Animal Habitats and Their Destruction Lesson Plan

1. Topic-

Animal Habitats and Their Destruction

2. Content-

Students will learn about various animals and the environments that they inhabit. They will identify ways in which these habitats are being destroyed, and will learn terms such as habitat, environment, man-made, naturally occurring, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, deforestation, pollution and oil-spill.

3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-

1. Discover multiple habitats and the animals that live in these locations.
2. Identify and distinguish between man made and natural occurring events that lead to habitat destruction.
3. Determine the significance of man-made destruction of habitats.
4. Identify ways in which to prevent habitat destruction.

Students will be following the following PA Standards to ensure that all content is fulfilled within the lesson:
S3.B.3.2.1: Describe what happens to an animal when its habitat is changed.
S3.B.3.2.2: Describe how changes in the environment (e.g., fire, flood) can affect an ecosystem.
S3.B.3.2.3: Describe how human interactions with the environment impact an ecosystem (e.g., road construction, pollution, urban development, dam building).

4. Objectives-

1. Collaborate in small breakout groups.
2. Express ideas through movement and pictures.
3. Cooperate in a large group setting through experimentation.
4. Participate in large group discussions and presentations.
5. Present their final work in a whole-class setting.

5. Materials and Aids-

Book entitled Crinkleroots Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats by Jim Arnosky
4 large, clear bowls
Brown, black and blue food coloring
1 empty can of soda
1 Plastic shopping bag
1 small bag of faux moss
2 small replica trees
1 large container of glue

6. Procedures/Methods-

A. Introduction-

The teacher and students will participate in a small-guided discussion. Here, the teacher will introduce the topic of Animal Habitats and Their Destruction. Students will be asked to think of what their favorite animal is. They will be asked to come up to the front of the classroom and participate in a short game of charades, where they will act out the animal (without using words) in order for others to guess what animal they are referring to. Approximately three to four students will be allowed upfront within to participate.

Next, in order for students to understand the definition and various nature of a habitat, the teacher will read aloud the book entitled: Crinkleroots Guide to Knowing Animal Habitats by Jim Arnosky.
They will be asked to summarize the book after they are finished reading aloud as a class. The teacher will then ask students to brainstorm what would happen if these animal habitats disappeared. Where would these animals go? What would these animals do? How would these animals find a new home?

B. Development-

Once students begin to think about the importance of an animal's environment, they will participate in a large group modeling activity to further identify habitats and their importance.
Here, the teacher will set up 6 different model "environments"� at the front of the class. The models are listed below:
1A: The first environment will be a "polluted pond"� would be replicated by using a clear bowl filled with water, brown food coloring and plastic containers floating in the surface.
1B: A "non-polluted pond"� would be replicated next to it, using a clear bowl and clear water.
2A: Next, a "damaged forest"� will be replicated by using a flat, mossy piece of cardboard to show the absence of trees.
2B: A "flourishing forest"� will also be replicated, showing a multitude of trees, bushes, and other plants.
3A: Finally, an "oil spilled ocean"� will be represented using a clear glass bowl filled with sticky glue colored with black food dye.
3B: The "healthy ocean"� will be replicated using a clear bowl and blue food coloring.

Once the environments are appropriately set up at the front of the classroom, the teacher will ask the students what types of environments they would like to live in and which ones they would not like to live in.
Where can a bird live if he does not have a tree to place his nest, like in model 2A? How would a fish be able to swim in environment 3A? Students will be asked to brainstorm why these things happened. They will be shown a brief PowerPoint outlining definitions for both manmade and natural disasters such as oil spills, pollution, deforestation, tornadoes, earthquakes and hurricanes.

C. Practice-

The class will be broken up into small groups and will be shown before and after pictures of multiple animal habitats. As a group, students must determine whether or not this incidence was man-made or naturally occurring, and will be asked to record this on their group answer sheets. Results will be shared with the class.

D. Independent Practice-

Students will be asked to write about one type of man-made occurrence that leads to the destruction of an animal's habitat. Within their journals, they will be asked to come up with one way to prevent this destruction from occurring. The journals will be collected and evaluated by the teacher in order to assess progress.

E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-

In order to accommodate both ELL learners and those with disabilities, visual activities will act as inclusive events to allow for everyone to participate in the learning process. During both group activities and demonstrations, students who need assistance will be paired with a "study buddy"� in order to receive further attention. This will not only ensure student comfort, but also will allow for further development and understanding.

F. Checking for understanding-

Students will be asked to create a picture of a man-made occurrence that destroys an animal's habitat. They must label this occurrence (i.e. pollution, deforestation, etc.), while listing 3 reasons that it affects these native animals.

G. Closure-

Students will present their pictures to the class. After, the teacher will hang up these creations and have a small celebration, including a guest speaker from Parks and Recreation to talk about the importance of keeping parks and the local environment clean.

7. Evaluation-

Students will be given a written test in which they will be asked to define multiple terms (using a word match), including: habitat, environment, man-made, naturally occurring, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, deforestation, pollution and oil-spill. Students will also be asked to match animals to their habitats (shown in various pictures). This will act as a summative assessment, allowing the teacher to gage how much material students learned during this lesson.

8. Teacher Reflection-

In order to understand how successful the lesson plan truly was, the teacher will reflect on the engagement and progress of students. She will also look at the academic scores of her classmates in order to determine the understanding of key knowledge concepts.

This Lesson Plan is available at (www.teacherjet.com)