Life Science · Animal Activity Patterns
Nocturnal & Diurnal Animals: Who Is Active When?
Use repeated picture observations to compare animals active mostly in daylight with animals active mostly at night, then use time-of-day evidence to identify an activity pattern.
Lesson plan
Nocturnal & Diurnal Animals: Who Is Active When?
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Lesson overview
What students will learn
- Use picture or observation evidence to identify whether an animal is active mostly in daylight or mostly at night.
- Use the words nocturnal and diurnal to describe repeated activity patterns.
Key science ideas
- Some animals are active mostly during daylight. We can call this a diurnal pattern.
- Some animals are active mostly at night. We can call this a nocturnal pattern.
- Scientists use repeated observations to look for a pattern.
Lesson at a glance
- Grade 1
- 37 min
- ~8 min prep
- 4 materials
What’s included
- Lesson Plan
- Investigation
- Teacher Slides
- Printable Worksheet
- Teacher Answer Key
- Interactive Activity
- Vocabulary