K-3, Unit Two, Activity 2: "Habitat is Home"

Students explore the idea that animals need a home and the basic parts of a habitat.

Grades: 1 - 3
Time: about 1/2-hour
Subjects: Life science, visual arts, physical education

Materials:

• Pictures of human and animal homes
• Drawing paper and pencils

Teacher Background:
All animals, including people, need a home. Home for animals is different from just a house, like the kind we live in. Wild animals need (1) food, (2) water, (3) shelter and (4) space in just the right arrangement for them.

Procedure:

1. (If students did "My World" from Unit One, you can refer to it...) Discuss human homes and the things usually found there.
2. Have students draw the inside of a house -- include places to eat, sleep and play.
3. Have them share their pictures with the other students.
4. Show pictures of animal homes; discuss the differences between student homes and wild animal homes (animals may have to use a much larger area to find all four parts of a habitat -- food, water, shelter and space.
5. Sing the “Everybody’s Got to Live Someplace” song (below). You can either make up your own tune, say it as a poem, or use it in conjunction with an excellent set of inexpensive videos from the Missouri Botanical Gardens. It is the theme song for this set.

Assessment: Have students design their own animal and draw the habitat it needs.

 

"Everybody's Got to Live Someplace"

Chorus:
Everybody's got to live someplace.
Everything needs some place to be.
A habitat's a habit with the creatures of the world.
Each has its own community.

Verse 1:
Worm and fish and blackbird,
Dragonfly and duck,
Mushroom, moss, and maple tree,
Human being and microbe,
Squirrel, moose, and goose-
Each has its own community.

Chorus:
Everybody's got to live someplace.
Everything needs some place to be.
A habitat's a habit with the creatures of the world.
Each has its own community.

Verse 2:
Everything's important,
Everybody counts,
From the hippo to the fea.
We all need each other--
That's the secret of
Life in a community.

Chorus:
Everybody's got to live someplace.
Everything needs some place to be.
A habitat's a habit with the creatures of the world.
Each has its own community.