Teacher Work Sample: Literacy Applications
2. PowerPoint/Prezi/Smartboard Presentation (10 Points)
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=8f0334fc-4fbc-4114-92ce-42ec7f75d86a
“Habitats, Shelters, and Resources” by T. Levy
Summary
This is an interactive Smartboard lesson that was created and posted by Tracy Levy for
second grade science, and it fits well into my Living Systems unit. I am going to use this for my
lesson on day four to introduce my students to the different types of habitats and to assist my
students in distinguishing habitats from shelters and other resources found in a habitat. The
types of habitats introduced are arctic, woodlands/forest, desert, rainforest, grasslands,
swamp/pond/stream or freshwater, and ocean. While this part of the Smartboard lesson will
introduce the new concept of types of habitats into the unit, other parts of this activity will serve
as a review for the basic components needed in a habitat and the interdependent relationship a
living organism has with the other living and nonliving things in its habitat for survival.
I will begin the lesson with slide three where three questions are posed regarding a
habitat, shelter, and resources. On slide four, I will ask my students to brainstorm in small
groups and draw pictures of a habitat, a shelter, and resources since we have already discussed
these in the two prior lessons. Slide five shows pictures of different habitats (forest, water, and
desert) and informs the students that a habitat is the home of living things. At this point, I will
review with my students what we have learned so far about habitats and living and nonliving
things. Questions will include what are the characteristics of living things that we learned in
lesson one and what basic components did we learn we needed in both our habitat and animal
habitats for survival in lessons two and three. Other questions may entail classifying the four
basic components in a habitat as living and nonliving. I will be looking to see if they remember
that some shelters are living such as coral while others are not such as caves.
Slide six will introduce the new material for this lesson. On this slide, I will ask my
students to tell me what different types of habitats exist. I will ask them why they think there are
different types of habitats. On slide seven, the six types of habitats that we will go over are
listed, and we will begin to discuss and add them to a graphic organizer. As we talk about each
one, we will write the name of the habitat in the box that matches the description on the graphic
organizer so that the students can use their graphic organizer for reference later.
We will start with the arctic. I will ask what this habitat is like, and then after the
students respond, I will tell them that it is a rugged wilderness with icy lands and seas. We will
then write Arctic in the correct block on the organizer. I will ask if anyone can name an animal
that we might find there. I will share that polar bears and penguins are two animals that live in
the Arctic. I will ask why this is the best habitat for penguins, and we will discuss how different
habitats are best suited for certain animals and why. I will continue this line of discussion with
each additional habitat until we have completed the graphic organizer. I will also ask specific
questions to help my students distinguish between a woodland forest and a rainforest as well as
between a fresh-water and salt-water habitat. I will ask questions like how is a rainforest and
woodland forest different. Once they have had a chance to answer, I will tell them that a
rainforest is tropical and warm while a woodland forest experiences the four seasons and that
each habitat has different plants and animals that are suited for each type of habitat. I will also
inquire as to the difference in the two types of water habitats. We will talk about salt-water
habitats being oceans and fresh-water habitats being ponds, rivers, and streams.
Once the students have a basic understanding of the different types of habitats, we will
engage in a whole-class activity that will span slides eight through eleven and thirteen through
fifteen. On these slides, students will be called upon to individually participate in the activity.
On these slides, students will drag images of animals to the habitat. The animals that belong in
the habitat will stay in the habitat while those that should not be in the habitat will disappear. On
slide twelve, students will sort a variety of animals into the first three habitats that they learned
about, and on slide sixteen the students will stop the animals from spinning and then select the
correct habitat from three possible habitats for the animal. Slide seventeen will once again allow
students to brainstorm why plants and animals have different habitats. Once the students have
given their answers, tabs on the side of the page will be pulled to reveal the answers to the
brainstorming activity.
Partner work will be performed with slide eighteen as I will ask students to decide what a
shelter is. Although my students have already been introduced to the concept of a shelter in the
two prior lessons, this will serve as a review and provide clarification for those who may still be
confusing a habitat and a shelter. As such, questions during this section will emphasize the
differences in a habitat and a shelter. Slide nineteen will show different pictures of different
shelters, and we will discuss each. Slide twenty will be skipped. Slide twenty-one will ask
students to think about how living things use their habitat to survive while slide twenty-two will
show that animals use the resources in their habitat to survive including an example of a frog
drinking water and eating cattails. At this point, I will ask students for other examples of living
things using the resources in their habitat for survival. Slide twenty-three will show pictures of
the resources that animals use in their habitats for survival. Slide twenty-four will be skipped as
an alternate assignment will be given. Slide twenty-five will conclude the activity with a picture
showing the interdependent relationship between plants and animals. At this point, I will again
ask students for examples of how plants and animals depend on each other in a habitat for
survival. The students in my class are predominately visual, kinesthetic, and interpersonal
learners so this activity will really appeal to them as they engage in learning new material and
reviewing previously learned material.
References
Levy, T. (2010). Habitats, Shelters, and Resources [Smartboard Activity]. Retrieved from
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=8f0334fc-4fbc-4114-92ce-42ec7f75d86a