Name: IB PYP - SHARING THE PLANET - ANIMALS - PLANNER & RESOURCES
SKU: 628ee4a1b93fcc2c9848732d
Price: 39.99 USD
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About this resource

What's inside this resource

Sharing the Planet - Animals is a comprehensive unit plan and resource collection for teaching about animals in grades 1-6. Created specifically for the IB Primary Years Programme, this 131-page PDF includes a fully planned PYP planner aligned to the "Sharing the Planet" transdisciplinary theme. The complete 5-week plan incorporates differentiated reading materials, whole group and small group activities, formative assessments, summative projects, and homework extensions that allow students to develop critical knowledge and skills related to ecosystems, conservation, biodiversity, and more. With a focus on student-directed inquiry, the ready-to-implement lessons and resources provide educators with a turnkey solution for addressing central ideas about the interconnectedness of life in developmentally appropriate ways suitable for a wide range of early learners.

What's included

Unit-planner cover page (Transdisciplinary Theme, Central Idea, Key Concepts, Lines of Inquiry, Approaches to Learning, Learning Goals)
Provocation activity: brainstorming what a planet is and completing "I share the planet with..."
Tuning-in activity: animal flashcard sort plus four animal-movement games (Frog Hop, Seal Slide, Penguin Waddle, Snake Slither)
Read-aloud lesson using "Are You My Mother?" with an illustration extension activity
Small-group activity comparing two animals' body parts
Jungle sensory corner setup with animal models and natural materials
Desert and polar-region habitat explorations, each with a linked video
Closing provocation/assessment corner with a rubric covering 10 animals, animal sounds, body parts and habitat

Resource types: Teacher Tools, Lesson Plans

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Identify and sort animals by habitat type -- domestic, wild, aquatic, desert, polar.
Describe how humans and animals depend on each other, using examples such as dairy products from cows.
Compare the body parts of two different animals and note similarities and differences.
Explain how a specific body feature helps an animal survive in its habitat, such as thick fur in polar regions.

Teaching tips

Use the mother-tongue prompting option noted in the differentiation section for children who need extra support recalling animal names.
Set up the jungle sensory corner in small groups of 5-6 children, per the plan's own grouping guidance, so each child gets hands-on time with the materials.
Chill the classroom before the polar-animals lesson, per the plan's own provocation, so children notice and ask why it's cold -- then use that real reaction as your entry point into the lesson.

Skills covered

Habitat classification -- children sort animals into domestic, wild, aquatic, desert and polar groups and identify features that help each survive.
Comparative observation -- children compare two animals' body parts in small groups and note similarities and differences.
Listening and vocabulary -- children build vocabulary and listening skills through a read-aloud of "Are You My Mother?" and a related illustration activity.
Gross-motor animal mimicry -- children replicate specific animal movements (Frog Hop, Seal Slide, Penguin Waddle, Snake Slither) as a tuning-in activity.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How does the unit connect a classroom-cooling trick to the polar-animals lesson?

The teacher chills the classroom before children arrive so they notice and ask why it's cold, and uses that real reaction as the entry point for explaining how thick fur and other body features let polar animals survive in cold regions.

What does the closing assessment corner check?

A rubric-based provocation corner assesses children's prior and gained knowledge across four areas: naming 10 animals, animal sounds, animal body parts, and habitat.