Fourth graders discover the biggest split in the animal kingdom — animals with a backbone and animals without one — and sort familiar creatures into each group.
Students will be able to…
Scientists have named well over a million kinds of animals. What is the single question that splits almost all of them into two big groups?
Project this and sort each animal into vertebrates or invertebrates — tap an animal, then tap whether it has a backbone or not.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
Run a hand down your back. What do you feel, and do all animals have it?
Students sort animals into vertebrates and invertebrates.
Students compare how each group supports its body.
Students build a simple sorting key.
Students reflect on what makes the split useful.
Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (High School Life Science).
Construct an argument that animals have internal and external structures that support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence about organisms and the environments where they live.
Analyze evidence that traits are inherited and can be influenced by the environment.
Recall relevant information from experiences or gather and categorize information from sources.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students choose six animals and build a simple key that asks “Does it have a backbone?” to sort each one into vertebrate or invertebrate. A printable animal-sorting worksheet is in the Science library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.