Assess students’ general knowledge of animals and their habitats through discussion, observation, and student work

• Listen to student discussion of whether animals have been placed in a habitat that will allow them to survive. Check understanding of the four elements necessary for an animal to survive.

• Observe and listen to student dialogue as students complete the Lesson 2 Worksheet to check students’ understanding of the four elements necessary in a habitat for an animal to survive.

• Collect students’ matching activity, Lesson 2 Worksheet (S-K2-9-2_Lesson 2 Worksheet and KEY.doc).

Day 1

Basic Needs

Introduce this lesson by gathering students in a circle to begin the discussion. Display a T Chart on the board or chart. Ask students “What do you need everyday so that you can live and grow?” Listen for responses that include basic needs, food, water, air, shelter and living space. Students may not respond to living space, but emphasize to students that animals just like people who need to have space to grow and live. Now ask students “What are things that you may want?” Discuss with students the difference between a need and a want.

Using the T-Chart, write two headings, Needs and Wants, on the chart. Have students give examples of needs and wants. Note: It is important that students can distinguish between needs and wants as they are later asked to identify the basic needs of animals. After the discussion of Needs and Wants, write the word Habitat on the board or chart. Define the word habitat to students as a specific area that provides for an animal. Give an example of a habitat for a specific animal. Have students give examples of animals that live in a specific habitat. Discuss these examples with students and identify the basic needs of each of these animals, and how the habitat provides them for each animal.

Day 2

Home Sweet Home

Prior to the activity, make habitat signs (S-K2-9-2_Habitat Signs.doc). Place the following signs in each corner or separate area of the classroom:

• Ocean Habitat

• Desert Habitat

• Polar Habitat

• Forest Habitat

Reserve the Grassland Habitat and the Pond Habitat signs for later use.

Also prepare element note cards with the following words (S-K2-9-2_Element Signs.doc), one card per student:

• food

• water

• shelter

• living space

Begin this activity with a review of the basic needs of animals and tell what a habitat is. Hand out folded word/element cards to each student with instructions not to open the cards until they are at a student-selected corner/area. Say, “Without looking at the folded card, go to one of the habitats where you think an animal would like to live.” (It does not matter the number of students per corner/area.)

Have students read or share their cards and group themselves by element (food, water, shelter, and living area) per corner/area. Students will determine if they have enough elements for an animal to survive (the area must have one of each of the elements for an animal to survive). You will move from habitat to habitat discussing with students whether an animal could survive within the area or if it might become extinct.

Day 3

Habitat Scramble

Before the activity, assemble these suggested magazine pictures: a mouse, rabbit, deer, skunk, coyote, grasshopper, bumble bee, butterfly, spider, lizard, snake, dragonfly, frog, polar bear, penguin, walrus, seal, killer whale, fish, bear, mountain lion, bob cat, wolf, crab, shrimp, eagle, owl, crow, duck, sea gull, heron, turtle, toad, salamander, sow bug/pill bug, beetle, sea horse, etc.). Try to find two to three pictures per student. Include the remaining two habitat signs: Grassland Habitat and Pond Habitat. Use these signs with the other four habitat signs from the earlier activity.

 

NOTE: If time is an issue or you do not have access to magazine pictures, assign students to bring them. You may also use the following Web site to print out animal pictures: http://pawild.net/home/gallery.php

Say, “Today we are going to have a Habitat Scramble. You will choose one animal picture and place it where you think the animal would be able to survive based on the four elements. Before we start, turn to your partner and review the four elements: food, water, shelter, and living space. You will only have two to three minutes to place one animal picture at a time in its habitat until all the animal pictures are chosen or time runs out.”

Once all the animal pictures have been placed in the habitats, invite students to the “Meeting Area” of your classroom and sit in a circle. Bring one habitat sign along with the animal pictures and discuss whether the animals would be able to survive, assuming there is enough living space.

Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

“Where will the animal get food?” (Answers will vary, depending on the animal.)

“What will the animals use for shelter?” (Answers will vary, depending on the animal.)

“Where will the animal get water?” (Answers will vary, depending on the animal.)

“How much living space would this animal need to survive?” (For this discussion, assume all habitats have enough space for the animal to survive.)

During this activity, if an animal is placed in a habitat that would not have adequate food, water, or shelter, guide students’ thinking to the understanding that the animal would need to move to another area or it would become extinct. Give an example such as: salamander vs. lizard. What if they changed habitats? What if they moved to the ocean?

Continue this process with one more habitat. Use the remaining two habitats (Grassland and Pond) during the Day 4 lesson.

Day 4

Continue discussing the remaining two habitats (Grassland and Pond) as on the previous day.

Conclude today’s lesson with teaching students a habitat song, “Habitat” by Bill Oliver (S-K2-9-2_Habitat Song.doc). You may want to write out the lyrics on chart paper and later place them in a learning station for reference.

NOTE: You may want to have students listen to the “Habitat” song on the Internet if you have the technology in your classroom. The song is available at http://www.songsforteaching.com/jeffschroeder/habitat.htm. You may also have your class compose habitat lyrics to a familiar tune (e.g., “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”).

Dismiss students to their seats to work with a partner on the Lesson 2 Worksheet (S-K2-9-2_Lesson 2 Worksheet and KEY.doc) on matching animals with appropriate habitats (polar, forest, desert, ocean). Move around the classroom listening to partner discussions and accepting any placement of an animal in the habitat that can be justified by students. A suggested answer key is included, but you should accept student placement of animals that can be justified.

Extension:

• Students who might need an opportunity for additional learning can listen to and discuss a teacher read-aloud or taped story, such as My Very First Book of Animal Homes by Eric Carle (Philomel, 2007).

• Students ready to go beyond the standards can write an additional verse about another habitat (e.g., prairie, bog, etc.) based on the song “Habitat” by Bill Oliver.