Science Text Set for Grade 3

Theme: Animal Adaptations for Survival

SOL Addressed:
3.4 The student will investigate and understand that adaptations allow
organisms to satisfy life needs and respond to environment.
b) adaptations may be behavioral or physical
Rationale: I chose this theme because inferences and conclusions become
important in order to analyze and examine the life needs of animals to see that it is
important to know animals’ adaptations and how the environment influences
certain adaptations for survival. Students exposed to linguistic materials at
different reading levels and nonlinguistic for those that are more visual learners are
included in this text set. For social justice, animals have rights too, so an
introduction to Jane Goodall, the first noted female ethologist, who fights and
supports every day for girls in science and for the rights of animals has been added
to this set.
Anchor Text:
Sable, J., Khodaparast, G. A., Rexrode, K., Just, W., Brand, B., Formaggio, J., Garrett, J., Ligon,
B., Matusevich, M., Zeigler, D. J., Linton, B., Swenson, L., Samuels, L., Ellington, M., &
Arnold, L. (2012). Exploring science all around us. Five Ponds Press.

The unit on physical and behavioral adaptations is on a 5th Grade level.

Below Level Text: (K-2nd Grade)

Albee, S., & Mazali, G. (2020). Jane Goodall a champion of Chimpanzees.

Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

This is a beginning reader book with animation and facts about Jane
Goodall’s life and her accomplishments as a behavioral scientist that has written
books and has started youth and global organizations. The end of the book has
actual photographs and website links to learn more about her organizations.
 Allen, J., & Humphries, T. (2019). Are you a ladybug? Kingfisher.

Beautiful illustrations of a ladybug showing the process of

hatching and the changes the insect goes through to look like
the ladybug humans know. Then discusses the physical
adaptation at the end that protects a ladybug from predators.

Anderson, J. (2009). Nature's miracles: Once there was a Tadpole. Scholastic.

A book telling the story of a brother and sister experiencing the

tadpoles’ adventures starting with being eggs to growing into a
frog. This book has a parent guide to help have discussions about the vocabulary
that is being introduced and the phases a frog goes through. The illustrations
throughout the story have think bubbles for the characters and all the animals so
that you know what each is thinking to reinforce what is being taught.

Fleming, D. (2013). Time to sleep. Henry Holt and

Company.

Font size is big for reading the story about

animals preparing for hibernation. Fall colors in
the background with visual of different animals that is very appealing to the eye.
Wallace, K. (2017). A bed for the Winter. DK Publishing Inc.

A beginning reader that discusses what different animals need to do to prepare for
winter and their adaptations. Beautiful photographs of each animal with small
boxes of a picture of each animal’s home with the vocabulary term.

On Level Text: (3rd Grade)

Marsh, L. (2017). Weird sea creatures. Harper Collins Publishers.

An informational text about weird looking sea creatures and how

their physical adaptations help them survive in the deep ocean.
Lots of text features used throughout the book. Beautiful
photographs, captions, and text boxes with interesting facts.

Marsh, L. F. (2010). Whales. Scholastic Inc.

An informational text about the migration of whales. This book has

maps showing the migrations. Wonderful colorful photos to engage
students. Lot of text features are used properly in this text.
 Meltzer, B., & Eliopoulos, C. (2017). I am Jane Goodall. Scholastic Inc.

This is a wonderful little book that is about Jane Goodall’s life. It

is like a graphic novel with cute illustrations. I especially like the
page where Jane is a kid and she puts earthworms under her pillow, then her mom
finds out and she looks like she is going to puke. There are speech bubbles
through out the story which this age group loves.

Silverman, B. (2010). Do you know about reptiles? Lerner

Publications.

This text has lots of great pictures and facts about

physical adaptations of reptiles. Each page has text boxes that explains an
important fact about the animals feature and how it helps the reptile adapt to the
environment.

Above Level Text: (4th & above)

Cole, J., Degan, B., White, N., & Gangloff, H. (2003). Scholastic's The Magic
School Bus Butterfly Battle, Bk. 16: Science chapter book series. Scholastic Inc.

A chapter book with visuals that are labeled with facts that tells and
entertaining story of Mrs. Frizzle’s fieldtrip to Butterfly Land. The
characters write facts about butterflies like the types of butterflies, the life cycle,
their migration, and their adaptations for survival.
Edwards, R., & O'Brien, J. (2016). Who is Jane Goodall? Scholastic Inc.

This is a nonfiction chapter book about Jane Goodall, who was a famous female
ethologist. Not only did she study chimpanzee’s behaviors, but she also wrote
books and was involved with animal rights. Readers above level enjoy the Who is
books.

Heller, R. (1994). How to hide a polar bear: & other mammal. Grosset &
Dunlap.

Beautiful illustrations that demonstrate how each animal’s

coverings help them, camouflage, hide themselves from
predators. This is a great visual and the vocabulary makes this story above level.

Marsh, L. (2010). National Geographic Kids Readers: Great migrations

butterflies. National Geographic Society.

This book uses a lot of text features. Lots of photographs with

captions, text boxes and circles with vocabulary or important facts. There are also
maps and diagrams in this text.
Marsh, L. F. (2010). Great Migrations. elephants. National Geographic.

This text has physical and behavioral adaptations about Elephants. The
photographs are amazing, and it has a lot of eye catching text features. There is a
page that has a diagram of an elephant that is labeled with its physical adaptations
and their purpose. This book is also fun and engaging with text boxes that asks
questions or gives weird facts.

Other Media:

YouTube. (2021). Animal Adaptations and Behaviors. YouTube. Retrieved September 30, 2022,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_AP5iiaN3I.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_AP5iiaN3I
This website provided by Mighty Owl Science called Animal Adaptations and
Behaviors for 3rd Grade. It has diverse characters throughout the video sharing
vocabulary that would be great for an introduction to adaptations.

YouTube. (2020). Animal Adaptations for Kids, Learn about physical, life cycle, and behavioral
adaptations of animals. YouTube. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MibjJgyjs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MibjJgyjs
This video starts with diverse children and families comparing how we adapt to our
world and how animals adapt to their environment physically and behavioral. The
video demonstrates with different types of animals on how they migrate, hibernate,
and camouflage. This would be a great video reinforce what had been taught in the
science lessons.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. (2019). Investigating adaptations - natural history
museum. Investigating Adaptations. Retrieved September 30, 2022, from
https://nhm.org/sites/default/files/2019-04/4_-_investigating_adaptations.pdf

https://nhm.org/sites/default/files/2019-04/4_-_investigating_adaptations.pdf
This is a PDF from the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. I know that it is
stated for 4th grade, but how fun would this be to show photographs of extinct
animals and have students work in groups to figure out its physical adaptations.
For higher level thinking, the discussion of the environment and the animals’
adaptations on how they impact one another. There is also a section where the
students can create their own poem and give an oral presentation. There is a rubric
for the teacher.

YouTube. (2010). Jane Goodall-Animal Rights Activist. YouTube. Retrieved September 30,
2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ggIWRCcGaQ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ggIWRCcGaQ
The video is a biography on Jane Goodall. I have used this previously during the
month of March for Women’s History, so I thought this could be a great addition
so that students are able to see actual photos of historical events.

Lora, Lora, Browsing the Atlas on February 5, & 5, L. on F. (2015, May 18). Peek-a-Boo, why
don't I see you? Words On A Limb. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from
https://wordsonalimb.com/2015/01/27/peek-a-boo-why-dont-i-see-you/

This site had a poem about hibernation, migration, and camouflage during the
wintertime. It also has arts and crafts ideas, sorts for a venn diagram, and a writing
template.