Mississippi Science L.K.4
Standard Cluster
Students will demonstrate an understanding that some groups of plants and animals Obtain information from informational text or other media to document and report examples of different plants or animals that are extinct. Observe and report how some present-day animals resemble extinct animals (i.e., elephants resemble woolly mammoths).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Adaptations and Diversity
Cluster contents
Standards in This Cluster
L.K.4 is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.
Teacher's field guide
What This Cluster Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use a picture book or short video to find animals that no longer live anywhere. They draw and label examples, then compare an extinct animal with a living animal that looks like it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name and draw two extinct animals found in a book. They can point to a mammoth and an elephant, name a body part both have, and say only elephants live today.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think extinct means one animal died or that an animal is hard to find. They may think mammoths still live because elephants look like them.
How to Assess It
- Give students a picture strip with this caption: “Woolly mammoths and dodos no longer live anywhere. Elephants are alive today.” Ask them to circle the extinct animals and name one body part mammoths and elephants share.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
After reading a picture book, give students mammoth, dodo, elephant, and pigeon picture cards to sort into extinct and living groups.
Show mammoth and elephant pictures and ask, “What body parts do they share, and which animal still lives today?”
Play animal match: students pair a dodo with a pigeon and a mammoth with an elephant, then point out a shared body part.
Show a zoo photo of an elephant; students compare its trunk with one in a mammoth illustration.
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Printable L.K.4 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to L.K.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- L.K.3A
Students will demonstrate an understanding of what animals and plants need to live and grow.
- L.4.2
Students will demonstrate an understanding of life cycles, including familiar plants and animals (e.g., reptiles, amphibians, or birds).
- L.K.1A
Students will demonstrate an understanding of living and non-living things.
- L.2.3B
Students will demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of living things.
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