I'm Thinking of an Animal

We have been doing an animal classification unit this past month. I found a book that broke down the animal kingdom into 11 different groups (I think it is actually phylum, but we didn't go into that much detail). The groups are echinoderms, mollusks, arthropods, sponges, worms, coelenterates, reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals. The first 6 are invertebrates and the last 5 are vertebrates. We learned the characteristics of each group and found animals that fit into each group. After learning about all the different categories of animals I had the kids pick one animal from each and learn more. I posted a set of questions to help them in their reading.

1. Does it have a backbone?
2. Does it have wings?
3. Does it have fur?
4. What does its skin feel like?
5. How many legs/feet does it have? What do they look like?
6. What does its body look like?
7. Where does it live?
8. What does it eat?
9. Is it domesticated or wild?
10. What group does it belong to?

Then we discussed the animals, and the kids taught a little more about a few animals. Then the questions turned into a game. Braedi said, "I'm thinking of an animal." Corbin and I stared asking yes/no questions to try and figure it out. Each kid took a turn thinking of an animal and each morning at breakfast the game starts again. We are headed to the zoo for the culmination of the unit. Next up. . .rocks and the Earth.