According to the type of food eaten, animals are classified as herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. Animals grow certain shapes of teeth to accommodate eating tendencies. Students test types of teeth by poking a block of softer wood, such as pine, with a staple remover to decide if sharp or dull teeth are best for tearing meat or grinding leaves. If available, allow first-graders to touch and feel various animal teeth and match the specific teeth with a picture of the animal.
When discussing marine life, students create an underwater sea scene within the classroom by hanging various ocean life from the ceiling. Jellyfish made from colored streamers hanging from small and large paper plates, fish traced and cut from paper, and papier mache sharks adorn the room during the marine animal thematic unit. Include scientific facts about each creature on an adjacent bulletin board and a bar graph displaying student's favorite animals found in the ocean.
When first grade students study animals living in Arctic regions, polar bears are one of the main topics. Give each student a few colored toothpicks and allow them to gently toss the toothpicks, using caution not to throw them at one another, into a grassy area. Colored toothpicks often come in blue, yellow and green colors and when landing in the grass, the green toothpicks can be difficult to find. The activity demonstrates the need for polar bears to be white in camouflaging themselves while living in snowy areas. Follow up the activity by encouraging the students to demonstrate the same idea by gluing a white polar bear paper cutout onto both a white and colored piece of paper. Looking from afar, it is difficult to see the white bear on the white paper.
Farm animals have been necessary for human survival with the things they provide such as milk, eggs, meat and transportation. Explain this concept to students and ask the class to name other items provided or assisted by farm animals. Wheat fields plowed by horses and cheese made from goat's milk are a few added ways farm animals aid in producing food for humans. In order for barnyard animals to create food for people, they must eat specific items such as grass, grain, corn and oats. Encourage students to create a barnyard collage by gluing various feed items to a previously-made farm scene or through a free-art activity.