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Animal Habitats

Lesson Plan

Animal Habitats

Grade Levels

1st Grade, Kindergarten

Course, Subject

Environment and Ecology (Agriculture)
Related Academic Standards
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  • Big Ideas
    A technological world requires that humans develop capabilities to solve technological challenges and improve products for the way we live.
    Each area of technology has a set of characteristics that separates it from others; however, many areas overlap in order to meet human needs and wants.
    Technological design is a creative process that anyone can do which may result in new inventions and innovations.
    Technology is created, used and modified by humans.
    The earth system changes constantly as air, water, soil, and rock interact, and the earth is a part of a larger sun, earth, moon system.
    Aquatic, terrestrial and human-made ecosystems consist of diverse living and non-living components that change over time and across geographic areas.
    Aquatic, terrestrial and human-made ecosystems consist of diverse living and non-living components that change over time and among geographic areas.
    Humans depend upon the management and practices of agricultural systems.
    Living things depend on their habitat to meet their basic needs.
    People acting individually and/or as groups influence the environment.
    Sustainable use of natural resources is essential to provide for the needs and wants of all living things now and in the future.
    The health of all living things is directly related to the quality of the environment.
    The survival of living things is dependent upon their adaptations and ability to respond to natural changes in and human influences on the environment.
  • Concepts
    A difference exists between the natural and the human-made world.
    A system is made of parts, and the parts can interact.
    A technological world requires an understanding of how things are made and can be improved.
    Anything on or near the earth is pulled downward by the earth’s gravity.
    Asking questions and making observations help a person understand how technology works and may be modified.
    Different modes of transportation move people from one place to another.
    Each structure is designed for a purpose.
    Earth processes occur over such long time spans and such large areas that maps and models are used to help understand them.
    Ecosystems can be controlled by technology.
    Energy is produced in many forms and should not be wasted.
    Humans must plan, use materials and select appropriate tools to complete a tasks.
    Humans use tools, technology, and devices to help them to do a variety of things.
    Many processes and tools are used to make products.
    Most ground water eventually flows through streams, rivers and lakes and returns to the ocean.
    Objects in the sky have patterns of movement that can be observed.
    Rock is composed of different combinations of minerals.
    Safety is a major concern for all technological development and use.
    Soils develop by the breakdown of rocks by weathering and the addition of organic material. Soil also contains many living organisms.
    Technological design process involves problem solving and designing solutions to problems.
    Technology allows people to send messages to one another in a variety of ways.
    Technology is designed to have an impact on a living being’s health.
    Technology may have an effect and influence on society and the environment.
    The design process includes identifying and investigating a problem, generating ideas, developing objects, testing/evaluating, and sharing findings with others.
    The Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, giving rise to the cycle of night and day. The Earth’s rotation causes the sun, moon, stars, and planets to appear to orbit the Earth once each day.
    Water from precipitation can seep into the ground, run off, or evaporate.
    Weather variables such as temperature, barometric pressure, wind direction and speed, cloud type, cloud cover, and precipitation can be observed measured and recorded to identify patterns. Basic weather conditions change in predictable patterns.
    When liquid water disappears, it turns into a gas (water vapor) in the air. It can reappear as a liquid when cooled or as a solid when cooled further. Clouds and fog are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. When such droplets or crystals get large enough, they fall as precipitation.
    Agricultural systems includes production, processing, distribution and consumption of products.
    All living things depend directly or indirectly on air, water and soil.
    An organism must be able to adapt to changes in the environment or move to another location, otherwise it will die.
    Any change within the environment may positively or negatively impact the health of living organisms (e.g., fire can be both positive or negative; flood, pollution, balance of predator/prey relationship, abundant food sources, building dams).
    Aquatic systems can be lentic or lotic. Lentic systems consist of still water (e.g. ponds, lakes, swamps). Lotic systems consist of moving water (e.g. creeks, rivers, streams).
    Changes in the environment may affect the survival of living things in that environment.
    Environmental health can be impacted by air, water, soil and land pollution.
    Food, clothing and some shelter are provided through agricultural practices.
    Human actions affect environmental health.
    Human practices and changes in technology impact the environment.
    Interactions occur between living (e.g. plants and animals) and nonliving (e.g. soil, water, temperature) parts of an ecosystem.
    Living things adapt to changing environmental conditions or they may become extinct.
    Living things depend on other living things in their environment for survival.
    Natural events and human activities can change the environment.
    Natural resources have varying life spans.
    Natural resources include plants, animals, water, air, minerals and fossil fuels.
    Organisms have physical and behavioral adaptations that enable them to survive in their habitat. (e.g., physical – shape of beaks, thickness of fur or fat, flat leaf vs needle; behavioral – migration, hibernation, playing dead).
    Pennsylvania has many types of ecosystems (aquatic, terrestrial, and human-made) with associated living and non-living components.
    People depend on agriculture for their basic needs including food, clothing and shelter.
    People depend on other living things and non-living things to provide for their basic needs.
    Plants and animals are natural resources that people use.
    Plants and animals in an ecosystems have physical and behavioral responses to seasonal change.
    Products and by-products come from natural resources and may be recycled, reused, composted, incinerated or discarded.
    Soil is a system composed of weathered rock and decomposed organic remains with living and non-living components.
    Terrestrial systems can be forest, meadow, school yard, corn fields, etc.
    The health of an environment is dependent upon the quality of its parts. (i.e. air, water and soil).
    The parts and characteristics of organisms (e.g. feathers, hibernation, leaf size) affect the ways they meet their needs in different environments (e.g. wetlands, forests, ocean).
