Create an animal habitat
by Jennifer Stattelman and Julie Miicke
Grade level: 3
Integrated subject areas
Science, reading, language arts, fine arts, and geography.
Skills
Oral and written communication, observation, visualization, imagination, brainstorming, critical thinking, fine-motor, drawing, sculpture, and inter-personal skills.
Overview
Students will engage in an in-class activity to prepare for their field trip to the natural history museum. Students will make observations and drawings of the animal habitats and dioramas in the museum displays during the trip. Upon returning to the classroom, the students will construct a three dimensional habitat, and a likeness of their subject animal to inhabit it, and present it to the class.
Rationale
It is essential that children come to understand that a healthy environment is essential for a healthy life. This group of activities will help students examine what they already know about habitat and increase their understanding of the essential components of habitat for all life. Students must be made aware of the interconnectedness of all life, both flora and fauna so that they can begin to understand the role people play as both a threat to, and a steward of, the environment.
Objectives
Students will be able to define the
term habitat.
Students will brainstorm to determine
the essential components of all habitats and how those components
meet the essential needs of the animals of each unique habitat.
Students will develop observation,
critical thinking, and information gathering skills while
examining the museum displays and filling out the museum
worksheet.
Students will draw the animal whose
habitat they wish to design.
Students will design and construct a
three-dimensional model of an appropriate habitat for a species
they have chosen.
Students will develop their writing
skills by writing a description of the habitat they have designed
and the animal that inhabits it.
Students will improve their oral
communication skills by presenting their diorama to their own
class and to a class of visiting first graders.
Pre-activity: Story-bag activity involving brainstorming about habitats
This activity will encourage the students to examine what they already know about habitat and help them begin to generalize about the components of habitat necessary for all forms of life. This will help prepare them for our field trip activities in the museum.
Materials
 | Chalkboard or whiteboard |
| Story-bag filled with small plastic animals (include mammals, reptiles, dinosaurs, and birds). |
Anticipatory set
The teacher will ask the class if they can describe what habitat is. (The teacher should make sure that habitat is properly defined by the end of the brainstorming session or supply a synthesized definition for the class at the conclusion of the anticipatory set). As a group, have the class list the things that they need to survive. If they at first provide a very long list of "necessities", ask them to pare down their list until they think that all the items are essential to their survival.
(An activity similar to this one is described in Project Wild p.30, as The Beautiful Basics)
Activity
Procedure
Closure
As a group, the class should determine what aspects of habitat are essential for all the animals that they discussed. The students should decide if the needs of the animals are the same as the needs that the students identified for themselves during the anticipatory set. The teacher tells the children that tomorrow, at the museum, they will need to look very closely at the animals to observe the important parts of their habitats.
Considerations
The teacher will need to keep things moving at a pretty good pace so that the students do not become distracted while other children are describing their animals. The teacher will need to be alert for children, who are unfamiliar with the animal that they have selected, so that they don’t lose face or appear uninformed in front of their peers. The teacher also needs to be aware of misinformation that students may provide for the class. The teacher needs to make sure that this information is not perpetuated. This lesson should take about 60 -70 minutes in all (10-15 minutes for the anticipatory set, 35 –45 minutes for the story bag activity depending of class size, and 10 minutes for the closure activity). Students will be in their desks or pods for the anticipatory set and in the story circle for the remainder of the lesson.
Assessment/ evaluation
The teacher will assess the students based on observation of their participation in the discussion and brainstorming session, and whether they listened attentively to the other students when they were speaking.
Possible variations
If the class is able to, without getting too wild, it might be useful for the children to act out the animals that they drew from the bag. They could draw the animals and then perform until the class guessed what they were. Then the class could brainstorm about the habitat of the animal. This would take longer, be louder, and potentially more disruptive but would also generate more excitement and interaction within the class.
Another possible anticipatory set would be reading The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, out loud to the class. This book would help the students identify important components of habitat and also introduce the concept of conservation.
Monday, March 1, 1999 Dear parents/ legal guardians, Mrs. Taxonomy’s second grade class will be visiting the Museum of Natural History on the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point Campus on Tuesday, March 23. This trip is to help students understand the important components of habitat in animal survival. The students will travel to the museum by bus, leaving school immediately after lunch (11:30) and returning in plenty of time to catch the buses home at 3:45. There is no cost for the field trip. Please sign and return the permission slip by Wednesday, March 1. If you have any questions about the trip, the schedule, or any other aspect of the field trip please feel free to give me a call at school during the lunch hour, or leave a message and I will get back to you. Thank you, Mrs. Taxonomy P. S. We will send out field trip reminders one week before the field trip. ____________________________ My child, a student in Mrs. Taxonomy’s second grade class, has my permission to take part in the class field trip to the Museum of Natural History on the UWSP campus, on March 23, 1999. _____________________________ ______________ Parent/ guardian’s name and date If you are interested in acting as a chaperone for this field trip, or field trips in the future, please indicate it below. ____ I would like to be a chaperone for this field trip. ____ I would like to be a chaperone for future field trips. |
On-site activity
Materials
Museum worksheet, pencils, crayons, tub to carry crayons and pencils.
