Provide your students with a list of websites about hibernation. Give them assignments from these pages, such as seek-a-words, reading passages and crosswords. Encourage them to independently read other sites to increase their comprehension.
Explain the concept of hibernation. Explain how, prior to the winter, hibernating animals eat more than usual, and then enter a state of rest for several months. Explain how this state of rest is not identical to sleep, but rather a state of low metabolism in which the body's internal functions slow down dramatically. Instead of actually using the word "metabolism," however, just explain that it is a state in which the animal's body clock and digestion slows down.
Answer any questions your students have about hibernation. One mistake that young students can have when thinking about hibernation is to mistake it for sleep. It is not the same thing. If students ask the difference, tell them that hibernating animals have very little brain activity during the state, and that they can even appear dead while hibernating.
Ask the class questions about what you have told them. Ideally, give each student a chance to volunteer an answer to a question you pose. Ask them about the reasons for hibernation, duration of hibernations, the names of species that hibernate and the physical effects of hiberation.
Give a test or assignment on hibernation. If you give a test, ask several multiple choice questions. Also ask one or two short answer questions, giving students the opportunity to explain hibernation in their own words. if you give an assignment, give students the freedom to choose between a written assignment that explains hibernation, and a labelled diagram that shows various characteristics of a hibernating creature. Both assignments test the students' understanding of the subject.