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Wise Whiskers - Think Like a Scientist for Grades 3 & 4
Education Kit
Free
Southern Alberta–wide
English

Wise Whiskers - Think Like a Scientist for Grades 3 & 4

City of Calgary - Animal Services

Think Like a Scientist Classroom Kit

Quick Facts

Format

Education Kit

Cost

Free

Grades

Grade 3, Grade 4

Group Size

Up to 32 students

Language

English

Time of Year

Fall (Sep–Dec), Winter (Jan–Mar), Spring (Apr–Jun)

Setting

Indoor

Districts

Southern Alberta–wide

About This Program

Students develop scientific reasoning skills through the lens of animal behaviour and bite prevention.

The Wise Whiskers - Think Like a Scientist lessons and activities are designed to help students ‘Think Like a Scientist’. Students will learn to make observations and use those observations as evidence to support claims. Students will practice distinguishing between observations and inferences and learn to make inferences from pictures, videos, and text. Additionally, they will develop essential skills by discussing their ideas, comparing, contrasting, creating science sketches, organizing information, making predictions, and applying reasoning to explain their observations. Together, these experiences empower students to use evidence-based thinking and confidently communicate their ideas— all while learning how to stay safe around dogs.

What to Expect

The Teaching Manual is designed to support instruction and includes lesson guides, graphic organizers, activities, and links to additional resources. All materials may be photocopied for classroom use and shared with other teachers. The Wise Whiskers – Think Like a Scientist resources are free of charge and can be downloaded from our website. To receive a classroom kit, you must be a certified teacher working at a school within the City of Calgary. Classroom kits are limited each school year, so we kindly ask that previous participants reuse their materials annually. By accepting a classroom kit, you agree to: • Complete the included activities with your students • Submit the feedback form once all activities are finished (required for participation) All non-consumable materials are yours to keep and reuse with your students year after year. Each classroom kit includes: • Comprehensive Teaching Guide • 32 Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Graphic Organizers • 32 “If I Was a Chihuahua” Observation Sheets • 32 Wise Whiskers Venn Diagrams • 32 of each Doggie Detective Colouring Sheet (128 total) • Fuego’s Feelings by Nina Muller • Good Dog in a Box Dog Smart Card Game A SMART Board, LOFT Board, or a similar display is required to complete the lessons and activities.

Curriculum Connections

Curriculum Connected

The Wise Whiskers - Think Like a Scientist cross-curricular lesson pack is designed to include outcomes from the Grades 3 and 4 Science and ELA curriculums. For a detailed list of outcomes, please visit our website.

Subjects

Science
Language Arts

Accessibility

Neurodiverse Accommodations

Learner Differentiation To support English language learners, students on IPPs, struggling students & culturally diverse learners: • Lesson resources will take a variety of forms (written text, verbal explanations, supporting images, PowerPoint slides, hands on materials, etc.) to support the learning needs of all students • Visual representations will be provided to support ELL students & students with differing abilities • Use of large, easy to read font in the PowerPoint and any learning materials to support students with differing abilities • Content specific vocabulary will be bolded to aid in vocabulary acquisition • Vocabulary banks • Both content specific and related everyday language will be used to support understanding • Scaffolded CER templates and sentence starters/frames • Graphic Organizers included to support/scaffold learning • Teachers will have the flexibility to make additional modifications will be made as required for individual students • Flexibility to extend lessons over multiple days

How to Book

The Wise Whiskers – Think Like a Scientist resources are free of charge and can be downloaded from our website. To request a classroom kit, complete the booking request form on the Wise Whiskers webpage.

About the Organization

City of Calgary - Animal Services

City of Calgary - Animal Services

Wise Whiskers

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Wise Whiskers - Think Like a Scientist for Grades 3 & 4 — SERG Alberta