    The survival of living things is affected by changes in the food, water, shelter and space available to them.
    Various types of energy are used in the production of food and fiber.
    Water changes form and function within the environment.
    Wetlands are a major habitat in Pennsylvania for plants and animals.
    When a habitat changes it affects the organism.
    After a living organism dies it decomposes and becomes a nutrient source or natural resource.
    Agriculture provides for many of the basic needs of humans and animals.
    Agriculture-related businesses and individuals implement practices that care for the land and the water.
    All living things have basic needs: food, space, shelter and water in an arrangement suitable for survival.
    Animals and plants have physical adaptations that enable them to survive in their habitat (e.g., physical: shape of beak, position of eyes on head, thickness offur or fat, flat leaf vs. needle).
    Animals can provide both food and clothing.
    Change in an ecosystem may cause organisms to become extinct when one or more of their needs can no longer be met.
    Health can be affected by things in air, water or soil.
    Homeowners and farmers can control pests while being environmentally friendly (integrated pest management).
    Living and non-living components of an ecosystem are interdependent.
    Living and non-living components of the ecosystem affect each other.
    Living livings depend on other living and non-living components within a habitat.
    Living things are associated with specific habitats. (i.e. rabbits live in fields but could not survive in an ocean)
    Living things find their basic needs in their habitat.
    Organisms (plants and animals) respond to seasonal changes (i.e. growth patterns, dormancy and hibernation, migration).
    PA experiences four seasonal climate changes: spring, summer, fall, winter.
    Pennsylvania farmers raise and grow specific animals and plants in order to meet our basic needs and wants.
    Plants and animals develop according to the species’ life cycle.
    Plants, animals and humans need air and water to survive.
    The agricultural industry is more than farming, and provides a lot of jobs in Pennsylvania.
    There are many different species of organisms that live and interact within a habitat.
    Water can be flowing or still within an ecosystem.
    Water moves through an ecosystem in a dynamic manner (i.e. water cycle).
    When habitat changes it affects living things.
    Without sound agricultural practices, we would not be able to feed people.
  • Competencies
    Construct and use models to explain natural phenomena and make predictions and conduct investigations.
    Demonstrate the ability to use a number of tools to make a product.
    Describe each step in the engineering design process used to solve technological problems.
    Describe how a variety of tools/instruments can be used to adapt the world based on a need or want.
    Design and construct a mini-ecosystem (i.e. terrarium, aquarium etc.).
    Identify different ways a message can be conveyed to another person.
    List and describe several alternative energy sources.
    List and describe the purpose of several different types of structures.
    List and provide example of the four modes of transportation.
    List several types of medical technologies and describe its purpose.
    Select and safely use a tool for a specific purpose.
    Utilize the engineering design process to solve a problem.
    Compare and contrast the living and nonliving components of aquatic, terrestrial and human-made ecosystems.
    Compare the components and interactions in a local ecosystem with a similar one in a different geographic area.
    Demonstrate how water changes from one phase to another within the environment (e.g., evaporation, condensation, etc.).
    Describe a change that can occur in the environment and explain the positive and negative affects on the system.
    Describe and give examples of everyday human activities and this may change the environment (e.g., food production, water consumption, solid waste production).
    Describe how an organism interacts with the living and nonliving parts of its ecosystem.
    Explain how a particular change in the environment can affect the survival of an organism in that environment.
    Explain how seasonal changes affect the organisms in a local ecosystem.
    Explain how the characteristics of an organism determine where it lives and how it survives in its environment.
    Identify an organism that has become extinct in Pennsylvania and explain how it became extinct.
    Identify examples of air, water, soil and land pollutants, their sources, and their effects on the environment.
    Identify products and by-products of trees, plants and animals, (e.g., plastics, metal, aluminum, fabric, paper, cardboard).
    Identify some natural and human caused events that can change an environment.
    Identify ways living things and non-living things contribute to the survival of living things in their environment.
    Illustrate how water, oxygen and carbon dioxide cycle through the environment.
    Are you wearing clothing from a plant and/or animal source? Trace it back to its origins.
    Compare and contrast how agriculture influences the food, clothing, shelter and customs of two different cultures.
    Create a graphic representation of a food chain in a local ecosystem.
    Create a graphic representation of how an organism depends on living and non-living components in its environment.
    Describe how living things are affected when their habitat changes. (e.g., changes occur in food, water, shelter, space).
    Describe how water, air and soil affect living things.
    Describe one major habitat in PA (e.g. wetland, forest, field, river/lake/creek, urban/suburban) and identify many of the associated living and non-living components.
    Describe the life cycle of a given plant and a given animal.
    Describe the three phases of water and give an example of each within a local ecosystem.
    Explain how living and non-living things affect one another.
    Explain how the adaptations of three different animal and/or plant species help the organisms to survive in their habitat(s) (e.g. fur, feathers, web feet; butterfly proboscis; camouflage; seed dispersal).
    Given a plant or animal, identify its preferred food, water source, shelter, space and how its habitat provides these needs in a suitable arrangement
    Identify an animal or plant and list the effects of seasonal change on that organism.
    Identify common farm crops (e.g. sweet and field corn, soybeans, wheat, mushrooms, grapes), farm animals (e.g., dairy and beef cows; sheep; swine; poultry), and common items grown in gardens for food (e.g. tomatoes, squash, peppers) in Pennsylvania.
    Identify methods farmers may use to protect waterways and land.
    Identify the basic needs of humans and animals that are met by agricultural industry.
    Identify the basic needs of living things in a habitat.
    Locate three bodies of water within your community, categorize each as flowing or still, and identify the purpose of each within the ecosystem.
    What makes a pest a pest? Explain three different ways to control plant and animal pests.
    Where does your lunch come from? Trace it back to its origins.

