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Lesson Six - Create Your Own Critter Guide

Objective: Students learn to use organizational features of printed text to find information,discern main ideas, and create pages for a critter guide. Each student conducts re-search, and uses the information in future lessons.

Time: 45 minutes whole class instruction45 minutes independent work time

Materials: A sample of a plant or animal field guideCritter Cards from the Critter Catalog

Advanced preparation:• Make a teacher copy of pages 40 and 41, and consider Critter Group Assignments before

class. Make student copies of the Worksheet titled “Critter Guide Worksheet” (2 per student)and Fairy Shrimp Critter Card (or use overhead).

Procedure:1. Discuss the purpose of field guides.2. Show an example of a field guide. Discuss the types of information presented.3. Pass out blank “Critter Guide Worksheets” and copies of the Critter Card for Fairy Shrimp.4. Introduce the “Critter Guide Worksheet”. Explain the following:

Common name – The name most people use for critterScientific name – The name scientists use for critter (in Latin)Habitat – Where the critter livesSize – MICROscopic (need microscope to see, 0–0.25 mm), MACROscopic (need handlens to see, 0.25 mm – 50 mm), OTHER – does not require magnification, 50 mm – upDescription – What the critter generally looks likeLife cycle – Stages of life (see example worksheets)Food web – What the critter eats. What eats the critter.

5. Complete Fairy Shrimp “Critter Guide Worksheet” together. As students suggest answers,write the information on the overhead worksheet. Monitor students’ work.

6. Discuss how to best present critical information in a limited space.7. Assign critters and record student names on a copy of the “Critter Guide Table of Contents”

sheet according to the “Critter Group Assignments” sheet suggestions. Keep in mind:critter assignments will determine groups for field trips (note color codes)several students must complete two critter worksheets to cover all 38 animals (seerecommended pairs on “Critter Group Assignments” Teacher Page.)more advanced students should be assigned the critters identified as being more difficultless advanced students should study a reptile or mammal.

6. Pass out Critter Cards and another blank “Critter Guide Worksheet” to each student.9. Assist students as they independently complete “Critter Guide Worksheet” for their critter.10. Compile all student pages into a Critter Guide for the classroom. Use the “Critter Guide

Table of Contents” sheet for the Table of Contents.

Evaluation/Extensions:• Students complete “Critter Guide Worksheet” for their critter(s).• Students can use information from the Critter Cards to create riddles, pop-up books, or 20

questions to quiz other students about their critters.

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Critter Group Assignments

Yellow Group – The Flatworms

4 Protozoa * 21 Tiger Salamander 28 Vole

9 Copepod 31 Mallard 32 Burrowing Owl

7 Flatworm 37 Red-winged Blackbird * 26 Jackrabbit

12 Tadpole Shrimp 24 Gopher Snake 33 Great Horned Owl

7b Water Mite Orange Group – The Fairy Shrimp

2 Bacteria * 18 Bull Frog 27 Pocket Gopher

35 Killdeer * 17 Solitary BBee 25 Coyote

11 Seed Shrimp 20 Western Spadefoot 34 Red-tailed Hawk

10 Fairy Shrimp + 8 Clam Shrimp 29 Great Blue Heron

3 Detritus + Green Group – The Water Fleas

1 Algae * 16 Mosquito 19 Chorus Frog

5 Rotifer 15 Dragonfly 23 Garter Snake

13 Water Flea 14 Aquatic Beetles 22 King Snake

6 Aquatic Snail 36 Meadowlark * 30 Great Egret Species shown in bold typeface tend to have more complex accounts than other species.

+ The student assigned the Fairy Shrimp should also be assigned Detritus.

* In each Color Group, two species are marked with an asterisk; one is a form of microlife (Protozoa, Bacteria or Algae), the other is a bird. The pair should be assigned to one student in each Color Group. Due to the critical role of microlife in the food web, these student experts will receive special attention during future classroom activities. Certain students might particularly benefit from this opportunity.

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Critter Guide Table of Contents

GROUP SUBGROUP SPECIES ASSIGNMENT Algae 1. Bacteria 2. Detritus 3. Protozoa 4.

Microlife

Rotifers 5. Aquatic Snail 6.

Non-arthropods Flatworms 7.

Acarinans Water Mite 7b. Clam Shrimp 8. Copepod 9. Fairy Shrimp 10. Seed Shrimp 11. Tadpole Shrimp 12.

Crustaceans

Water Flea 13. Aquatic Beetles 14. Dragonfly & Damselfly 15. Mosquito 16.

Invertebrates

Insects

Solitary Bee 17. Bull Frog 18. Pacific Chorus Frog 19. Western Spadefoot 20.

Amphibians

Tiger Salamander 21. California King Snake 22. Garter Snake 23. Reptiles Gopher Snake 24.

Carnivores Coyote 25. Herbivores Black-tailed Jackrabbit 26.

Botta’s Pocket Gopher 27. Mammals

Rodents California Vole 28. Great Blue Heron 29.

Wading Birds Great Egret 30.

Ducks & Waterfowl Mallard 31. Burrowing Owl 32. Great Horned Owl 33. Raptors Red-tailed Hawk 34. Killdeer 35. Meadowlark 36.

Birds

Small Birds Red-winged Blackbird 37.

Mather Field Vernal Pools

© Ken Davis

common name Fairy Shrimp

scientific names

Linderiella occidentalis Branchinecta lindahli and other species

phylum subphylum class order

Arthropoda Crustacea Branchiopoda Anostraca

habitat vernal pools

size 10-44 mm long description Fairy Shrimp are pale-colored (normally gray-white) and transparent. They have a long,

narrow body with 11 pairs of paddle-like legs. Females have a brood pouch which holds eggs located directly behind the legs.

fun facts The Fairy Shrimp that inhabit vernal pools are very small, but some species of Fairy

Shrimp are huge. One species, Branchinecta gigas, lives in muddy, plant-less, desert lakes, and can grow to 150 mm. That's about the size of a hot dog!

life cycle Fairy Shrimp cysts hatch as soon as there is water in the vernal pools. Individuals grow

quickly and can reach maturity in 18-60 days depending upon species and the pool conditions. After the adults mate, cysts begin to develop in the female's brood pouch. Once the cysts are fully formed, they are released and sink to the vernal pool bottom. The female may mate again and repeat the process. A single female can produce several hundred cysts during one season. The cysts usually remain dormant until the next year's rain, but they can last for decades.

ecology Fairy Shrimp suck water through filters and eat the particles that they strain out of the

water. These include bacteria, algae, protozoa, rotifers, and detritus. Fairy Shrimp are a main food source for many creatures. They are eaten by Tadpole Shrimp, Backswimmers, aquatic beetles, aquatic insect larvae, tadpoles, toads, salamanders, Killdeer, and ducks.

conservation Branchinecta lynchi is listed as a Threatened species. It is found in the Central Valley and

a few places in the Coast Ranges where it occurs in only certain types of vernal pools. It may be threatened by extinction due to loss of its vernal pool habitat through development and new agriculture. Linderiella occidentalis is the most common of California's vernal pool Fairy Shrimps.

investigate Linderiella occidentalis is the only species of Fairy Shrimp that has red eyes. All other

species have black eyes. See if you can find the red eyes on shrimp in the field.

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STUDENT

WORKSHEET

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Name:_______________________

Critter Guide Worksheet Critter #:______

Common Name:

Scientific Name:

Habitat:

Size: Micro: ___________ Macro: ___________ Other: ___________

Description:

Life Cycle & Food Web Life Stages

What I eat

What eats me

Fun Facts: