BACKGROUND:
There are many different places on Earth where organisms
can live. These areas can be called an organism’s environment.
Students may not be aware that humans and wildlife share environments.
Many times humans intrude into the range of many wildlife, causing some
of the wildlife to go extinct. Wildlife is present in or on nearly
all areas of the Earth's surface. There are some areas like tropical
rainforests that have more wildlife than other areas of the world.
Humans and wildlife all depend on the Earth for their living
conditions. Humans and wildlife have habitats that include
components like food, water, shelter or cover, space, and the arrangement
of these in relation to each other. Any environmental changes in
any of the habitats can affect the life of an organism.
PROCEDURE:
- Curious Creatures in Peculiar Places by A. Koss
is an excellent poetry book that introduces different animals from exotic
lands around the world. "Toads with fire-engine red tummies, goggly-eyed
tarsiers with sticky fingers and sloths who hang upside down from their
toes are among the many creatures you'll find in this look at some of the
nature's most bizarre animals and where they live. Lively rhymes
provide oodles of facts to fascinate all readers (from the book)."
Read some of the poems to the students and have the students locate the
place where the animals are from. Note that in front of the book
there is a map locating the different animals.
- On the worksheet children need to describe their favorite
environment. Instruct the students to circle the word that they feel
best describes their favorite environment. For instance, the first
environment can be green, brown, or blue. A student likes a blue
environment (representing water), so he or she would use a blue crayon
and circle the word. Green is for forest and brown is for the desert
or dry mountains.
- At the end of the activity, have students draw their favorite
environment and see if it matches their descriptions. For instance,
if a child draws the forest and traces brown, they might have a little
explaining to do.
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