Hidden Habitats | Series 6, Lesson #3

Hidden Habitats
Key Topics: Habitat, Species, Endangered, Extinct
Grade Levels: K-2nd
Click here for Series #6 Description
Science Framework
Spanish Lesson Plan
Lesson Bridge
Connect this lesson (3) to Food Chain Frenzy (2) by reminding students how all species are connected as we pass around energy from the sun. Today we will explore how species also rely on habitat and how a healthy habitat maintains the food web. Close the Loop by discussing how watersheds are habitat to many animals and plants!
Lesson Overview:
We will learn about what makes a suitable habitat. What kinds of living beings are typically found in our schoolyard? Students will get to explore their gardens and think about the animals that live there.
Suggested Activities & Learning Objectives by Grade:
- K: Habitat Discussion and Schoolyard Safari
- K-LS1-1 What do plants and animals need to survive?
- K-ESS3-2 How do a plant’s or animal’s needs determine where it lives?
- 1: Habitat Discussion and Schoolyard Safari
- 1-LS1-1 How do plants and animals use their external parts to meet their needs, survive and grow?
- 1-LS3-1 How are young plants and animals like, but not exactly like their parents?
- 2: Habitat Discussion and Schoolyard Safari
- 2-LS4-1 Compare the life you find in each habitat you examine.
Essential Question(s) that Connect CCCs and SEPs:
- Ask students to identify any patterns that appear from the three lists. How can this pattern support your explanation of what a habitat is? (Patterns; Construct Explanations and Design Solutions)
- How do habitats change at different scales? Can I look at habitats on a smaller scale? (Scale; Asking Questions and Defining Problems)
- How can we use the patterns of habitats to promote the populations of local endangered species? (Patterns; Asking Questions and Defining Problems)
Vocabulary:
Habitat- A place where an animal lives that provides food, water, and shelter.
Species- A group of similar living things
Endangered - When a species is threatened to become extinct
Extinct- A species that no longer lives
Materials:
Prep:
- Identify places in the garden where students can find habitats for different kinds of animals and bugs.
- Make sure you have clipboards and crayons ready to go for each student (If you don’t have clipboards in your garden, ask the teacher ahead of time if students can come prepared with something hard to write on.)
- Print out one Habitat Survey Sheet for each student
Activity Procedure:
Engage
Who knows what a habitat is? Is our garden a habitat? For what sort of animals? In what ways do these animals benefit the garden?
Sentence Frame: ______ lives here and benefits the garden by _______.
Explore
Have students take a few minutes to wander through the garden, find a spot to sit, and observe what they see. When they return, ask them to think, pair, and share what they saw. Even within our garden, some microhabitats supply the unique needs of different animals. How does a worm's habitat differ from a bird's habitat? Microhabitats support a diversity of plant and animal populations! (Scale; Asking Questions and Defining Problems)
Explain:
Every living thing needs a home, not just a shelter but somewhere that provides food and water, too. Unfortunately, many animals are losing their habitats as humans take ownership of the land. For example, usually when an area is farmed, it no longer offers habitats to native animals. When animals lose a lot of their habitat they can even go extinct, which means that all of that type of animal dies, because they do not have enough food or shelter.
Think, Pair, Share: Can you think of an animal that has gone extinct or is going extinct?
We call an animal that is at risk of going extinct endangered. They are in danger of disappearing from the planet! Take this opportunity to talk about how the Monarch butterfly’s habitat is being altered or destroyed by climate change.
Thumbs up/down: Have you ever seen a Monarch butterfly?
You can also mention sea turtles, sea otters, or any other animal facing loss of habitat.
Action: Identifying different habitats in the garden
- Review your Garden Agreements
- Discuss how they will be going on a garden safari, looking for and exploring our garden's different microhabitats. (Different habitats can be as simple as a garden bed that gets more shade than other garden beds. Gardeners being mindful of this will plant things that like a cooler, shadier habitat!)
- Hand out the Habitat Survey Sheet and explain what students will be doing with the sheet (drawing habitats)
- Walk with students, and give a few examples of habitat. Example: The lavender plant offers at least two habitats. In the sun, we can often find bees looking for pollen in the lavender flowers. At the base of the plant, we can often find rollie-pollies and worms enjoying the shade and damp soil.
- Let students spend up to 15 minutes freely exploring. Walk around and help students to stay on task and continually give examples of habitats.
Reflect:
Ask students to think about other spaces on the school campus. Do they think the garden has more habitat for plants and animals than the playground? What about the lawns/fields?
What ways can we reduce habitat loss at our school?
Sentence Frame: The garden has _____ habitat for plants and animals than the playground because _______.
Extension Activities:
- Release ladybugs into the garden you can find these at local nurseries or order online.
- Build bug shelters in the garden.
- Help students learn more about the animals they found in the schoolyard. For example, they could research different animals found and create a class chart showing a picture of each animal and information about what it needs to survive. They might also go on a schoolyard safari at different times of the year to see whether they notice any changes.
- Ask students what kinds of animals they would like to have (or have more of) on their school grounds (birds, bees, butterflies, squirrels, rabbits). Have them do some research to find out what could be done to the schoolyard habitat to attract those animals. (Provide bird feeders or baths, shelters for mammals, or plants as food for wildlife.) They can find information in the library or on the internet, or get advice from experts such as the state wildlife agency.
- Play Living Dangerously, an active game where students discover how the availability of habitat resources affects populations of living things.
- Students write and draw enticing travel ads for a garden animal’s habitat. Follow this activity guide: Homing In.
Gardens Change Lives! Page of