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South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Happy in My Habitat (Grade 4)

Master Teacher

Jennifer Jeffers Davis

Time Allotment

Four or five 45-minute class periods

Overview

Students will design and create an exhibit for an animal in a zoo. They will work in pairs to research an environment in which an animal lives, trying to make the exhibit as "close to home" as possible. Students will present their exhibit to the class for a grade and have a "biome fair" to teach others what they have learned.

Subject Matter

Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• identify the basic needs of animals
• identify the characteristics of different
• environments create a suitable habitat for an animal

South Carolina Standards

Visit the South Carolina Department of Education for the South Carolina Science Standards.

Science—Grade 4

II. Life Science

A. Characteristics of Organisms

1.Organisms have basic needs and can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different environments, and dis tinct environments support the differ ent types of organisms.

a. Identify the characteristics of different environments, such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, deserts, and in polar, temperate and tropical regions.

Media components

Video

Natureworks, Lesson 5: Habitat

Web Sites

Nearartica links to many sites with information about various biomes.

Tour of Biomes presents information on rainforest, savanna, deciduous forest, desert, taiga, and tundra.

What's It Like Where You Live? presents information on rainforest, tundra, taiga, desert, temperate forest, and grassland.

The World's Biomes presents information on aquatic environments, deserts, forests, grassland, and tundra.

The Biomes of the World presents general information on several terrestrial and aquatic biomes.

Biomes of the World shows a map with a key indicating various biomes throughout the world. Also gives information on each biome.

Equipment

• television and VCR
• Aver-Key
• computers with Internet access
• printer and paper

Materials

For the class:

• globe
• chalkboard or butcher paper
• Activity Sheet 1
• Activity Sheet 2
• Activity Sheet 2b

For research:

encyclopedias and/or science research books

For animal exhibits:

• one cardboard box for each pair of students (larger than a shoe box)
• various materials for making exhibits:
• construction paper
• tissue paper
• various outdoor materials (sticks, sand, grass, rocks, etc.)
• crayons
• markers
• chalk
• paint
• brushes
• colored pencils
• modeling clay
• tape
• glue
• scissors
• polyester filling (snow)

Prep for Teachers

• Prior to teaching, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson.
• Load any plug-ins necessary to run the Web sites.
• Cue the videotape to the appropriate starting point.
• Have reference materials and materials for building exhibits where students can access them easily.

Introductory Activity: Setting the Stage

Step 1

Begin lesson by asking students the temperature they like best. Ask them why they prefer this temperature. Then discuss what type of temperature a polar bear likes best. Ask why the bear prefers this temperature. Explain that we enjoy the temperature where we are because that is the temperature in which we are used to being.

Step 2

Read aloud the definition of environment: "the circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded." Ask the students if temperature is part of their environment. (yes)

Focus for Media Interaction: Ask students to raise their hands when they recognize other objects and conditions that make up the environment. START the tape at the beginning and PLAY the tape until the narrator says, "right up there with food and shelter." PAUSE the tape here. Ask the students for other objects in an animal's environment. (food, water, and shelter)

Step 3

Focus for Media Interaction: Ask students to raise their hands when they know what happens when an animal's needs are not met. PLAY the tape until the narrator says, "...or it will die." PAUSE the tape here. Discuss the needs that an animal may require in its habitat in order to survive.

Learning Activities

Step 1

Ask students, "When animals are in a zoo, is the environment exactly like the one from which they came? If you were a wild animal, what would it be like where you lived?" Have the students suggest animals. Write the animal names on the left side of the chalkboard or butcher paper, and discuss the area of the earth in which they may live. On the chalkboard, group the animals that live in similar environments together.

Step 2

Next discuss the different areas of the earth and what the environment is like in the polar, temperate, and tropical regions. (Closer to the equator is warmer, and closer to the poles is cooler.) Show students the globe and point out these regions.

