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What Pet Should I Get?

Kindergarten, Science

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Description of Unit

In this cross-curricular task, kindergarten students will explore and gain an understanding of the many types of usual and unusual pets that people choose to own. Students will conduct research to gain a deeper understanding of what makes a good pet and the responsibilities required to care for that pet. Finally, their learning will culminate with the selection of their own idea of the best pet to get and their reasoning showcased in a pet riddle report.

This guide links the What Pet Should I Get? unit to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for kindergarten students. What Pet Should I Get? is a science unit that allows students to explore varying kinds of pets and what they need for survival. Through a science unit, What Pet Should I Get? leads students to practice skills in the other subject areas of English language arts, mathematics, and social studies. For example, students use writing as a tool for learning and research, which the English Language Arts and Reading TEKS cover; students display data in an organized form, which the Mathematics TEKS cover; and use critical thinking skills, which the Social Studies TEKS cover. The following document includes the applicable TEKS and the details of the What Pet Should I Get? unit. The final section of this document presents the applicable Texas College and Career Readiness Standards adopted by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) on January 24, 2008.

Phase I. Learning Experiences

  1. Read the book, What Pet Should I Get?, by Dr. Seuss to introduce the pet unit.
    • Make a large T-chart on the board and label one side “Good” and the other side “Bad.” Write the synonym “Pro” above the word “Good” and synonym “Con” above the word “Bad” on the chart. Ask students if they have ever heard these terms before. Point out and discuss each word's meaning.
    • Ask students to share about pets they have or had at one time. Invite them to share good and bad reasons for having a pet. Write student responses on the chart as you discuss.
    Other possible books include:
    Oh, the Pets You Can Get!: All About Our Animal Friends by Tish Rabe
    Perfect Pet by Marge Palitini
    A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid
    The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems
  2. Conduct a class survey to determine the students’ favorite pet or what pets that they already have at home. Show the results in a chart or graph.
  3. Have students list several animals that could be pets. In small groups or individually, students should locate pictures of the pets listed/discussed in books and drawings. As a large group, discuss characteristics of the pets:
    • Describe the pet’s natural habitat.
    • What does the pet eat and how often?
    • How does the pet get around (e.g., fly, walk)?
    • Does the pet have special requirements?
    • Why would it make a good pet?
    Discuss characteristics as ways to identify and classify animals. Use these characteristics to classify the pets previously listed. (Classifications can include size, body coverings, habitat, and what they eat.) As students classify the animals and place them in groups according to characteristics, introduce the vocabulary for naming each group of similar animals, such as reptile, mammal, amphibian, insects, spiders, and crustacean.

  4. Introduce the format for writing a riddle report by modeling this for the class with one of the pets discussed in activity 3. Write the following riddle on chart paper or the board:

    I have fur and have four legs.
    I am not a reptile.
    I like to wag my tail.
    I need walks outside and water to drink.
    What pet am I?

  5. Discuss the basic needs of any living thing and how they can be met. You can start with people and move to popular pets before covering less familiar pets. In small groups, students will study an unusual pet. They can choose the animal from the story or you can assign it. Ask the small groups to describe their animal’s characteristics, list their animal’s basic needs and how they are met, and suggest what will happen if their needs are not met.

  6. A. Consider having a local veterinarian visit the class and talk briefly about the proper care of more common pets that students might have.

    B. Set up a Betta fish aquarium in your classroom for students to observe. Have students take turns caring for the fish. (Betta fish require a low amount of maintenance compared to other pets.)

    • What do Betta fish eat and how often?
    • How big do they get?
    • How do you keep a healthy environment?
    • What is the life span of the pet?
    • How much will it cost to care for this pet? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Yearly?

