Special Feature Lesson:Special Feature Lesson:Students identify foods eaten by plant-eaters (herbivores) and meat-eaters (carnivores), and provide examples of foods each type of animal might eat.
Print out the Who Eats What? sheet. Make enough photocopies for each student to use.
Review the Special Feature story. Define and discuss herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Younger students may be more comfortable with the terms "plant eaters," "meat eaters" and "plant and meat eaters."
Hand out copies of the Who Eats What? sheets. Direct students to:
Circle the meat eaters (carnivores: wolf, lion, spider).
Place an X on the plant eaters (herbivores: deer, rabbit, zebra, butterfly).
Draw at least one line connecting a meat eater to something it might eat.
If necessary, provide students an opportunity to look up information about the animals shown to complete the activity. Follow up by further discussing the eating habits of various animals pictured on the sheet. Ask the following questions:
Where does it live?
What kinds of foods does it eat?
What "tricks" does this animal have (such as the way it acts or the way its body is designed) that help it gather its food?
What other animals might eat this animal for food?
End the activity by asking students to answer the above questions with regard to people.
Ask students which animal on the Who Eats What? sheet they would choose to be and why. Have them research that animal's lifestyle and draw or write about it.