Step 3

Ask, "Why do Polar bears live closer to the North Pole than a white tailed deer? Why does a cactus reside in the desert while a mangrove tree lives in the rain forest?" Discuss that animals and plants live in the environment that best meets their needs. Explain that scientists have classified the similar regions of the earth and we call them biomes. The biomes are similar in temperature and rainfall. Because the temperature and rainfall are similar, there are similar animals and plants in the area. Explain that we need to know characteristics of the different environments so we have a better understanding of the many creatures that reside on the earth.

Step 4

Write the biomes that you would like students to research on the right side of board or butcher paper. Here are some ideas: tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rainforest, desert, grassland, savanna, bogs and wetlands, chaparral, aquatic/marine.

Draw lines from the animals suggested earlier to the biome where the students think the animal might live.

Ask: "What do you think the environment is like in a tropical forest? A temperate forest? A wetland? The grasslands? The desert? The polar regions?"

Step 5

Focus for Media Interaction: Ask students to look for the things a zoo may need to provide for the animals living there. FAST FORWARD the video to the part where the girl is walking into a building with a sign that says "celebrate birds" above the door. PLAY the video until the man says, "...a good example of that is the common loon." STOP the video here. Discuss what zoos need to provide for their animals.

Culminating Activities/Assessment

Step 1

Hand out the Zoo Exhibit Rubric (Activity Sheet 2) and explain that the students will be designing a zoo exhibit to make an animal feel "at home." They will design the terrain and can control the temperature and rainfall in their exhibit. Discuss how they can show temperature and rainfall in their exhibit (using a fake thermometer and rain gauge, possibly). Discuss the type of plant vegetation usually found in an area or certain terrain and how the land is shaped (mountains, flat land). Students will also need to choose an animal that lives in the environment for which they will be designing the exhibit.

Step 2

Put the students into groups (2-3 in a group) and allow them to choose the environment that they would like to research. Make sure each environment is represented. Hand out the "environmental research" sheet (Activity Sheet 1) and explain. They will use the Internet, encyclopedias, and science resource books to research the environment they chose.

Step 3

Student groups will create an exhibit in a cardboard box for an animal in the zoo using various materials. They will need to include evidence of vegetation, temperature, rainfall, terrain, elevation, and an animal that lives in the environment in their exhibits. Students will also choose one additional criteria for the exhibit on which they would like to be graded. (i.e., presentation, creative use of materials, appearance of exhibit, etc.) Each group and the teacher will use the Zoo Exhibit Rubric (Activity Sheet 2) for assessing the exhibits. Give students the list of the Web sites found under Media Components.

Day Two (and three if necessary):

More Research and Building Exhibits

Step 1

If more time is needed to do research, allow students to use the Internet, encyclopedias and science resource books.

Step 2

Have the exhibit materials in a place where students can have access to them. Give each group a box. Tell them to cut off the top and one of the sides. This is where they will design their exhibits. Review the assignment with the students if necessary and allow them to work in their groups to design their exhibit.

Some students may want to print photos of plants and animals off the Internet to put into their exhibit.

Day Three (or four): Presentations and Assessment

Students will present their projects to the class. They can use their research information sheets to describe the biome they are presenting.

Day Four (or five): Biome Fair
Invite other classes to come to your room for a biome fair. Have students set up exhibits at their desks. Students will tell the other classes what they have learned about the environment they researched. Make sure the other class rotates to all exhibits by setting a timer and rotating every two to three minutes.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Math: Calculate the area of the biomes researched.

Calculate the percent of the earth each biome fills.

Create graphs and charts showing the amount of space each biome fills on earth.

Reading: Select and read non-fiction books on the animals researched.

Writing: Write a story from the animal's point of view about the first time it was released into the new exhibit.

Social Studies: Investigate the cultures of the areas in which the animals researched live.

Geography: Draw and label a map of the region in which the animal lives. Identify and label major cities, rivers, and bodies of water in the region.

Community Connections

Invite a zoologist to your class to explain the process of designing and building an animal exhibit.

Visit a zoo and decide if each animal is in an exhibit that closely resembles its native habitat.

Activity Sheets (PDF)

• Activity Sheet 1
• Activity Sheet 2