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Why do baby ducks follow their mother?
Animal Superpowers Unit | Lesson 3 of 5

Why do baby ducks follow their mother?

Animal Superpowers Unit | Lesson 3 of 5
Lesson narration:
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I’m Juan Carlos. I love to visit my grandma.

Guess what she has in her backyard…

I notice some of the ducks look different from the others.

Grandma says the brown ones are mother ducks.

The ones with green heads are father ducks.

I wonder: Why is the mother duck brown? Why isn’t she brightly colored, like the father duck?

Maybe the mother used to be bright green, but she faded.

Or maybe the mother is brown so she can hide in the brown plants by the pond.

stop & talk

Stop & Talk

What do you think?

Why is the mother duck brown, and not brightly colored like the father duck?

I ask Grandma what she thinks.

She shows me a mother duck on her nest.

Look! Her color matches the color of the dry grass.

Being brown helps her hide.

But wait! Why are these little birds following the big duck?

stop & talk

Stop & Talk

Are the little ones another kind of bird?

Why do you think the little birds are following the big duck?

Grandma says the big duck is the mother.

The little ones are her babies.

The babies are called ducklings.

They follow their mother, walking in a line.

stop & talk

Stop & Talk

Why do the ducklings do what their mother does?

Do you have any ideas?

I watch the ducklings.

Here’s what I think.

The mother duck shows the ducklings what to eat, where to go, how to swim.

Uh oh! Here comes a cat.

What’s going on here?

I want to take a duckling home with me.

Grandma says that ducklings need room to play and a pond to swim in.

I decide the ducklings should stay at Grandma’s house.

Grandma says I can come and visit her and the ducklings anytime.

THE END

# Optional Activity: What’s Going On?

Now that you’ve seen how the mother duck helps her ducklings, take a look at these videos. Can you figure out what’s going on in each one?

Anchor Connection In the past lesson, you watched baby ducks and mother ducks. Watch, then discuss. What do these baby ducks do to stay with their mother?
Young squirrels can walk and climb. But sometimes, a mother squirrel needs to move her baby fast. Watch how this squirrel helps her baby move. It is different from what ducks do!
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Step
01/06
Get a new See-Think-Wonder Chart, or make a new one with a large sheet of paper. Your teacher will add your ideas to the class chart.
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Step
02/06
What did you see this mother and baby squirrel doing? Your teacher will record your answers in the See column.
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Step
03/06
Why do you think mother squirrels do this? Come up with as many ideas as you can. Your teacher will record your ideas in the Think column.
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Step
04/06
What do you wonder about what these squirrels are doing? Your teacher will record your questions in the Wonder column.
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Step
05/06
Save your See-Think-Wonder Chart for the end of this unit. You will review it then.
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Step
06/06
Mother squirrels take care of their babies. No matter where they live, this helps the babies survive and become adults.
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protect


1 of 1

to keep safe
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Lesson narration:

Grade 1

Animal Traits & Survival

Animal Behavior & Offspring Survival

1-LS1-2

7047 reviews

Activity Prep

Print Prep
In this Read-Along lesson, Juan Carlos visits his grandmother who has a backyard full of ducks. The lesson includes a short exercise where students get moving by acting like ducks. If you want to extend the lesson, you can try this optional activity, What’s Going On?, where students watch videos and discover ways that animal parents help their offspring.
Preview optional activity

Grade 1

Animal Traits & Survival

Animal Behavior & Offspring Survival

1-LS1-2

7047 reviews
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Animal Superpowers Read-Along Lesson 3: Why do baby ducks follow their mother?

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