Section 6
FACT AND FICTION I
Objectives:
Children will be able to define adaptation.
Children also will be able to compare mammal adaptations for finding food and escaping from
predators.
Children will write and illustrate a story describing how a certain mammal adaptation arose.
Materials:
Copy of Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Copy of "Why the Possum's Tail is Bare" by James Connolly (Ranger Rick, April 1985)
Chalkboard or easel paper
Paper and pencils
Reference books
Crayons or markers
Activities:
1. Begin by discussing with the children some of the ways mammals and other animals are adapted to
survive. Explain that adaptations are characteristics or behaviors that help an animal survive in its
environment. For example, have kids think of ways that a fish is adapted to live in water. (Gills,
fins, and a streamlined body could be examples.) Then, ask them to think of other animal
adaptations. Write these answers on the chalkboard/easel.
2. Then, ask the children if they are familiar with Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. If not, explain
that Kipling was a famous author who wrote short stories, poems, and novels. He lived in India
during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In his book, Kipling made up descriptive tales using
imagination to explain how some animals came to look or act the way they do. Read one or two of
these stories to the children. You also may want to read a myth by another author (in this example,
"Why the Possum's Tail is Bare" by James Connolly).
3. Then, allow the children time to brainstorm a mammal that they think has some interesting
adaptation. Then, let the kids write and illustrate their own "just so" story about one of their
favorite mammals. (Some suggestions include: "How the Platypus Got Its Duck Bill," "How the
Zebra Got Its Stripes," and "How the Vampire Bat Got Its Wings.")
These stories should combine some fact and some fiction. For example, Kipling's "The
Beginning of the Armadillos" explains that the hedgehog and the tortoise changed into
armadillos by borrowing characteristics from one another. Of course, this is not true, but the
story does explain that the armadillo has protective armor and can roll up into a ball to defend
itself from predators -- which are all facts.
4. When the children have finished, have them share their stories and illustrations with others.
(Source: Amazing Mammals II, p. 70)
FACT AND FICTION
الرئيسية 
