Habitat
Sunshine State Standards
Science Focus Lesson
Grade 2
Prepared by:
Jennifer Przysinda
and
Emily Van Arkel
PINE JOG
ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION CENTER
College of Education
Florida Atlantic University
Sunshine State Standards
Science Focus Lesson
The attached five-day lesson focuses on the topic of Habitats. It is designed for 2nd
grade, but may be adapted for other levels as needed. The purpose of this lesson is to
provide teachers with a resource for instructing students on specific Benchmarks of
the Sunshine State Standards. This lesson covers science, language arts, and
mathematics benchmarks. It is a hands-on, activity based lesson plan geared towards
the active engagement of students.
Habitat: Overview
Day One — Perceptual Awareness
1) Administer Pre-test (10 min)
2) Hook Activity: Wildlife is Everywhere (30 min)
 Students search their surroundings for evidence of wildlife
3) Sing Habitat Song (2 min)
4) Prior Knowledge: Animal Homes worksheet (10 min)
 Students match animals to their home
Day Two — Knowledge
1) Explicit Instruction: What’s that, Habitat? (30 min)
 Students draw pictures of human and animal homes, comparing basic
needs
2) Homework: Gopher Tortoise Burrows worksheet (10 min)
 Students will develop their math and science skills while learning about
gopher tortoises and their habitats
Day Three — Knowledge
1) Lab Activity: Graphananimal (40 min)
 Students “visit” two different habitats by going on an indoor nature walk
where they tally the number of animals seen, and then graph and compare
the results
Day Four — Citizen Action Skills
1) Explicit Instruction: The Lorax (40 min)
 Students listen to the story “The Lorax”, and complete the worksheet
“Human Impact In My School Habitat”
Day Five — Citizen Action Experience
1) Guided Practice: What Can We Do? (30 min)

Students look critically at their impact on the school habitat and take
action to improve it
2) Sing Habitat Song (2 min)
3) Administer Post-test (10 min)
Sunshine State Standards
Science
STRAND F: PROCESSES OF LIFE
Standard 1: The student describes patterns of structure and function in living things.
SC.F.1.1.1 The student knows the basic needs of all living things.
1. The student understands that the amount of food , water, space, and
shelter need is dependent on the size and kind of living things.
Standard 2: The student understands the process and importance of genetic diversity.
S.C.F.2.1.2 The student knows that there are many different kinds of living things
that live in a variety of environments.
1. The student knows that plants and animals are adapted to different
ranges of temperature and moisture.
STRAND G: HOW LIVING THINGS INTERACT WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT
Standard 1: The student understands the competitive, interdependent, cyclic nature of
living things in the environment.
SC.G.1.1.3 The student knows that there are many different plants and animals
living in
many different kinds of environments. (e.g., hot, cold, wet, dry,
sunny, dark)
1. The student understands that living organisms need to be adapted to
their environment to survive.
Standard 2: The student understands the consequences of using limited natural
resources.
SC.G.2.1.1 The student knows that if living things do not get food, water, shelter
and
space, they will die.
1. The student knows selected resources used by people for water, food,
and shelter, are limited and necessary for their survival.
Mathematics
STRAND D: ALGEBRAIC THINGKING
Standard 2: The student uses expression, equations, inequalities, graphs, and formulas,
to represent and interpret situations.
MA.D.2.1.2 The student uses informal methods to solve real-world problems
requiring simple equations that contain one variable.
1. The student uses concrete objects, paper and pencil, or mental
mathematics to solve real-world equations with one unknown (e.g.,
There are 28 students in the room, and 10 brought their lunches. How
many are buying lunch?).
STRAND E: DATA ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY
Standard 1: The student understands the uses of data analysis for managing
information.
MA.E.1.1.1 The student displays solutions to problems by generating, collecting,
organizing, and analyzing data using simple graphs and charts.
1. The student poses questions and collects data to answer with two,
three, or more categories or choices (e.g., favorite ice cream, left
handed/right handed.)
2. The student records data using pictures, concrete materials, or tally
marks.
3. The student organizes survey information into a simple pictograph,
concrete graph, or chart.
