Habitats

Overview

In this 4-6 day investigation, students identify specific traits of a habitat. They start with a familiar local habitat and then focus on aquatic habitats. Children are guided through an initial field session, a follow-up exploration of water habitats, and discussions of aquatic habitats and the animals that live in them. They use an OWL chart to track initial thinking, useful questions, and new learning, and they use science notebooks to document thinking and discoveries as well as questions and specific comparisons and contrasts. A quick assessment check using a cut and glue animal will give teachers an idea of initial understandings of habitat.

Focus Questions

What lives where and why?

Engagement (10 minutes)

With the whole class, brainstorm different animal homes such as bird and squirrel nests, beehives, anthills, and barns. Chart the students’ responses. Lead students in a discussion of what evidence they might find to indicate that an animal lives in a particular area. Add these to the chart. Examine the chart and discuss with students why an animal may decide to make its home in a particular place. What does the animal need to survive? Is it able to get these things where it lives? What might make a place unsuitable as a home (e.g., too wet, too dry, too cold, too hot)? Encourage students’ use of the word shelter for aspects of an animal’s home that protects it from other animals or factors (e.g. drying out, getting too hot or cold) that would harm it and make it difficult to live comfortably. Introduce the word habitat. Lead students in developing a definition for the word habitat. An example of a good definition would be: A habitat is a place where animals can live and have all of their needs met.

Exploration (40 minutes)

Go on a nature walk to find evidence of animals in your locale. Students should bring their science notebooks and a pencil. Have students find evidence that an animal lives in a place, such as nests, anthills, spruce cone piles, droppings, tracks, or sounds. Students should record their findings by drawing a quick sketch in their science notebooks of an animal in or near its habitat.

Explanation (10 minutes)

Students return to the classroom and complete a Think, Pair, Share activity with their findings. Be sure students can explain the evidence they found to show why they think a particular animal lived in a place. Students should be encouraged to label their drawings. Then, as a whole group, generate a list of animals that were found on the walk and evidence that supports each finding. You may want to compare the original chart of possible animal evidence to the chart of evidence of animals found during the walk, and have students note the differences between the two.

Elaboration (15 minutes)

Lead the students to an understanding that an animal’s home is called its habitat. In their science notebooks, have students label their drawings of an animal’s home with the word habitat. Let students know that they will find out more about why an animal would choose a particular place for its home in later investigations.

Evaluation (40 minutes)

Use class discussion and students’ science notebooks to evaluate their understanding. A possible rubric to use for scoring follows:

Scoring Rubric: Were students able to show evidence of an animal in its home?
4 Student drew an animal in its appropriate habitat and labeled the drawing.
3 Student drew an animal in its appropriate habitat.
2 Student drew a shelter but did not match the appropriate animal to the habitat.
1 Some attempt made but animal and/or habitat were not shown.
0 No attempt.