Animal Habitats

Animal Habitats

Animal Habitats

Level: 1st Grade
Time Frame: Approximately 1 Quarter
Description: Students learn that animals must gather food, avoid predators, and withstand environmental conditions to survive. They also observe how body coverings, body parts, and behavior help play a part in the survival of animals.

Overview
Activity List
Learning Objectives
Standards
Resources

Unit Overview

All students, especially those who live in circumstances that limit their interaction with nature, must have the opportunity to observe a variety of animals and plants in the classrooms, on the school grounds, in the neighborhood, at home, in parks, etc. In these settings, students should be encouraged to ask questions about organisms—questions for which they can find answers by looking carefully at organisms (using hand lenses when needed), and by checking their observations and answers with one another. Students should investigate the habitats of many different kinds of local plants and animals, including weeds, aquatic plants, insects, amphibians, and some of the ways in which animals depend on plants and on each other. (Benchmarks for Science Literacy)

Students in early elementary school can learn basic concepts related to animal needs for life, animal habitats, animals life cycles, and animal parts and functions. Most children enter kindergarten interested in living things and already able to distinguish among the common animals. The teacher’s task is to move students toward closer observations and more sophisticated understandings of the features of animals that connect or differentiate them.

As much as possible, concepts related to animals should be learned through observation of real animals, as noted above. This unit should be taught in the fall or spring when students can observe outdoors. The students will study insects in a second grade unit devoted solely to insects, so this particular class of organisms is de-emphasized in this unit.

This unit also introduces students to animals around the world. However, this part of the unit should not be used as a substitute for studying real animals locally and in the classroom, as the latter is considered far more important and appropriate for students at this grade level.

Activity List

Everyone Needs a Home (Habitat)
Different Habitats for Different Kinds of Animals
Animal Habitats in Our Classroom
Animals and Their Habitats Around the School
Animals and Their Habitats in the Local Area
Animal Parts and Adaptations
Animal Habitats Around the World
Student Investigations (Questions about Animals)

Learning Objectives

Students will observe and know and observe that:

Animals (and humans) have basic needs for air, water, food, shelter, and space.
Habitat is a word that is used when we talk about these needs.
Animals have a variety of characteristics; some are alike in what they look like, what they do, what they eat, and where they live; and others are very different from one another.
Scientists divide animals into groups, depending upon how they are alike and different.
Six common groups of animals are birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and insects.
Within each animal group, there are some similarities in habitat.
The different parts of an animal have different purposes or functions.
Animals live in, and are adapted to, various habitats.
Animals have parts or features that help them survive in different habitats.
Animals interact with human beings and with each other in various ways.

Students will practice*:

Describing observed events
Developing questions on scientific topics
Collecting data for investigations
Recording data
Arranging data into logical patterns and describing patterns
Comparing observations of individual and group results

*Students will practice one or more of these in all activities; to avoid repetition, however, these objectives are not listed in the activities

Standards

Illinois State Standards - Early Elementary

Students will observe and know that:

12A. Know and apply concepts that explain how living things function, adapt, and change

Identify and describe the component parts of living things and their major functions.
Categorize living organisms using a variety of observable features.

12B. Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment

Describe and compare characteristics of living things in relationship to their environments.
Describe how living things depend on one another for survival.

11A. Know and apply the concepts, principles, and processes of scientific inquiry

Describe an observed event.
Develop questions on scientific topics.
Collect and record data for investigations.
Arrange data into logical patterns and describe the patterns.
Compare observations of individual and group results.

Benchmarks for Science Literacy

By the end of 2nd grade, students should know that:

Some animals and plants are alike in the way they look and the things they do, and others are very different from each other.
Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.
Animals eat plants or other animals for food and may also use plants for shelter and nesting.
Living things are found almost everywhere in the world. There are somewhat different kinds in different places.

National Science Education Standards: Fundamental Concepts and Principles

As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop an understanding of fundamental concepts and principles:

Organisms have basic needs, for example, animals need air, water, and food. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met
Each animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
Animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different animals.
Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.
All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changed are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.

Resources

Internet Links

United Streaming Videos

Teachers may find correlating blackline masters at www.unitedstreaming.com. Accounts are free. If you need help setting up your account, your school librarian can assist you.

Habitats: Homes for Living Things (15:00)

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