02 Giraffes and Elephants

👩‍🏫 Teacher’s Guide

Objective
Students will describe how giraffes and elephants are alike and different and how they live in herds.

Vocabulary
savanna, herd, trunk, tusk, spots, neck

Teaching Notes

• Show or draw a very tall giraffe and a very large elephant to spark curiosity.
• Use simple measuring tools (blocks, paper links) to compare “tall” and “heavy.”
• Talk about the African savanna as a home where many animals share space.
• Practice using describing words: tall, heavy, long, spotted, gray, rough.
• Invite students to think about how herds help animals stay safe together.

🧒 Student Worksheet

Concept and Helping Material

Definition. Giraffes and elephants are wild animals that live on the savanna, a wide, grassy place in Africa. One is the tallest land animal, and the other is one of the heaviest.

Helping ideas and samples:

• A giraffe has long legs, a long neck, and a tongue that helps it reach high leaves.
• An elephant has a trunk it uses to smell, drink, and pick up things, and tusks that grow from its mouth.
• Both giraffes and elephants live in herds, or family groups, for safety and for finding food and water.
• You can compare: “A giraffe is tall like a tower. An elephant is big like a moving wall.”

Vocabulary and Definition

• — a wide, grassy place with few trees
• — a group of animals that stays together
• — an elephant’s long nose used for smelling, drinking, and grabbing
• — a long, hard tooth that sticks out of some animals’ mouths
• — round marks of color on fur or skin
• — the part of the body that holds up the head

Words to Learn

e.g. , , , ,

Sentences to Fill In

e.g.

1. 02 Giraffes and Elephants connects to .
2. A is an idea we use in this lesson.
3. I can use one new word, , in a sentence today.
4. I can share one thing I learned with my family at .
5. I can listen and take turns when we talk about .

🧪 Think & Respond Q&A

1. What is different between giraffes and elephants?

2. What is something both animals need?

3. How do giraffes reach high leaves?

4. How do elephants use their trunks?

5. Why do these animals live in herds?

6. What might happen if a giraffe lived alone?

7. Where do you see these animals?

8. Why do elephants flap their ears?

9. How can you tell these animals apart?

10. How would you explain this topic to a younger child?

Hands-On Experiment or Activities

e.g.
What You Need:

• Linking cubes or paper strips for “height”
• Large paper for drawing a herd
• Crayons or markers

What You Do:

1. Make a strip to show a “short” animal and a much longer strip to show the giraffe’s height.
2. Draw one giraffe and one elephant. Label at least two body parts on each (neck, spots, trunk, tusks, ears).
3. Add more giraffes and elephants to make a herd. Give the herd a name.
4. Act out how a herd might move together toward water or away from danger.

Think and Talk:

• Why do giraffes and elephants stay in herds?
• What body part helps an elephant drink and pick things up?

Reflection

e.g.

• Which animal do you think would be easier to see from far away, a giraffe or an elephant? Why?
• Which animal would need more food in a day?
• What is one way we should treat wild animals like giraffes and elephants?