Classification (1)_1

Ellen is discussing a classification script that can be tailored for different age groups. She explains the importance of staying quiet, sitting still, and washing hands when handling live animals. She introduces the concept of classification and asks the audience to name living and non-living things. She then discusses the characteristics of living things such as movement, growth, breathing, and sensing their surroundings. Ellen goes on to categorize animals into vertebrates and invertebrates, providing examples such as snails, cockroaches, and tarantulas. She explains the exoskeleton of insects and the hairy exoskeleton of spiders. She then moves on to vertebrates, discussing birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians. Finally, Ellen introduces mammals as warm-blooded animals with fur that give live birth and feed their young with milk. Hi guys, it's Ellen here and today we are going to be going over the classification script. So this is a script that can be catered for pretty much all age groups. All you would need to do is just go into less or more detail depending on which age group you're catering your script to. The animals that I'm going to use in the example for this script are the snail, cockroach, tarantula, the snake, the frog and then your gerbil or rat. So you would start your session just like any other having the audience in a semicircle with the animal back behind you, then doing your introduction and just going over your general rules. So hi guys, my name is Eleanor, I have come from Zoolab today. Now I brought with me some amazing animals and we are going to be meeting the animals and learning all about something we call classification. Now because we have live animals with us today there are three things we need to remember. Rule number one, make sure we're staying nice and quiet so we don't scare the animals. Rule number two, making sure we're sat nice and still so everybody can see. And then rule number three, keeping our hands away from our faces and giving them a really good wash at the end. So first we're going to talk about classification. Now classification it just means we put things into groups and we put things into groups so we can study more about them. Now we are going to learn about the main groups of living things today and I'm going to show you some examples of animals that belong to these groups. But first up, can you name me some living things that you can see in your classroom? Usually you will get the answer us, people. Potentially there might be some plants around as well so you can point out the plants are a living thing. Now can you point out some things that are not living things? So you might get your chair, desk, pen etc. Now what are some things that we can do that living things can do and non-living things can't do? So then you'll get a few answers. It might be breathe, reproduce, we sleep, we move, we grow. So all living things can move. Now it's easy to see that animals move but plants can also move as well. They can grow and bend towards the sunlight and often close and open their petals when the sunlight is out. Living things also grow. Living things start out much smaller when they're younger and they will grow to full size. So living things breathe, animals and people breathe but also plants can take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. We also need food. Animals have to eat as well but plants don't really eat but they do produce food and also living things can sense their surroundings. We use our five senses to help us sense our surroundings and you can go ahead and name the five senses if you would like. So now we're going to start putting animals into their groups. So what I want everybody to do is have a feel of their backbone. Have you brought it with you today? Now a scientific word for your backbone is your vertebrae. Can you say vertebrae? Now animals that have a backbone in their body are vertebrates and there are some animals that have no bones in their body. Now we call these animals mini beasts or invertebrates. Can you say that with me? The first few animals we are going to look at are invertebrates, so animals with no bones in their body at all. Now the first animal I have for you, you will definitely notice there are no bones in this animal. He has a very soft body, he has no arms or legs, he slides around along the floor and leaves a very sticky slimy trail wherever he goes and if he's getting a bit sleepy or a bit shy he has a shell on his back that he can hide in. Hopefully you will get a few guesses and they will guess snail. So then I would just introduce my snail. So my snail here is part of the invertebrate family known as the mollusk. Can we all say mollusk? Now mollusks are invertebrates with really soft bodies. They have no legs but they do have tentacles. Then I would take your snail around the room doing your general snail facts and then doing your handling. So the next kind of invertebrate we are going to look at is a member of the insect family. Now insects are small invertebrates that have six legs and the insect I have for you today is the amazing hissing cockroach. Now you will notice when he comes around the room he doesn't feel really soft like the snail, in fact he feels really smooth and really hard. Now that's because insects have a really hard skin that covers over their body almost like a coat of armor. Does anybody know what this is called? So some of them may guess the answer but if not you can just say it is known as their exoskeleton. Now this exoskeleton is a thick coat of armor that covers over their entire body. It holds them together and it protects them. Now as my little invertebrate here the cockroach as he grows this exoskeleton is so tough that it's not going to grow with him. Eventually it's going to get way too small. Now when it's really small and uncomfortable do you think he's going to carry on wearing it or do you think he might do something else? You're right he will take