4. The student uses mathematical language to read and interpret data on
a simple concrete graph, pictorial graph, or chart.
Language Arts
STRAND C: LISTENING, VIEWING, AND SPEAKING
Standard 1: The student uses listening strategies effectively.
LA.C.1.1.4 The student retells specific detail of information heard, including
sequence of events.
1. The student listens for specific details and information (including but
not limited to logical sequence and flow of events, story elements,
concluding events).
Day One — Perceptual Awareness
Administer Pre-test (10 min)
Hook Activity: Wildlife is Everywhere! (30 min)
Objectives
Students will 1) compare human and wildlife habitat, and 2) generalize that wildlife is
present around the world.
Materials
None
Background
Many people think of wildlife as the large animals of Africa, such as the lion and
elephant, or the large animals of the North American forests, such as the grizzly bear
and elk. However, wildlife includes all animals that have not been domesticated by
people. What may be surprising is that wildlife includes the smallest animal organisms—
even those that can be seen only through a microscope. Spiders, insects, reptiles,
amphibians, and most species of fish, birds, and mammals may be considered wildlife.
Even when animals are silent or not visible, they exist somewhere around us.
Thousands of organisms live in and on human skin, hair, and bodies. In fact, the
organisms that inhabit human bodies play a part in human survival. Some form of
animal life is always near.
By investigating microenvironments or micro-habitats, students will be able to
generalize that wildlife exists in every country on the planet.
Procedure
NOTE: Ask students to observe, but not touch or disturb, any animals they may see.
1) Invite the students to explore the room looking for signs of wildlife. Even in the
cleanest rooms, some signs of life can be found. It might be a spider web, dead
insects near lights, or insect holes along baseboards and behind books. After the
search and a discussion with the students about what they might have found,
introduce the idea that people and other animals share the same environment.
Sometimes people do not even notice that they are sharing the environment with
other living things.
2) Take the search for animals outside. Divide the students into pairs, and give
each pair five minutes to find an animal or some sign that an animal has been
there. Look for indirect evidence such as tracks, webs, droppings, feathers, and
nests (be sure not to harm or seriously disturb any evidence that is found).
Afterward, sit down and discuss what everyone found.
3) Discuss with the students what they have learned. Emphasize that the
experience shows that people and wildlife share the same environment. Ask the
students to predict where different kinds of animals are found all over the Earth—
in the deserts, oceans, mountains, and cities. They may draw from their own
experiences and talk about places they have been and animals they have seen.
Sing Habitat Song (2 min)
Prior Knowledge: Animal Homes worksheet (10 min)
Name: ____________________
Pre/Post-Test
1. Wildlife includes:
a) spiders
b) insects
c) grey fox
d) all of the above
2. There are animals around you even if you can’t hear or see them.
TRUE
FALSE
3. Every animal and human needs:
a) food
b) shelter
c) water
d) all of the above
4. The scientific term for an animal’s home is:
a) crib
b) den
c) habitat
d) apartment
5. The manatee and panther became ______________ because of human impacts.
a) extinct
b) rare
c) endangered
d) safe
6. Dirty air and litter are both forms of ______________.
a) pollution b) organisms c) erosion
d) pesticides
7. Gopher Tortoises are the only animals that live in their burrows.
TRUE
FALSE
8. Dragonflies live in:
a) the forest habitat b) the pond habitat c) neither habitat
d) both habitats
9. Name two habitats:
1) ________________________________
2) ________________________________
10. Describe a good human impact:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
______
Pre/Post Test Key
1) d
2) TRUE
3) d
4) c
5) c
6) a
7) TRUE
8) d
9) Answers will vary (Forest, Pond, Desert)
10) Answers will vary (picking up litter, saving water, planting trees)
HABITAT
By Bill Oliver
(To the tune of Lollypop Lollypop)
ChorusHabitat, habitat, have to have a habitat
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat
Habitat, habitat, have to have a habitat
Have to have a habitat to carry on
An ocean is a habitat, a very special habitat
It’s where the deepest water’s at
It’s where the biggest mammal’s at
It’s where our future food is at
It keeps the atmosphere intact
An ocean is a habitat we depend on
Chorus
A forest is a habitat, a very special habitat
It’s where the tallest trees are at
It’s where a bear can scratch a back
It keeps the ground from rolling back
Renews the oxygen in fact
A forest is a habitat we depend on
Chorus
A river is a habitat, a very special habitat
It’s where the freshest water’s at for people, fish, and muskrat
When the people dump their trash
A river takes the biggest rap
A river is a habitat we depend on
People are different from foxes and rabbits
Affect the whole world with their good or bad habits
Better love it while we still have it
Or rat-a-tat-tat our habitat’s gone
Chorus 2 times
Cause when you lose your habitat, you’re gone. Bye!