Rationale

Students need to develop an understanding and appreciation for their world, its inhabitants and how we all function within.

Vocabulary

marine, polar, desert, rain forest, grassland, wetland, habitat, shelter, source

Objectives

Students will demonstrate knowledge of habitat vocabulary terms

Students will identify animals that live in the different environments

Students will identify the basic needs of a particular animal in the rain forest habitat

Students will compare/contrast elements in different habitats that make is suitable or unsuitable for a particular animal

Lesson Essential Question(s)

What is the role of the habitat in providing the basic needs of an organism?

Duration

50 min

Materials

Can I Live In Your Home?, print version of power point provided by deafed.net

Construction paper

Writing paper

Crayons/markers

Background pages of ocean, desert, polar and grassland prints 

Suggested Instructional Strategies

W:  Students will recognize that living things need a habitat with the four essential elements (food, water, shelter, and living space) in order to survive
H:  Students will actively participate in an activity where they gain an awareness of the four elements (food, water, shelter, and living space) that are necessary for animals to survive in a habitat.
E:  Students will participate in large group discussion, listen to a story about habitats, create a bubble map on a specific animal and habitat and create their own version of the story.
R:  Students will share information from their bubble maps with a partner and reflect on why that animal can survive in that habitat.
E:  Students will express their understandings through group discussions, answering guided questions, and while reflecting with their partners
T:  Students will be involved in a variety of activities that appeal to different learning styles.
O:  Students will participate in activities that move from teacher-guided to partner and individual applications.

Instructional Procedures

1.  Review different natural environments with the class. Focusing on Rain Forest – discuss and list:  What does it look like? What can be sources of shelter, water, and food?  How is it different from a marine, polar, desert and grassland habitats? Talk about the many kinds of animals that live that habitat. Read Can I Live In Your Home? and use print resources to illustrate the unique features and animals of the different habitats.

2.  Continue discussing rain forests until students demonstrate a clear understanding of the basic characteristics of it and can identify some animals that live in each there. Once students have a solid understanding, tell them to make a bubble map in their journal showing an animal from the rain forest, where they find shelter, what their food and water sources are, and what characteristic the animal has to live there.

3.  Using the story as a model, students will incorporate their animal into their own story.  Students will identify and draw animals that fit into the other habitat background and include reasons in their story why their animal cannot live in that home.  The final page will be their animal’s home habitat identifying the items from their bubble map.  Pair and share their entries.

4.   Make materials materials available to students and explain that they are going to create their own version of the story using the animal they used in their bubble map.  They draw and color their animals on the provided background pages and add the sentences at the bottom of the page.  Allow students time to work on their books.

5.  Once they are complete, ask students to share them with the rest of the class. Which animals did most of the students choose? Ask them to explain why. What kinds of plants and animals appear in the different drawings?

Formative Assessment

Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.

  • Three points:  Students were highly engaged in class discussions; were able to demonstrate a clear understanding of the different habitats and give correct examples of  animals and at least 3 examples of sources of shelter, food and water unique to the habitats.
  • Two points:  Students participated in class discussions; were able to demonstrate a basic understanding of the different habitats and give correct examples of  animals and at least 2 examples of sources of shelter, food and water unique to the habitats.
  • One point:  Students participated minimally in class discussions; were unable to demonstrate a basic understanding of the different habitats and give correct examples of animals and at least 1 example of sources of shelter, food and water unique to the habitats.
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Related Materials & Resources

www.deafed.net/PublishedDocs/Habitats(1).ppt

Author

HRM

Date Published

August 14, 2014
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