Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Fur, milk and babies
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/mammals/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/mammals/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Mammals have hair or fur.
- Mammal mothers feed their young with milk.
- Mammals are warm-blooded; most are born alive, a few hatch from eggs.
- Humans, whales, dolphins and bats are mammals.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: show pictures of a bat, a penguin and a dolphin. Which are mammals? |
| 10 min | Read the text together; set up the furry coat test before reading so the jars can wait. |
| 10 min | Check the jars and talk about the results. |
| 5 min | Mammal or not? game. |
| 5 min | Quiz. |
Materials for the experiment
- Two identical jars or plastic bottles with lids
- Warm tap water (not hot)
- A woolly sock, a scarf or a piece of fake fur
- Elastic bands
- A thermometer (for the teacher)
Safety: Use warm tap water only, never hot water from a kettle. Wipe up spills straight away. Only the teacher uses a glass thermometer.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| Animals that live in the sea are fish. | Whales and dolphins are mammals; they breathe air with lungs. |
| Anything that flies is a bird. | Bats are mammals that fly. |
| All mammals give birth to live babies. | The platypus and echidnas lay eggs. |
Worksheet answers
- A drawing of any mammal with hair or fur shown.
- Yes.
- Milk (from their mother).
Quiz answers
- What do all mammals have on their bodies? Hair or fur. Mammals have hair or fur.[3]
- What do mammal mothers feed their babies? Milk. Mammal babies drink milk from their mother.[3]
- Which mammal hatches from an egg? The platypus. Only a few mammals lay eggs.[1]
- Which is the only mammal that can really fly? The bat. Bats flap their wings to fly.[5]
- Is a dolphin a mammal? Yes, it breathes air and feeds its babies milk. Dolphins are mammals that live in the sea.[4]
Going further
Make a class chart of mammals the children know: pets, farm animals, wild animals and sea animals. Add one surprise: the platypus.
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] Biology 2e, 29.6 Mammals (OpenStax (Rice University)): reliability High
- [2] What is a mammal? (Carnegie Museum of Natural History): reliability High
- [3] Mammalia: mammals (BioKIDS, University of Michigan): reliability Medium-high
- [4] Are dolphins fish? (NOAA National Ocean Service): reliability High
- [5] Bats (Yellowstone National Park) (U.S. National Park Service): reliability High
- [7] Biology 2e, 33.1 Animal form and function (OpenStax (Rice University)): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/mammals/sources/
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