Name: ____________________
Animal Homes
Directions: Draw a line to match the animal to it’s home
Squirrel
Dragonfly
Forest
Turtle
Frog
Pond
Gopher Tortoise
Animal Homes Answer Key
Squirrel: Forest
Dragonfly: Forest and Pond
Turtle: Pond
Frog: Pond
Gopher Tortoise: Forest
Day Two — Knowledge
Explicit Instruction: What’s That, Habitat? (30 min)
Objectives
Students will 1) identify their own basic needs for food, water, shelter, and space in a
suitable arrangement; and 2) generalize that wildlife and other animals have similar
basic needs.
Materials
Paper and crayons or chalk
Copy homework worksheet “Gopher Tortoise Burrows” (one per student)
Background
Humans and other animals—including pets, farm animals, and wildlife—have some of
the same basic needs. Every animal needs a home. However, a home is not just a
house where people live. Home, for many animals includes the out-of-doors. The
scientific term for an animal’s home is habitat. An animal’s habitat includes food, water,
shelter or cover, and space. Because animals need the food, water, shelter, and space
to be available in a way that meets its needs, these things must be available in a
suitable arrangement.
A house may be considered shelter for people. People build houses, apartments,
trailers, houseboats, and other kinds of shelters in which to live. An animal’s shelter
might be underground, in a bush, in the bark of a tree, in some rocks. Animals need a
place to find food and water. The also need enough space in which to live and to find
the food, water, and shelter they need. Home for an animal is more like a neighborhood
that has everything in it that is needed for survival.
Procedure
1) Write the following words on chalkboard: food, water, shelter, space.
2) Read each word aloud, asking the students to repeat the words.
3) Food and water will be easy concepts for the students to understand. Shelter and
space will be more difficult. Ask the students to explain the definitions of shelter
and space.
4) Give the students paper, chalk, pencils, or crayons. Ask the students to draw a
picture of where they live, including pictures of where they find food, water,
shelter, and space. Ask the students to label the parts of their drawings where
they find their food, water, shelter, space.
5) Once the drawings are complete, write two more words on the chalkboard:
arrangement, habitat. Say the words out loud asking the students to repeat them.
6) Inform the students that food, water, shelter, and space arrange to meet an
animal’s needs is called “habitat”. Ask the children if they could live in a home
where the bathroom was four miles in one direction, the kitchen was twelve miles
in another, and the bedroom was nine miles in yet another direction. This
arrangement is not suitable for a person, although some animals do travel great
distances in their habitat.
7) Ask the students to write the word habitat in big letters at the top of their
drawings. Discuss the meaning of habitat.
8) Give the students another piece of paper. Ask them to think of an animal. Ask a
few students what animal they are thinking of and identify whether the animals
are wild or domesticated. If both wild and domesticated animals are not part of
the grouping, ask the students to think of the kinds of animals that are missing. It
is important to make sure the students are thinking about both wild and
domesticated animals.
9) Ask the students to draw a picture of their animal in a place where it lives. Ask
the students to make sure they include food, water, shelter, and space in an
arrangement that they think would make it possible for the animal to survive.
10) Ask the students to talk about their drawings, pointing out habitat components
they have included.
11) Ask the students to write “habitat” in big letter on the top of this drawing as well.
Discuss with the students how humans and other animals need food, water,
shelter, and space. The arrangement is different for each but all have similar
basic needs. When the students have an understanding of habitat, write a few
sentences on the chalkboard defining habitat. As much as possible, make use of
the ideas the students suggest.
