Lesson Title: Why Do Bears Go To Sleep in the Winter?
by: Carolina Rodriguez
Grade Level: Early Childhood

Goal:  To introduce the hibernation process of bears through the making of a bear's cave.  

Learning Objectives: Students will:
hypothesize why bears hibernate (sleep)
communicate where and when bears hibernate
make models of caves
predict when the bears will wake up and why

NJ Science Standards: New Jersey Standard (5.6.4) “Show that plants and animals are composed of different parts serving different purposes and working together for the well-being of the organism. Also, bears need to eat and get fat to stay warm, New Jersey Standard (5.7.4) “Identify and describe external features of plants and animals that help them survive in varied habitats.

Materials/Resources: 
Strong, white disposable cups
Paper plates
Cotton strips 
Markers
Glue sticks
Cut out bears
Different color stuffed teddy bears
Book: Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming

 Procedure: 

Introduction:

I would introduce the lesson by asking the children “What are some ways we know it is winter?”  I will give children the opportunity to answer. By this time, the children should have answered something related with snow.  At this moment I would hand out my stuffed teddy bears. This would lead us into our lesson on hibernation.  I will ask the children to describe the teddy bears physical features.  Here I would ask, “Is the bear fat or skinny?” After the children point out my fat teddy bears, I will ask the children to tell me some things bears eat, (nuts, fruit, berries, plants, insects, honey, fish). What happens to these food sources in winter? Since it is winter, all the plants do not grow and produce fruit like berries, and the bees cannot make honey from the flowers. Many ponds and lakes freeze over and it is harder to catch fish. Bears cannot find much to eat in the winter. Bears decide to find a cave and take a nice, long nap until everything grows again in April or May (Spring).  At this time I will read the book, Time to Sleep followed by a class discussion on why bears sleep in winter. The following website will enable children to actually hear the bears make sounds: http://www.bear.org/Black/Sounds.html  This will lead us to our cave activity. Children in 2^nd or 3^rd grade will also enjoy these websites that have facts and pictures about the hibernation of the black bear.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/satoyama/hibernation.html

http://www.bear.org/Black/BB_Home.html

Exploration:
I will do each step of the activity with them so they can all do it as a group.  The children will each get a paper bear and color it.  I will then hand out the paper cups (caves) for them to color.  Once they are done coloring I will give each child a paper plate and ask them to write their names on the back of the paper plate. They must then glue their cotton strips around the paper plate (snow).  Next they must glue the paper cup to the plate in the space that does not have cotton.  Finally, they will place their paper bears inside the cup and let them sleep (hibernate).  Once they are done making their model caves, I will ask the children, “Why do you think we put the bear in the cave?”  To help them out, I will point to the cotton, which represents our snow, and ask, “Would you like to sleep in the cold snow?”  I will then ask them, “What do you think the bear will do in the cave?”  Here I will reinforce the word hibernation.

Student Product:
Application:  Children can use their bear and cave model to retell the story Time to Sleep or create their own story. 

Assessment:  I will ask the following questions when we get into our circle with our finished projects:
What do bears do before going in the cave?  
Why do they go in the cave?  
What is hibernation?
When do bears wake up and why?

Reflection:

I am very pleased with this lesson. I had been going crazy thinking of an original lesson that would catch the children’s attention. My cooperating teacher was very helpful and told me that I should help her by doing a lesson on hibernation.  I originally thought of making one big cave made of a cardboard box.  However, I wanted the children to have their own personal way of participating.  At such young ages, they are fascinated by their own work and it’s nice to see them feel proud of their own work.

I came up with my cup idea while I was sitting in the kitchen playing with cup.  I made up a model. I decided that I need some kind of way of introducing the activity.   Since I am a kid at heart, I realized if I could bring in some of my own teddy bears the children’s curiosity would make them pay attention and I was very right.  The kids got to explore and play with the teddy bears and they loved it.  I am happy I thought of doing this first and not just jumping into the activity because it made the teaching part of the lesson much easier.  Having the bears physically there helped me point out parts of my lesson.  For example, I had a bear that had boots, a hat, and a sweater and another bear drinking coke cola.  The children realized that real bears do not have these things, which helped me explain that bears hibernate in order to stay warm.