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Mi Casa Es Su Casa - Habitats

Animals everywhere you turn…Animals on the couch, your front lawn, and on your TV

Ch-ch-changes - Extinct, Endangered, and Adapted

Why Is that Cow Wearing a Suit? Animals Go to Work

Can Your Hamster Paint? Animals in Art

Teacher Resources
*Includes Standards and Anchors*



	Mi Casa Es Su Casa - Habitats - Lesson Plan

Number of students: Students should be able to each have a computer. Two students per computer will work, but three becomes difficult. Grade: 3 - 6 Subject: Technology, Language Arts, Science, Geography Time: Total time is 120 minutes but lesson can be modified by excluding websites or craft. Materials: Computers with internet access Craft: Fish bowls Craft Materials: Fish bowls (CV0608 from www.thepetplace.com), fish tank gravel, 1oz Scribbles Paint (PT3298 from www.ssww.com), Mini Tropical Fish (SL6036 from www.ssww.com), fishing line Craft Instructions: Students can use the puffy paint to decorate the fish bowls. They can put gravel in the bottom and the plastic tropical fish in the tank. If they want to suspend the fish you can use fishing line. Book Give-away: Wildlife Habitats for Small Spaces in the City, Suburbs, and Countryside by Emily Stetson ISBN: 0824986652 Concept: Habitats, survival Content: Websites, class discussion Special Needs adaptations: Students can be paired to aide special needs Pennsylvania Content Area Standards and Assessment Anchors Objective: Students should be able to determine quality of the websites. Students should be able to compare and contrast habitats. Students should be able to describe what makes a good habitat for a particular animal. Students should be able to describe what can be inferred about a habitat by the animals that live there. Anticipatory Set: Ask students "What is a habitat?" Ask them to list 5 things that are included in their ideal habitat. You can talk about how our "habitats" include TV's, video games, etc. Begin with this link ( created in 2003) from National Geographic. Read the three paragraphs on that page, click on "Introduction" and read those as well. Then follow the "Habitats - The Basics" link on the right menu bar. On this page, the important sections are "Habitat Requirements," "Migration," "Managing Habitats," and "Threats to Habitats." Throughout these sections the instructor has the opportunity to see what prior knowledge students have about various animals and their habitats. Procedure: I think the best way to teach this lesson is by previewing different habitats and animals that live there using the following four links. Students can then look at specific ecosystems like the desert and everglades to see the vastness of any given ecosystem. Depending on the amount of time, the craft and games can be inserted to the lesson at any point. 1. Look at the first website together. Give students a chance to look through the next two websites on their own and share what they found. Then do the last site together.
Who lives where? Why? The following links offer descriptions of different habitats and the animals that live there. Where does each animal live and why?		Animal Homes where you never thought they'd be! More (Website in somewhat confusing to navigate but has a lot of information) animal homes in obvious and not so obvious places. Can you match these animals (Some animal information is limited and there is no date.) to their habitats?
2. Use these sites to talk about how habitats differ even within one place.
Deserts (Website has pop-up.) - How can so many things live on such a dry spot?		Check out the different kinds of habitats in the Everglades (No date, but great for looking at the different kinds of habitats within one ecosytem.) How deep is the ocean?
3. Closure
The Giant Squid - the more we discover the more we want to know.		Have students watch the introduction and listen to the woman describe the Giant Squid. Once it has finished click "Enter," then "Go" under "The Giant Quest." Click on "Examine" to watch a slideshow of a scientist who studies the Giant Squid. Talk with students about why they think the Giant Squid is so big? Why are they so hard to research? Scaffold them to think about the deep sea as a habitat and how that affects the Giant Squid.
Think about it... Talk with students about what kinds of habitats there are in your area. How do they interrelate to each other? What do the kinds of habitats say about the area that you live? (If some animals migrate does that mean it gets cold where you live?) Knowing that we can connect things we know about our area to the habitats of the animals in our area, can you make inferences about another area knowing the animals and habitats that are there? Students should respond with things like "If there is a lot of water in an area, the animals probably can swim."		Games The Habitat Game - Do you know which animals live in the desert? What animals live in nests? Tiger Shark Game - How long could you survive as a Tiger Shark? Build Your Own Caterpillar - Change features depending on where it lives. Unscramble the Animal Habitat Names (limited amount of information)