12) Ask the students to write these sentences on the back of one of their drawings.
They may also read the words in the sentences on the board and write their own
sentences about what habitat is, drawing pictures to go along with their words.
Homework: “Gopher Tortoise Burrows” (10 min)
1) Explain the homework worksheet (see attached description and worksheet for
copying)
Gopher Tortoise Burrows
Topic Area: Logic and Problem solving
Key Question: Which tortoise lives in which burrow?
Math Skills
Logical thinking
Sequencing
Problem solving
Inferring
Science Processes
Comparing
Organizing and recording data
Inductive and deductive reasoning
Drawing conclusions
Background
Learners in the early grades should have many opportunities to make reasonable or
logical conjectures about situations with concrete materials. Students will be able to do
this while learning about gopher tortoises and their habitats. Gopher tortoises live in
burrows. Without a doubt, the burrow is the most important feature of gopher tortoise
biology. In east-central Florida, burrows average 4.5 m (15 ft.) long and 2 m (6 ft.) deep.
The tortoise digs the burrow at about a 30o angle from the surface. Having a burrow
provides many advantages for the tortoise, such as protection from predators, fire, and
the weather. The burrow has a fairly constant environment that is not too hot, too cold,
too humid, or too dry. This is very important for a cold-blooded animal that is at the
mercy of the elements. The open sandy area in front of the burrow, called the apron, is
often used by the female tortoises for a nest site.
Gopher tortoises are often called wildlife landlords because their burrows are essential
to the lives and well-being of many other wildlife species. These animals that take
advantage of the tortoise's burrow, but neither help nor harm the tortoise, are called
commensals. Commensals benefit from the protection of the burrow, but the burrow
may also provide a smorgasbord for any predator that ventures into it. Over 300 species
of invertebrates have been documented using tortoise burrows.
Procedure
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Distribute the activity page to each student.
Read through one example together.
Have students write “yes” and “no” in each box after reading the situations.
Discuss each clue with the students and information it provides.
Record conclusions and take home to finish.
Discussion Questions
1) What does a sentence or clue with the word “not” tell you? If “not” tells you that
something is not true, how might it also tell you something that is true?
2) What kinds of words signal a “yes” response?
3) What kinds of words signal a “no” response?
4) After discovering a “yes” response, how does that affect the remaining choices in
the row? In the column? In the rest of the grid?
Solutions
The key statement may well be the last which introduces the concept of “between.” It
places Tommy Tortoise in Bumpy Burrow. Since Tony Tortoise does not live in Black
Burrow (Statement 3) and cannot live in Bumpy Burrow with Tommy Tortoise
(Statement 1) he must live in Boggy Burrow. This leaves Black Burrow as the residence
of Terri Tortoise.
Name: ____________________
Gopher Tortoise Burrows
1.
2.
3.
4.
Terri, Tony, and Tommy all live in different burrows.
Terri does not live in Bumpy Burrow.
Tony does not live in Black Burrow.
Tommy lives between Terri and Tony.
Which burrows do they live in?
Boggy Burrow
Bumpy Burrow
Terri Tortoise
Tony Tortoise
Tommy Tortoise
Terri Tortoise lives in____________________________.
Tony Tortoise lives in______________________________.
Tommy Tortoise lives in______________________________.
Black Burrow
Day Three — Knowledge
Lab Activity: Graphananimal (40 min)
Objective
Students will identify characteristic life forms in two different environments.
Materials
Photos or pictures of animals (see attached photos)
Cardboard for mounting photos
Notebook paper, Graph paper, Pencils
Background
Different kinds of animals are found in different environments. Each environment is
suitable for animals that are adapted to its climate, soils, water, vegetation, and other
ecological factors. The major purpose of this activity is for students to recognize that
each environment has characteristic life forms (pond and forest).
Procedure
1) Enlarge and make multiple copies of animal pictures (dragonfly lives in both
habitats)
2) Pick two environments (pond and forest) in your state. Discuss with the students
the animals they might find in both habitats. Ask the students to make a list of
the animals in each habitat (make sure all the animals below are mentioned).
