPLLOORREE MMaatthh
LL EE
At home, Luis counts how many sparrows he sees every day for
a week. On Monday Luis sees 1 sparrow, on Tuesday he sees 3,
on Wednesday he sees 4, on Thursday he sees 3, on Friday
strong front teeth
he sees 2, on Saturday he sees 6, and on Sunday he sees 7.
for nibbling grass
Create a frequency table for this information, in order of most long back legs
strong front legs for
for hopping
sparrows seen to least sparrows seen. digging burrows in soil
10 11
Chipmunks Predictions
at the Park
Emily learns about chipmunks by calling a City Park
ranger. Emily records what the ranger tells her. Then
Emily makes a list of facts. Mr. Martin is very pleased with the data collected.
On Friday, he takes the class and some parent helpers
to City Park.
Chipmunk Facts “Bring your animal diagrams and charts,” he says.
1. Chipmunks eat nuts, seeds, berries, and insects. “And our sun hats, too,” says Marcy. “Hot, sunny
2. They carry food in pouches in their cheeks. weather is predicted.”
3. They have five toes on each foot.
4. Sharp claws help chipmunks climb trees.
5. They use their sharp claws to dig burrows beneath trees.
12 13
Dragonfly
Mr. Martin gives everyone a map of the park.
He asks each child to study the park map.
Prediction
“Can you predict where in the park you might find
your animal?” he asks.
City Park
“I know where my dragonfly adults and nymphs
live,” says Marcy. “They will be at the fish pond. Adult
dragonflies lay their eggs close to water. And the nymphs
live in the water.”
“It is possible that you will find them at the fish
pond,” says Mr. Martin. “But it is even more probable
playground
that you will find plenty of nymphs in the wetlands.
woods
Why is that?”
meadow
stream
wetlands
flower garden
picnic area
fish pond
14 15