Anticipatory set
| Before leaving the school or on the bus ride to the museum (if you’re really brave): Read the book, Are Those Animals Real, by Judy Cutchins and Ginny Johnston. Explain to the children that the museum contains displays and that the animals are not alive, but are mounts. The museum curator has created habitats to give us more information about the animals. |
| At the museum: Meet in the auditorium. Encourage the children to look around the room. Ask them what they see. Using the shark as an example, ask the children leading questions such as these: What do you know about sharks? Where does a shark live? If you were a museum curator, what would you put into a display to give observers clues about a shark’s life? Tell the children that they are going to have the opportunity to be museum curators today. Encourage them to look closely at complete displays. Go over the questions on the museum worksheet with the children, and ask them if they have any questions. As the children exit the auditorium, hand them a box of crayons, a pencil, and a museum worksheet. |
Procedure
The students will have 15 minutes to freely explore the museum. After the 15 minutes are up, the chaperones should encourage the students to begin their worksheets. The teacher and the chaperones will guide the children in their search for answers. After about 30 minutes, the teacher and the chaperones should check to see if the children have moved on to the drawing portion of the worksheet. If they have not, prompt them to do so. The teacher and the chaperones should be available for any questions, as well as to keep the children on task.
Closure
| At the museum: Meet back in the auditorium. The student should hand in their papers and return their crayons and pencils to the tub as they enter the auditorium. |
| At School: Have an open discussion about the children’s discoveries. |
Considerations
| Chaperones should have a copy of the museum worksheet as well as an answer key one week prior to the field trip. |
| Children who finish early may engage in the museum scavenger hunt. (The scavenger hunt may be available at the front desk; make and bring your own copies to be sure.) |
Assessment/evaluation
The answers on the children’s worksheets will provide a basis for the teacher to formally assess the student’s understanding of the relationship between an animal and it’s habitat. The worksheets will receive a check plus, check, or check minus based on completeness. The open discussion back at school will provide an informal assessment of the student’s ability to verbalize their findings.
Timeline
| Bus ride: 20 minutes |
| Unload, Coat storage, Bathroom Break: 15 minutes |
| Introduction: 15 minutes |
| Free Exploration: 15 minutes |
| Worksheet Work: 30 minutes |
| Drawing Portion of Worksheet: 45 minutes |
| Conclusion: 10 minutes |
| Bathroom Break, Coats, and Loading: 15 minutes |
| Bus ride: 20 minutes |
| Trip Time: 2:45 |
Museum Worksheet Name:____________________ Search the museum displays for these animals:
Choose one of these animals and look closely at it’s habitat. (Be sure to read the museum display card!) Write the name of the animal you’ve chosen here. ___________________ What are some of the things that the museum curators put in the display that give you clues about your animal’s habitat?_________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Find these animals and choose your favorite one. Write your choice in the area labeled "Animal's name" on the page provided.
Draw the animal you’ve chosen on the page provided. After you have drawn your animal, use the clues on the information card to draw the animal’s habitat. Be sure to include something it eats and where it drinks. |
Post Activity – "Shoe box Habitats"
Materials
Computers with word processing program and printer, construction paper, shoe boxes (provided by teacher from local shoe store), air dry clay (various colors), yarn, pipe cleaners, rocks, markers, crayons, glue, rubber cement, paper clips, books about animals and their habitats, other misc. materials.
Anticipatory set
The teacher will hand back the museum worksheets. The class will work together to create a large "Thank You" card for the museum staff. Each class member will contribute a statement or a drawing about something s/he learned at the museum. Along with the card will be a letter to the museum curator. It will read:
| Dear Museum
Curator, We really liked your displays! While we were at the museum, our class came up with several suggestions for your displays. We have attached drawings of our ideas to help you out. Please feel free to use any of our plans. |
The children will have the option of photocopying and sending their habitat drawings along with the letter.
Lead the children in a discussion about the things they learned about animals and their habitats. Tell the students that they will be creating an animal from clay and will construct a habitat for their animal in a shoe box, using available materials.
Procedure
| Day 1: The children will create an animal of their choice from air dry clay. Homework: Children will bring materials from home that could be used in addition to the provided materials. |
| Day 2: The teacher will provide a wide variety of reference materials about animals and their habitats. During language arts, the children will explore these materials to gather information about their clay animal. During science, the teacher will show a model of a shoe box diorama. The children will proceed to build their habitat shoe box dioramas based on the information they gathered. The teacher should assist the children in building their diorama if they are having difficulty. |
| Day 3: During language arts, the children will write a description of their animal including what it eats, drinks, and where it lives. They will word process their description during computer lab time. This will become the museum information card for their diorama. During science, the children will set up a classroom museum. The teacher will set up the tables along the perimeter of the room to provide space for the displays, and will assist the children in set up. Each child will stand by his/her display and will give a brief oral presentation to the class as practice for the closure activity. |
Closure
| Day 4: The teacher will invite the first grade classes to come and visit the class museum. The third graders will stand by their displays and answer any questions that the first graders might have. |
Considerations
| Be sure that your book selection includes animals from many different habitats. |
| Encourage the children to work independently on their dioramas. |
| Having the children bring materials from home will enrich the project. (Grass and other materials from nature are welcome.) |
Assessment
This project will be assessed informally through the oral presentations and the first graders reactions. The teacher should be sure that each habitat includes all essentials during the construction process.
Timeline
| Pre-Activity: Card – 45-60 minutes / Discussion – 5-10 minutes |
| Day 1: Clay animal-30-50 minutes |
| Day 2: Research-30 minutes / Diorama- 50 minutes |
| Day 3: Description-30 minutes / Word Processing-30 minutes / Set up- 50 minutes |
| Day 4: Tour- 20-30 minutes |
Extensions