Key vocabulary
external structure
function
survival
body covering
What to notice
- Start with a quick picture walk using the included animal cards on this lesson page. Ask students to notice one visible body part before naming its job.
- Model structure-function thinking with the duck card: “A duck has waterproof feathers. That helps it move through water and stay warm.”
- Sort the included animal cards by the kind of job the structure does: movement, protection, finding food, or staying warm/cool.
Materials snapshot
- printed lesson pages, Student Worksheet, and the included animal cards on this lesson page
- pencil or colored pencils
- optional: magnifying glass for feather/fur/shell observation
Talk-about prompts
- Why would two animals need different body coverings?
- How can the same kind of structure do different jobs?
- Why is it not enough to only name a body part?
Why it matters
External structures are the body parts we can observe from the outside. They can help animals find food, stay warm or cool, move safely, defend themselves, attract mates, or care for offspring. Structure and function are linked: the shape, texture, size, and placement of a body part often help explain what it does.
Try this next: Revisit the included animal cards on this lesson page and sort them a second way — by animals that move quickly, stay warm or dry, protect themselves, or get food. Then add one optional real-world observation from a pet, bird outside, or zoo memory.