off his old skeleton. He will break out of it and underneath is a brand new one. This new exoskeleton is much bigger but it's really soft so insects will have to hide away until their new exoskeleton becomes really tough like their old one and lots of invertebrates will do this many times throughout their life as they grow. Then just take your insect, your cockroach or your stick insect around and do just your handling and your facts as well. So the next member of the invertebrate family we are going to look at is an animal that also has no bones in her body. She has an exoskeleton too but hers isn't smooth and shiny like the cockroach. Hers is actually really really hairy. It's covered in thousands of hairs and these hairs cover all of her body and her eight legs as well. So most likely you'll get straight away it's a spider or a tarantula. So next up we have an amazing tarantula. Now she has a few more legs than the cockroach so she's not part of the insect family. She's part of the arachnid family with spiders and scorpions. Now her exoskeleton is covered in thousands of hairs and these hairs are really delicate and they can make your hands really itchy. So we are just going to look at the tarantula in her box then just take your tarantula around and just give your general tarantula back. So just a quick recap the animals that we've looked at so far, the invertebrates, what didn't they have in their body? That's right they had no bones but some of the invertebrates had that really thick coat of armor covering their body. Who can remember what that's called? That's right an exoskeleton and when they start to get a little bit too big for it and it isn't growing with them what do they do with it? That's right they shed their exoskeleton and have a brand new one underneath. Now the next few animals we are going to look at are animals that do have bones inside of their body just like we do. Now animals that have bones inside of their body we can put these into five animal groups. Do you think you could name me one of the five animal groups? So you can give a few clues with this so for example let's think about animals that have feathers they lay eggs and some of them can fly. That's right it's the bird family. Now unfortunately I could not bring a bird with me today there would be much too flying around so I have a member of another kind of family. Now this family has scaly skin, they have cold blood, they lay eggs. Can you think who it might be? It's the reptile family. Now the reptile I have with me today is an amazing animal he is my corn snake. So then I would introduce my snake doing your general facts and handling as well but pointing out how they have very cold blood, they have cold dry scaly skin and as they do grow the females will lay eggs rather than giving live birth. Now I am thinking of another family of vertebrates a family that has wet scales they breathe underwater through gills. That's right it's the fish family. Now there are a few similarities between the reptile and the fish they both have scales and they are both cold-blooded. Now cold-blooded just means that you can't control your body temperature so if you're in a really cold place your body will drop to a cold temperature but if you move to a warmer place your body will rise your body temperature will rise to a warmer temperature. Now we do have another cold-blooded animal family this family is the word amphibian. Now amphibians are animals that can live on land and in water. Can you think of an animal that can live on land and in water? Most of the time you will get guesses like frog or toad. Now you're absolutely right and the next animal we are going to meet is an amazing tree frog all the way from Australia. Now there are some really special features of an amphibian they have smooth wet skin there are no scales on the skin and the skin isn't waterproof meaning water can go in and out of the skin. Air can also go through the holes in an amphibian skin meaning it can breathe through its skin while it's underwater. Now frogs they do reproduce and they lay eggs the eggs actually have a very special name. Can you think of the name of the frogs eggs? That's right it's frog spawn and amphibians will lay their eggs their frog spawn in a very damp place because they have to stay wet. Then I would just take your frog around in their travel box explaining why it is not safe to be handling them and then just giving out your general frog facts as well. Now there is one more family of animal that we are going to look at and we actually belong to this family of animals. These animals are warm-blooded they have fur over their body they don't lay eggs they do give live birth and they will feed their young through milk from their mother. Can you think of who it could be? That's right it's the mammal family. Now are mammals warm or cold blooded? That's right mammals are warm-blooded animals. Now the mammal I have brought for you today is an amazing animal and it's my gerbil. Now as she comes around you'll be able to see there are many differences in her skin compared to the snake and the frog and you will also feel compared to the snake how warm my gerbil feels when she sits in your hand. Now that is because they are warm-blooded animals and when gerbils have babies they do not lay eggs they will give live birth and they will feed their babies on their milk and they will typically stay with their mum for a very long time. Now that was the last animal in our classification session so I really hope you enjoyed putting all of the animals into their groups. Now you can do this when you're out at school or when you're out you can look at an animal and straightaway the first thing you need to think about is does this animal have bones in its body or not? Then you can start to classify all the different animals we see every single day. Now there is one last thing we need to do that's right we need to wash our hands then I would just simply finish off by passing them back to their teacher.