Some animals will appear on both lists.
3) When the students are out of the room, place the animal cards in an area of the
classroom that can hypothetically serve as the appropriate habitat. Label these
habitats and place the pictures of the animals in the appropriate place. Some
animals may be in both habitats. Put the animal pictures in all sorts of places-by
a table leg, on a window ledge, etc.-to simulate where the animals might actually
live.
4) Bring the students back into the room for a “nature walk.” Let the students use
their lists to tally the animals they see in each place. At the end of the walk,
students should total their counts and write that number on their lists. Have the
students take turns walking along the “path.” A sample list and tally might look
like this:
Pond
Total
Forest
Total
Fish llllll
Turtle lll
Frog llll
Dragonfly ll
6
3
4
2
Fox llll
Gopher Tortoise lllll
Dragonfly lll
Squirrel l
4
5
3
1
5) Show the students how to make a bar graph for each of the environments:
Fish
█ █ █ █ █ █
Turtle
█ █ █
Frog
█ █ █ █
Dragonfly █ █
6) Give the students graph paper, and show them how they can fill in each square
for the number of each animal they saw. Or have the students use a computer to
compile and portray the data.
7) Using the graphs, compare the two environments. Which animals were seen the
most? Which animals were seen the least? How could some animals live in
both places? Why can’t all the animals live in both places?
Pond
Forest
Dragon fly
Gopher Tortoise
Fish
Grey Fox
Frog
Squirrel
Turtle
Day Four — Citizen Action Skills
Explicit Instruction: The Lorax (40 min)
Objectives
Students will 1) be aware of the detrimental impact human activity can have on natural
habitats 2) be able to look at their own school site with fresh eyes, as they take note of
their impact
Materials
Obtain the film, “The Lorax”, or a copy of the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss
Copy worksheet “Human Impact In My School Habitat”, one per student
Prepare a letter to be sent home to your students’ parents (see Parent Letter as an
example)
Background
Human activity has an impact, frequently detrimental, on natural habitats. Pollution
(trash or harmful chemicals or waste in air, water or soil) is one example of a
detrimental human impact. Today many kinds of plants and animals are endangered (so
few in numbers that they may become extinct) due to human impact, either directly on
the particular kind of plant or animal itself (frequently through habitat destruction), or on
the habitat of which the population is part. The manatee, panther, and key deer are
examples of native Florida animals that are endangered due to human impact.
Procedure
1) Ask the class what would happen to all the animals in “Graphananimal” if they
didn’t have the forest or the pond?
2) Ask a few students to define “endangered” and “extinct” in their own words.
3) In “The Lorax”, human activity (resulting in air and water pollution) has a negative
impact on all parts of the natural habitat.
4) If you do not read the book, tell the class that the film is about a creature, the
Lorax, who speaks for the trees, “since they cannot speak for themselves.” Into
the land of the Truffula Trees, Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans, and Humming-Fish
comes the Once-ler, who builds a factory so that he can cut down the Truffula
Trees and use them to make “thneeds.” A “thneed” is anything we need, or we
think we need. The impact on the natural habitat is devastating! He cuts down
every last tree, pollutes the air and water so that the swans and fish have to
leave. The ending provides a ray of hope.
5) Ask the children to look for the following:
a. What is a “thneed?” (anything we need, or think we need)
b. What does the factory do to the air? (fouls it with black smoke) The water?
(dumps in all sorts of trash and “glup”)
c. What is pollution? (trash, dirt and chemicals that get into our air, water and
soil) What are two examples in the film? (dirty air and trash in the water)
d. Why must the Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans and Humming-Fish leave?
(With no more Truffula Trees, there is no food for the Bar-ba-loots; the
smoke from factory pollutes the air to the point where the Swomee-Swans
are not able to breathe; water pollution clogs the gills of the HummingFish. All three of these populations leave.) The activities of the Once-ler
have impacted on all members of natural habitat.
e. Why did the Once-ler continue to pollute the air and water, and cut down
the trees, even after repeated warnings from the Lorax? (He was greedy;
he didn’t think things would get as bad as they did; he rationalized his
actions by saying, “If I didn’t do it, someone else would!”)
f. What should the boy do with the last remaining Truffula seed, given to him
by a repentant Once-ler? (plant it and care for it so that it will grow a forest
eventually)
6) Show the film/read the book.
