Tule Ponds at Tyson Lagoon Field Trip
Reinforces the following
California Science Standards and Next Generation Science Standards for First Grade (Plants and Animals)

Plants and Animals (First Grade)  Students explore wetland habitats and the plants and animals that live in them. Children take a tour of Tule Ponds with a focus on investigating plant structures, learning functions of plant parts, and observing animal behaviors that help organisms survive. They make an elderberry “instrument” like that of the early Ohlone Indians. They discover solutions to human problems using natural materials native to Tule Ponds.

The following are activities students will do
1. Reading of “What is a Tree”
2. Tour Tule Ponds wetland habitats with a focus on plant parts and animal behaviors
3. Explore an Ohlone style home and look at native plant materials used in its construction
4. Look for structural evidence to tell how old trees are and how they grow
5. Discover behavioral patterns of animals and structural variation of plants to learn how they survive
6. Make an elderberry necklace

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Standards arranged by Disciplinary Core Ideas.  Codes in parenthesis represent Performance Standards.  For more detailed information visit   http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards

FIRST GRADE
LS1.A:  Structure and Function
All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow. (1-LS1-1)

LS1.B:  Growth and Development of Organisms
Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. (1-LS1-2)

LS1.D:  Information Processing
Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs. (1-LS1-1)

Ca Science Standards

Life Sciences

2. Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. As a basis for understanding this concept:

a. Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments and have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.

b. Students know both plants and animals need water, animals need food, and plants need light.

c. Students know animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants or even other animals for shelter and nesting.

d. Students know how to infer what animals eat from the shapes of their teeth (e.g., sharp teeth: eats meat; flat teeth: eats plants).

e. Students know roots are associated with the intake of water and soil nutrients and green leaves are associated with making food from sunlight.

Investigation and Experimentation

4. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:

a. Draw pictures that portray some features of the thing being described.

b. Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.

d. Describe the relative position of objects by using two references (e. g., above and next to, below and left of).