Hidden Habitats

Key Topics: Habitat, Species, Endangered, Extinct

Grade Levels: K-2nd

Science Framework   Spanish Lesson Plan   Lesson Inspiration

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.

NGSS Performance Expectations by Grade Level

Standards below were reviewed and updated (July 2026) against the current Next Generation Science Standards.

• Kindergarten | K-ESS3-1: Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants or animals and the places they live.

In this lesson: Students match the plants and animals they find to the schoolyard habitats that meet their needs for food, water, and shelter.

• 1st Grade | 1-LS1-1: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to survive, grow, and meet their needs.

In this lesson: Students notice the external parts animals use in their habitat and design bug shelters or feeders inspired by them.

• 2nd Grade | 2-LS4-1: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

In this lesson: On the garden safari, students compare the life they find in each microhabitat they examine.

Essential Questions

Each question pairs a Crosscutting Concept (CCC) with a Science & Engineering Practice (SEP).

• What patterns appear across the habitats we survey, and how do they help us explain what a habitat is?
• How do habitats change at different scales — can we find whole habitats at a very small (micro) scale?
• How can we use what we learn about habitats to support local endangered species?

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:

• Coloring materials for each student

• Habitat Survey Sheet (12 boxes)(one for each student) or Habitat Survey Sheet (9 boxes) (one for each student) Habitat Survey Sheet (4 boxes)
• Clipboard for each student
• All About Cycles Series Garden Journals (optional)

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

1. Review your Garden Agreements
2. 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!)
3. Hand out the Habitat Survey Sheet and explain what students will be doing with the sheet (drawing habitats)
4. 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.
5. 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.