7) Discuss the questions above.
8) Next, tell the students they are going to explore the natural school habitat
9) Give each student a copy of the worksheet “Human Impact In My School Habitat”
and go outside to a natural area on your school site.
10) Lead the students through the questions on the worksheet or let them explore
and fill in the worksheet on their own
11) Review the worksheet.
12) Decide as a class what action to take to restore the school habitat.
Name: _________________________
Human Impact In My School Habitat
Directions: Fill in the blank spaces with complete sentences.
1) Close your eyes and listen for a moment. Do you HEAR any sounds
that are made by people?
I
hear________________________________________________________
_
____________________________________________________________
.
2) Use your sense of SMELL. Do you smell anything that was made by
humans?
I
smell_______________________________________________________
__
____________________________________________________________
.
3) Look around your School Habitat. Do you SEE any sign of human
activity?
I see__________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
.
4) What can you do to make your School Habitat better for the plants
and animals that live here?
I
can_________________________________________________________
.
I
might_______________________________________________________
.
I
can’t________________________________________________________
.
I
won’t_______________________________________________________
.
I
will_________________________________________________________
.
Day Five — Citizen Action Experience
Guided Practice: What Can We Do? (30 min)
Objectives
Students will 1) Identify negative impacts that he/she has on the school site 2) carry out
an action to improve the school site.
Materials
Trash bags
Work gloves (optional)
Background
Although many of the impacts humans have on natural communities are harmful (air
and water pollution, habitat destruction that can cause the extinction of plants and
animals, etc.), we are also in a position to be able to correct our mistakes and make the
Earth a more habitable place for all life forms.
In the activity, “What Can We Do?,” the class observes their own personal impacts on
their school site, noting liter, noise levels, eroded areas, etc., all of which harm
members of the natural community. Students learn that they have both a responsibility
and an opportunity to actually DO something about the situation. The students will
spend sometime cleaning their school site to make it a better place for members of the
natural habitat (and for themselves!).
Procedure
1) Begin a list of negative human impacts on natural communities by reviewing “The
Lorax” (air and water pollution from factories; decimation of trees due to
excessive lumbering).
2) Add to the list others which the class thinks of: littering, soil erosion, noise
pollution, bad odors, taking away homes for animals, etc. Ask a child to define
“pollution” in his/her own words.
3) Explain that the class will take a walk around the school site picking up litter while
noting other various negative impacts.
4) Ask why it is important to make the school site a better place for plants, animals,
and themselves (we can do good things for plants, animals and ourselves so that
we can stay healthy and alive).
5) Proceed outside with trash bags and open eyes for other negative human
impacts.
Extension
1) Compare the findings of other negative human impacts. What conclusions might
be drawn? (most of the impact is caused by the children themselves!)
2) What could be done other than pick-up trash to improve the situation?
Brainstorm a list, focusing on specific tasks which the students themselves could
3)
4)
5)
6)
do. (Ideas might include picking up litter; reseeding eroded areas; planting
flowers and/or tree seedlings to serve as food and shelter for animals; putting out
nest boxes and/or feeders for birds; asking the principal to permit an area of
mowed lawn to grow back into a field.)
Obtain permission to conduct one or more of the clean-up/school-site
improvement activities that the class identified the previous step (be sure to
check with the appropriate people).
Determine if the entire class will work on one project, or if smaller groups will
work on different projects simultaneously.
Send home a note to parents requesting rakes, trowels, work gloves, etc., as
appropriate for the project(s) chosen.
You might want to arrange for a member of the local press to be present, with a
photographer.
Sing Habitat Song (2 min)
Administer Post-Test (10 min)
References
AIMS Education Foundation, Primarily Bears, Book 1, 1987(pg 15, 17).
Christie, Nancy, Communities Grade 2, Regional Environmental Education Program
(REEP), 1998, (pg 75-80).
Council for Environmental Education, Project Wild : K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide,
2002, (pg 49-52, 56-57).