First Nations F.O.F. Elementary Years Lesson Plan Overview: This lesson will introduce Elementary level students to snakes. Its goal is to have the students understand that all creatures have a role and place in the world. We want to lessen peoples fear of this creature and clear up some of the myths about snakes. Curriculum connections: Science: grade 2 Life Science Animal Growth and Change Art: grades 1-4 Patterns, Animal Portraits Material Required: Construction paper strips (at least two colors - suggest yellow and green) Small scrap of red construction paper for eyes and tongue Scissors and scotch tape or glue Black marker Objectives: Students will -describe a simple food chain -recognize and explain the difference between a predator and prey -understand that all animals have a purpose on Earth Opening: Start with asking the class who has a pet in their family. List all the types of pets that students have in their families on the board. Explain that this class you are going to learn about a certain animal that some people keep as a pet. It is a reptile. Try and get the students to explain what a reptile is. (Coldblooded animal, their temperature depends on their surroundings). There are many types of reptiles; the dinosaurs were reptiles. Development: Today we are going to talk about reptiles that have the following characteristics: (write these points on the board and see if the students can come up with the name of this type of reptile) -unblinking lidless eyes -they are deaf to air born sounds but can pick up vibrations in their jawbones -they do not eat plants, they are all carnivores -most kinds lay eggs but some give birth to live young -there are over 3000 kinds in the world and they live all over the world except Antarctica -they have scaly legless bodies -they smell with their tongues -many humans are afraid of them and try to kill them on sight By now most of the students should have guessed that we are talking about snakes. Whether they are loved revered or feared the snake is an awesome creature. An old native story says that Earthmaker created snakes first of all animals. Earthmaker used serpents like giant ropes to help cinch down the world, which rotated without cease after its creation. Earthmaker charged serpents with the special task of warding off evil from the habitations of man. They also
functioned as the servants and special messengers of Earthmaker himself. Because of this they have a special relationship with sacred stories. In this class we are going to study some more about snakes and learn that most are not dangerous at all. There are a few species that are poisonous but a snake will flee from humans if they are not cornered. They are very afraid of people. Snakes move by the special muscles attached to their ribs. They have a tube-like body. They have a small notch in their lips that they can stick their tongues through so they don t need to open their mouths. Their special jaws that can dislocate to open wider permit them to swallow prey three times bigger than their own mouth. We said earlier that they are all carnivores which means they will eat only meat. Most snakes live off of insects, rodents, birds, eggs, fish, frogs, lizards and small mammals. They swallow their food whole. The teeth that they have are used for grabbing and hooking their prey, not chewing. Food in a snake s stomach can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of months to break up or digest. Believe it or not, some snakes only need to eat a couple of times a year! Snakes have to be careful themselves because they are a favorite prey for other creatures. Large birds like crows, magpies, hawks and owls love to catch and eat snakes. Also raccoons, foxes, coyotes and even other snakes are predators to watch out for. Now that we have talked about what snakes like to eat and what likes to eat snakes lets create a food chain diagram. (Have the students write along with the teacher the following details to make a chain): -Snake eats mice or frogs or lizards and other things; -Crows or hawks or owls or foxes or coyotes eat snakes. To make a food chain chose one animal that will eat the next in a row. For example: an insect is eaten by a frog, then the frog is eaten by the snake, then the snake is eaten by an owl. So the chain looks like: insect frog snake owl. Because animals eat a variety of foods there can be many different chains, for example: grass mouse snake fox. The animal getting eaten is the prey. The animal catching and eating the prey is the predator. The snake s prey is the food it likes to eat, but it becomes a prey itself to others that like to eat it. The predator is just an animal after some prey to eat. What is the purpose of snakes? All creatures have a role in life on earth. First Nations people traditionally respected all forms of life. They prayed before taking life and only took as much as they needed to feed their people. When an animal was killed for food all parts of the animal were used. Today some hunters kill animals just for their horns. First Nations people would not approve of this. They believed in living in harmony with nature. Snakes have a role in nature. They are especially useful in keeping populations of mice and rats and even rabbits in check. Without snakes these animals that reproduce very quickly would eat a lot of the grains and plants that humans and other animals need. They help provide a balance in nature.
There are some types of snakes that are poisonous. These snakes have fangs, which are long hollow teeth. Through these teeth they release venom, which is a poisonous liquid which will paralyze and eventually kill their prey. Once the prey is dead the snake can start to swallow it. The Cobra is a wellknown poisonous snake found in India. Can anyone name a poisonous snake found in North America, including southern Saskatchewan? (Answer: Rattlesnake) The most common snake in Canada is the Garter Snake. Garter snakes eat mainly earthworms, frogs, fish, tadpoles and mice. They are not easy to catch because they hide very well in grass and are camouflaged, meaning they are colored like the grasses they hide in. Usually the only time you can spot them is if you see them moving. Since we have been studying snakes in this class, let s make our own paper chain snake. (Show the students an example of one that you have made ahead of time. Have them collect the materials you lay out and then create their own. You may decide ahead of time how many rings you want the students to use to prevent overly long snakes.) Scroll down to find instructions and pictures. Closing: In this class we have learned about an especially amazing creature, the snake. We know that there are more than 3000 kinds of snakes in the world. Most snakes are not at all dangerous and are in fact afraid of people. When we go into an area that has poisonous snakes we must learn how to alert them that we are there so that they have a chance to escape. Next class students will be asked to write out a few facts that they have learned about snakes. The main thing to remember is that snakes have a place in the world; we should not be afraid of them but learn as much as we can about them. Instruction sheets below.
Pictures of Snakes that can be show to the students