Phase II. Independent Research

A. Research process

  1. Selecting a topic. Each student will choose an unusual pet to research. If students have trouble selecting a pet, they can visit the Petco website and look at their animal care sheets: http://www.petco.com/content/petco/PetcoStore/en_US/pet-services/resource-center/caresheets.html
  2. Asking guiding questions. Once students have selected an unusual pet, each student will think of 3–5 guiding questions, such as:
    • What are the animal’s survival needs?
    • What are the animal’s strengths and weaknesses as a pet?
    • Will this animal make a good pet?
    • What is the cost of caring for this pet?
    • Are there any rules or guidelines that a pet owner must follow?
    • Are there any patterns that all pets have in common?
    • What are the pros and cons of having a pet?
  3. Creating a research proposal. You can use the attached worksheet as a notetaking guide. Each student should carry out a scientific research process:
    • Identify the pet he or she will study.
    • List the guiding questions he or she will investigate.
    • Describe his or her hypotheses to the guiding questions.
    • Discuss the steps in the research process he or she will use to find out the answers to the guiding questions.
  4. Conducting the research. Students will use books and the Internet to gather information needed about their pets. Students will need to take notes on their findings in order to create their animal riddle report that was modeled in the previous learning experience.
  5. Sharing findings. As part of their research, students can create a set of instructions to teach others how to care for this particular kind of pet.

B. The product

Students may select from the following choices:

  1. The student will create an animal riddle report that answers questions. Possible questions include: What are the animal’s strengths? Will it make a good pet? Why or why not?
  2. The student will create an advertisement poster to showcase their unusual animal’s strengths and why it would make a good pet.
  3. The student will create a newscast that includes a pet photo warning the public why this animal would not make a good pet.

C. Communication

Each student will present to the class what he or she has learned, as well as the completed animal riddle report and digital photo or drawing. The audience should be given time for questions and answers. The Q&A session should be impromptu and unscripted in order to reflect student learning accurately.

D. A completed project consists of

  1. a research proposal;
  2. a research log, note-taking guide, and/or resource sheets;
  3. an animal riddle report and picture or drawing of pet;
  4. instructions for caring for the pet and a persuasive poster; and
  5. a presentation.

Extensions

  1. Have the students invent their own pet, like the Yent found in Dr. Seuss’s book.
    • What would the pet be called?
    • Where would it live?
    • How big is the pet?
    • What would it eat?
  2. Write a sequel to this story that describes what happens when they take their pet home for the first time.

This unit may address the following TEKS.

111.2, Mathematics, Kindergarten

111.2(b)(8)
Data analysis. The student applies mathematical process standards to collect and organize data to make it useful for interpreting information.
111.2(b)(8)(A)
collect, sort, and organize data into two or three categories;
111.2(b)(8)(B)
use data to create real-object and picture graphs;
111.2(b)(8)(C)
draw conclusions from real-object and picture graphs.

112.11, Science, Kindergarten

112.11(b)(2)
Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student develops abilities to ask questions and seek answers in classroom and outdoor investigations.
112.11(b)(2)(A)
ask questions about organisms, objects, and events observed in the natural world;
112.11(b)(9)
Organisms and environments. The student knows that plants and animals have basic needs and depend on the living and nonliving things around them for survival.
112.11(b)(9)(A)
differentiate between living and nonliving things based upon whether they have basic needs and produce offspring;
112.11(b)(9)(B)
examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants.
112.11(b)(10)
Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments.
112.11(b)(10)(A)
sort plants and animals into groups based on physical characteristics such as color, size, body covering, or leaf shape;

113.11, Social Studies, Kindergarten

113.11(b)(14)
Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology.
113.11(b)(14)(A)
obtain information about a topic using a variety of valid oral sources such as conversations, interviews, and music;
113.11(b)(14)(B)
obtain information about a topic using a variety of valid visual sources such as pictures, symbols, electronic media, print material, and artifacts;
113.11(b)(14)(C)
sequence and categorize information.
113.11(b)(15)
Social studies skills. The student communicates in oral and visual forms.
113.11(b)(15)(A)
express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences;
113.11(b)(15)(B)
create and interpret visuals, including pictures and maps.

