Lesson Plan

By Jenna Cohen and Rachel Conklin

Unit Topic Or Theme:

Science

Grade:

5th Grade

Lesson Topic Or Theme:

Habitats

Lesson Objective:

The students will be able to understand that Earth has different habitats that support different animals.  They will be able to identify at least three different habitats.  They will be able to explain what a habitat is.  They will be able to work together as a group and communicate with one another.

Instructional Technique:

Instructional techniques that will be used are discovery, group work, and discussion.

Instructional Materials:

Websites:

http://switchzoo.com/games/habitatgame.htm
                http://www.skyenimals.com/browse_habitat.cgi

Matching Cards (have a set for each group):

Create A Biome Handout (one for each student):

Theoretical Perspective:

Learning about habitats is important for children because it is a great way to introduce them to their environment around them and make them aware that certain animals need certain conditions to live.  By understanding their environment they can form a better connection with it in order to begin to instill in them that we cannot abuse this home of ours and we have to care for it.  

Procedure:

Introductory Activity

Matching Activity:  Prepare by writing on the board the different habitats (grassland, desert, tropical forest, ocean) from the matching cards.  Split the class up as evenly as possible into four separate groups.  Pass out to each group a set of biome cards and a set of animal cards.  Ask the class if any of them know what a habitat is.  Once you have taken some answers to see what they already know, write on the board that, “A habitat is a place where an animal or plant naturally live”.  Make sure the students understand what naturally means, it is, “used to describe something that happens or exists by itself without being controlled or changed by someone”.  Instruct the groups to work together now, to put each of the animal cards they received to the habitat that they think the animal lives in.  Give them 5-10 minutes for them to complete it.  Once they are done, have each group write on the board underneath the habitats that you already wrote up there, which animal they put in that habitat.  Take a few minutes to look at what the class came up with and point out if there were any patterns of groups and discuss why they put the animals they did in each habitat.

Step-By-Step

1. Explain that in today’s class you will be exploring some of the different habitats that exist and the animals that live in them.

2. Emphasize to the students and write on the board, that there are multiple types of habitats that exist on Earth, each supporting different animals.  Sometimes though, an animal is able to live in more than one habitat.

3. Tell the students that during the lesson, you want them to all be thinking about why it is animals can live in certain habitats, but not others.

4. Pass out to each student “Animal Habitats” Handout.

5. Have students get laptops or go onto desktop computers.

6. Help them get to the website http://www.skyenimals.com/browse_habitat.cgi .  In google, have them search skyenimals.  Click on the first link, which will bring them to the website.

7. Instruct the students to take 10-15 exploring at least three of the habitats on the website and to fill out the handout to go along.

8. Tell the students that if there is anything that they do not understand on the website, to write it down on their worksheets in the “things that confused me” section.

9. Once they are done, have the children go around and share one of the habitats they explored and if there was anything they did not understand on the website.

10. Now, have them get to the website http://switchzoo.com/games/habitatgame.htm.

11. While they are getting to the website, pass out the “Create A Biome” handout.

12. Instruct them to take 10-15 minutes to play the game and fill out the handout.

13. Once they are done, ask them if any of the animals were hard to create a habitat for and why do they think that.

14. Pass out a large piece of paper and marker to each group.

15. Erase the definition of habitat you had written on the board and the key points you had written down..

16. Ask each group to create a poster about what they learned

17. Tell them they need to write what a habitat is, some types of habitats, and one important fact they learned about habitats.    Encourage them to draw some pictures on their poster

18. Take a few minutes to go around and have each group present what they wrote

Closure

Now that they have learned about what some of the different habitats are and the kinds of animals that live in it, have them look back at the board and what they had picked for the matching game they did before.  Would they change any of the answers they had before?  This time go over the correct animals for each habitat.  Ask the children if they have any guess from what they have learned as to why animals can only live in certain habitats.

Adaptations For Different Learners

Students with reading difficulties:  To help these students, pictures were added to the matching cards so that they can not only read the habitat or animal, but see a picture of what it looks like.  Provide them with an additional piece of paper and instruct them to write down any words they do not understand.  Make sure to check in with the student to see what words are making it difficult to understand the habitats.  Encourage the students to seek help from peers too if they are having a hard time.

ELL students:  Along with the other websites, help them get to http://lingro.com .  It is an online dictionary that translates any word into other languages.  That way, if they are on the other websites and comes across a word they do not understand, then they can use this online dictionary to see the translation in their language.

Homework

The homework is to go home and write down any animal that the student sees. It can be on TV or outside when they’re walking home from the bus stop, it doesn’t matter where they see it.  Write down what kind of habitat or environment they live in or what features you see in their environment, like if it’s raining, if it’s snowing, if they live underwater, whatever they see. The next day, as a class, they will talk about the different animals they saw and the different habitats they lived in.

Evaluation

The students will be able to understand that Earth has different habitats that support different animals.  This will be evaluated through class discussion and during their creation of their mini posters, they must write a key fact they learned.  This objective was emphasized during the lesson so they may chose to write this on their poster.

They will be able to identify at least three different habitats.  This will be evaluated through by the “Animal Habitats” handout and on their mini posters they are required to write three habitats they learned about.

They will be able to explain what a habitat is.  This will be evaluated by their mini poster, on which they must write a definition of a habitat.

They will be able to work together as a group and communicate with one another.  This will be evaluated through the matching game and the mini poster, in which they will be required to work with one another.