Lesson Plan: Science K-2 Animal Habitats

ProQuest Standards-Based Learning Activity

Animal Habitats

Teacher Procedures

Appropriate For:Science, Grades K-2

Timeline: Two to three class periods

SCIENCE Standards Addressed Through This Lesson

National Standards | Life Sciences Level I (Grade K-2)

Standard 5

Knows that plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.

Standard 6

Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environments.
Knows that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that distinct environments support the life of different types of plants and animals.

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Learning Expectations/Objectives

Students will use ProQuest eLibrary Elementary of SIRS Discoverer to describe different animal habitats.
Students will make an animal habitat with the information they retrieve from ProQuest.

Materials

Computer with access to ProQuest and a printer
Printer paper
Pencils
Colored pencils or markers
Glue
Scissors
Roll of white butcher paper or other large paper
Construction paper
Old magazines
Toilet and paper towel rolls, egg cartons, Styrofoam, etc.

Activity Process: Directions to the Teacher

Description of Activity

Students will research a mammal, reptile, fish, insect or bird on SIRS Discoverer or eLibrary Elementaryto find out what kind of habitat it lives in. Based on their research, students will work in small groups to make a habitat using a variety of collage materials.

Background Information/Scenario

Children remember and learn more when they are actively engaged. The act of “doing” or “making” is powerful in getting kids not just to learn about something and retain what they learned, but more importantly to develop an excitement and intrigue for learning. In this activity, students create a habitat using a variety of materials as a way to learn about animals and their habitats.

It would be helpful to collect some books about habitats to make accessible to the students. Have these available as additional resources for this activity.

It would also be helpful for teachers to ask parents for some of the “junk” items listed in the material section.

** This lesson can be a continuation of the Language Arts lesson, “Making Stories” and the Social Studies lesson, “Where Do Animals Come From?” or it can be done independently. If the teacher has used “Making Stories ” and/or “Where Do Animals Come From?” they can use the same animals that each child chose to write their stories and proceed to the procedures for DAY TWO. Otherwise follow the procedures below to find an animal starting on DAY ONE.

Outline of Procedures – Day One

1. Students will gather pictures of animals by doing a search on a ProQuest digital learning resource. Assign a different animal for each child from the list below:

Giraffe

African Lion

Hippopotamus

Zebra

Crocodile

Kangaroo

Platypus

Koala

Wombat

Opossum

Bald Eagle

Grizzly Bear

Alligator

Fox

Swordfish

Iguana

Panda

Polar Bear

Walrus

Whale

2. Children will view pictures and decide which animal they want to study. Children will print out their animal and write their names on the back of the pictures.

Outline of Procedures – Day Two

3. Students will go to the URLs of their animal when logged into ProQuesteLibrary Elementary or SIRS Discovererand find any information about the habitats of the animals. Use the URL links in DAY ONE. To obtain more information, teachers and students can do a search on ProQuest Library Elementary or browse through the topic tree under the Topics tab to secure useful information.

4. After reading the information about habitats and taking notes, divide students into small groups according to which habitat their particular animal lives in. Each group will create one habitat, based on the information they learned from their research.

Outline of Procedures – Day Three

5. The teacher will put out all the materials for the habitats in a place that is easily accessible to students. The teacher rolls out a long piece of butcher paper (3 - 6 feet long, depending on space in the classroom) and places it on a group of desks or table for EACH group.

6. The teacher reconfirms with each group what can be found in their particular habitat. The information they gathered and the books collected by teacher are all out so children can refer to them.

7. The students start making their habitat using the collage of materials. They do the “background” first. For example, they might use torn pieces of blue construction paper for water in wetlands, paper towel rolls for a trunk of a tree in the forest and markers for making brown small dots for sand in desert. They keep making and creating until the paper is covered. Then, using the pictures of the animals they retrieved from ProQuest, they will cut the animals out and put them within their habitat collages.

Conclusion/Finished Work

The teacher hangs the habitats up after they have finished drying. Each group chooses words to describe their habitat. They write them down on small rectangle sized paper and hang them around their habitat.

Assessment
Students will be assessed based on these criteria:

In what ways was the student involved with the activity?
Were they a constructive member of their groups?
Did they make the habitat according to the characteristics of a habitat that they learned from the information found?

Optional Extended Enrichment Activities

Have children create “live” habitats. Have them make terrariums and/or aquariums of their own. Or, to save time, space, and material, let them collaborate to make just one for the classroom.