126.6, Technology Applications, Kindergarten-Grade 2

126.6(b)(3)
Research and information fluency. The student acquires and evaluates digital content.
126.6(b)(3)(A)
use search strategies to access information to guide inquiry;
126.6(b)(3)(B)
use research skills to build a knowledge base regarding a topic, task, or assignment;

128.2., Spanish Language Arts and Reading, Kindergarten, Adopted 2017

128.2(b)(8)(D)(iii)
the steps in a sequence with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(8)(D)(ii)
titles and simple graphics to gain information
128.2(b)(5)(C)
make and confirm predictions using text features and structures with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(12)(D)
demonstrate understanding of information gathered with adult assistance
128.2(b)(12)(B)
develop and follow a research plan with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(12)(A)
generate questions for formal and informal inquiry with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(12)(C)
gather information from a variety of sources with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(5)
Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of increasingly complex texts.
128.2(b)(5)(B)
generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information with adult assistance;
128.2(b)(8)
Multiple genres: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts--genres. The student recognizes and analyzes genre-specific characteristics, structures, and purposes within and across increasingly complex traditional, contemporary, classical, and diverse texts.
128.2(b)(7)(D)
describe the setting.

This unit may address the following Texas College and Career Readiness Standards.

Science:

S.I.E.2
Use essential vocabulary of the discipline being studied.
S.III.D.1
Use search engines, databases, and other digital electronic tools effectively to locate information.
S.V.D.1
Understand that scientists categorize things according to similarities and differences.
S.VI.E.1
Know ways in which living things can be classified based on each organism's internal and external structure, development, and relatedness of DNA sequences.

Social Studies:

SS.I.F.1
 Use a variety of research and analytical tools to explore questions or issues thoroughly and fairly.
SS.IV.A.1
 Identify and analyze the main idea(s) and point(s)-of-view in sources.
SS.IV.B.1
 Use established research methodologies.
SS.IV.B.3
 Gather, organize, and display the results of data and research.
SS.IV.B.4
 Identify and collect sources.
SS.IV.C.1
 Understand and interpret presentations (e.g., speeches, lectures, informal presentations) critically.
SS.IV.D.1
 Construct a thesis that is supported by evidence.
SS.V.A.1
 Use appropriate oral communication techniques depending on the context or nature of the interaction.

Cross-Disciplinary Standards:

CDS.I.A.1
 Engage in scholarly inquiry and dialogue.
CDS.I.B.2
 Construct well-reasoned arguments to explain phenomena, validate conjectures, or support positions.
CDS.I.B.3
 Gather evidence to support arguments, findings, or lines of reasoning.
CDS.I.B.4
 Support or modify claims based on the results of an inquiry.
CDS.I.D.1
 Self-monitor learning needs and seek assistance when needed.
CDS.I.D.2
 Use study habits necessary to manage academic pursuits and requirements.
CDS.I.D.3
 Strive for accuracy and precision.
CDS.I.D.4
 Persevere to complete and master tasks.
CDS.I.E.1
 Work independently.
CDS.I.E.2
 Work collaboratively.
CDS.II.C.1
 Understand which topics or questions are to be investigated.
CDS.II.C.2
 Explore a research topic.
CDS.II.C.5
 Synthesize and organize information effectively.
CDS.II.C.6
 Design and present an effective product.
CDS.II.C.7
 Integrate source material.
CDS.II.C.8
 Present final product.

English Language Arts:

ELA.I.A.2
Generate ideas, gather information, and manage evidence relevant to the topic and purpose.
ELA.III.A.5
Plan and deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey clear and distinct perspectives and demonstrate sound reasoning.
ELA.III.A.4
Adjust delivery, vocabulary, and length of message for particular audiences, purposes, and contexts.
ELA.III.A.2
Engage in reasoned dialogue, including with people who have different perspectives.
ELA.III.A.1
Participate actively, effectively, and respectfully in one-on-one oral communication as well as in group discussions.
ELA.IV.A
Apply listening skills in a variety of settings and contexts.
ELA.IV.A.2
Listen critically and respond appropriately.
ELA.V.C
Design and produce an effective product.
ELA.V.C.1
Integrate and organize material effectively.
ELA.V.A.1
Articulate and investigate research questions.
ELA.V.A.2
Explore and refine a research topic.

Mathematics:

M.V.B.4
Describe patterns and departure from patterns in the study data.
M.V.B.2
Construct appropriate visual representations of data.
M.VII.C.2
Understand attributes and relationships with inductive and deductive reasoning.
M.VII.A.1
Analyze given information.
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