Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
Microhabitat Lab
Background: A habitat is the place an animal or plant lives and gets all the things it
needs to survive such as food, water, and space to grow, breed, and raise young.
Within any habitat there are many smaller microhabitats in which temperature,
humidity, light and other conditions vary from those as a whole. In a schoolyard
habitat there may be several microhabitats such as an open field, between two
rocks, an area under trees and even the open area under a portable classroom.
Materials: hula hoops, thermometers, rulers, magnifying glasses, craft stick and
field guides.
Procedure: 1. Take your bio-ring (hula hoop) and place it in the area that your
teacher indicates.
2. Do not move your bio-ring once it has been placed.
3. Observe the area inside the ring. You may need to sit down or get on your hands
and knees to observe the habitat. You will need to use the magnifying glass and use
the thermometer to record information in the data table below. Use the craft
stick as a shovel (digging tool) for soil observations.
Information Gathered
Data Recorded
Air Temperature in degrees C
Soil Temperature in degrees C
Surface Temperature in degrees C
Bio-ring location (circle one)
Sun or Shade or Partial Shade
Weather over Bio-ring (circle one) Sunny or Cloudy or Partly Cloudy
4. Soil observations-- circle the word or words that best describe the following:
Structure— clay-like sand-like rocky
Texture (grain size)—large grains
medium grains
small grains
Moisture content—very wet moderately wet slightly wet
dry
Do you see any earthworms in the soil? _____ If yes, how many? ______
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
5. Draw a map of what you see within your Bio-ring.
6. Animal Life (remember insects, spiders, earthworms, etc. count)- List the kinds
of animal life you observed and the number of each.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7. Plant Life – List the kinds of plants you observed-- the number of each kind
(species) and record the height of each species in centimeters.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8. Evidence that organisms had been in the microhabitat but were not present at
the time of observation (look for tracks, chewed leaves, nests, holes in the ground,
droppings, etc.) _________________________________________________
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
CONCLUSION QUESTIONS:
1. What producers, consumers, and decomposers are found in your habitat?
ProducersConsumersDecomposers2. Who competes in this habitat? What do they compete for (ex. food, space,
water, shelter)?
3. What natural disasters would affect this habitat? Circle answers: earthquake
tsunami volcano hurricane tornado flood wildfire drought winter storms
How would it affect the habitat?
4. What type of weather is this area subjected to during an entire year (may be
different for sheltered and unsheltered areas)?
5. How much water (in cm) do you estimate that your habitat gets in a year’s time?
Where does the water come from?
6. How were the conditions in the microhabitat different from the larger habitat?
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
7. What was the dominant kind of plant in the microhabitat?
8. Was there any evidence of humans in your microhabitat or larger habitat? What
was the evidence?
9. Often the areas around schools have been developed for human use. The area
has been altered and the soil has been changed so that grass can be grown. What
type of biome do you think was originally present before our school was built in
2000 ? ___________________________
10. Think about a microhabitat near your house or apartment. How would it differ
from the microhabitat you observed on our school yard?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
11. What can we do to protect the different microhabitats we discovered?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Clean Up- Return any soil to its original location. Pick up your Bio-ring,
thermometer, ruler, magnifying glass and field guides and bring them with you
when returning inside the school.
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
KEY Microhabitat Lab
Background: A habitat is the place an animal or plant lives and gets all the things it
needs to survive such as food, water, and space to grow, breed, and raise young.
Within any habitat there are many smaller microhabitats in which temperature,
humidity, light and other conditions vary from those as a whole. In a schoolyard
habitat there may be several microhabitats such as an open field, between two
rocks, an area under trees and even the open area under a portable classroom.
Materials: hula hoops, thermometers, rulers, magnifying glasses, craft stick and
field guides.
Procedure: 1. Take your bio-ring (hula hoop) and place it in the area that your
teacher indicates.
2. Do not move your bio-ring once it has been placed.
3. Observe the area inside the ring. You may need to sit down or get on your hands
and knees to observe the habitat. You will need to use the magnifying glass and use
the thermometer to record information in the data table below. Use the craft
stick as a shovel (digging tool) for soil observations.
Information Gathered
Air Temperature in degrees C
Soil Temperature in degrees C
Surface Temperature in degrees C
Bio-ring location (circle one)
Weather over Bio-ring (circle one)
Data Recorded
VARIES
VARIES
VARIES
Sun or Shade or Partial Shade
Sunny or Cloudy or Partly Cloudy
4. Soil observations-- circle the word or words that best describe the following:
Structure— clay-like sand-like rocky VARIES
Texture (grain size)—large grains
medium grains
small grains VARIES
Moisture content—very wet moderately wet slightly wet
dry VARIES
Do you see any earthworms in the soil? _____ If yes, how many? _ VARIES _____
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
5. Draw a map of what you see within your Bio-ring.
VARIES
6. Animal Life (remember insects, spiders, earthworms, etc. count)- List the kinds
of animal life you observed and the number of each.
_VARIES_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7. Plant Life – List the kinds of plants you observed-- the number of each kind
(species) and record the height of each species in centimeters.
_VARIES_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8. Evidence that organisms had been in the microhabitat but were not present at
the time of observation (look for tracks, chewed leaves, nests, holes in the ground,
droppings, etc.) _ VARIES __________________________________________
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
CONCLUSION QUESTIONS:
1. What producers, consumers, and decomposers are found in your habitat?
Producers- VARIES (We saw dandelions, various flowers and grass)
Consumers- VARIES (We saw spiders, ladybugs, and ants)
Decomposers- VARIES (Some groups saw earthworms, might want to list bacteria)
2. Who competes in this habitat? What do they compete for (ex. food, space,
water, shelter)? VARIES (In almost every habitat plants compete for space &
sunlight. Other answers depend upon what makes up your groups of consumers)
3. What natural disasters would affect this habitat? Circle answers: earthquake
tsunami volcano hurricane tornado flood wildfire drought winter storms
How would it affect the habitat? Kill organisms, possibly remove soil
4. What type of weather is this area subjected to during an entire year (may be
different for sheltered and unsheltered areas)? Summer- hot & dry Fall- can be
hot, dry or wet & rainy sometimes intermediate temperatures Winter- can be cold
Spring- more moderate temperatures, windy
5. How much water (in cm) do you estimate that your habitat gets in a year’s time?
Where does the water come from? VARIES (I told my students to think about how
much rainfall that a grassland gets in a year’s time. Our water comes from rain as
we do not have a sprinkler system.)
6. How were the conditions in the microhabitat different from the larger habitat?
VARIES (In our situation, the microhabitat was better than the larger habitat due
to less human traffic—the sports people tromping down the grass.)
Name ____________________________ Date ______________ Period ____
7. What was the dominant kind of plant in the microhabitat?
VARIES (Could be grass, dandelions or other weeds)
8. Was there any evidence of humans in your microhabitat or larger habitat? What
was the evidence? VARIES (We saw trash, candy wrappers, paper, sidewalks,
buildings, etc.)
9. Often the areas around schools have been developed for human use. The area
has been altered and the soil has been changed so that grass can be grown. What
type of biome do you think was originally present before our school was built in the
1970s? __grassland or prairie_________________________
10. Think about a microhabitat near your house or apartment. How would it differ
from the microhabitat you observed on our school yard?
_VARIES_______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
11. What can we do to protect the different microhabitats we discovered?
_Walk on the sidewalk; don’t litter; limit sports to designated areas ___________
______________________________________________________________
Clean Up- Return any soil to its original location. Pick up your Bio-ring,
thermometer, ruler, magnifying glass and field guides and bring them with you
when returning inside the school.