HABITATS/ENVIRONMENT UNIT OVERVIEW The world is made up of may differet kids of habitats. Each oe has a distict bled of evirometal factors, icludig latitude, elevatio, climate, lad features, water features, plat life, ad aimal life. The orgaisms that live i each habitat are specially adapted to live there ad are iterdepedet. Over time, habitats ca chage due to atural forces ad huma actios. The Habitats/Eviromet uit helps studets uderstad how ad why habitats differ ad provides a startig poit for studets to explore some of the may fasciatig habitats i the atural eviromet. Certai readig resources are provided at three readig levels withi the uit to support differetiated istructio. Other resources are provided as a set, with differet titles offered at each readig level. Dots o studet resources idicate the readig level as follows: low readig level middle readig level high readig level THE BIG IDEA SPARK Plats ad aimals, icludig humas, each live i a habitat. Whe a habitat chages, the orgaisms that live withi it must either adapt or move out of it i order to survive. Oly those orgaisms that successfully adapt will survive ad pass their gees to future geeratios withi the habitat. Huma activity ca have cosiderable effects o atural habitats. Takig actio to protect a habitat from harmful chages could provide a healthy ad sustaiable eviromet for may species i the future. Other topics This uit also addresses topics such as: life i a raiforest, urba habitats, the effect of algal blooms, camouflage, ad extreme habitats. The spark is desiged to get studets thikig about the uit s topics ad to geerate curiosity ad discussio. Materials (optioal) variety of stuffed aimals or aimal photo cards Learig A Z All rights reserved. 1 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Activity Ask a few studets to briefly describe where they live. The ask studets to describe where several aimals live, such as a lizard, a blue jay, a salmo, ad a mokey. Discuss the fact that every aimal eeds a home ad lives i a certai place for importat reasos. Ask studets whether they kow ay words for a atural area that provides a aimal s home (habitat or eviromet). If you have brought i a variety of stuffed aimals, preset them ow; otherwise, simply ask studets to braistorm a list of about te aimals. Assig or place studets ito groups. Challege each group to decide where each aimal would choose to live if it had to live at the school. Give a example to get studets started. Thik-aloud: If I were a giraffe, I would probably wat to live o the playgroud because there I would have room to walk aroud ad eat leaves off trees. If I were idoors, I would always have to bed my eck! Oce groups have discussed which school habitat each of the aimals might prefer, ask studets to share ad discuss their ideas. You ca exted the activity to iclude plat habitats by askig where certai plats would grow best at the school. Below are questios to spark discussio. What factors did you cosider whe you chose a habitat for each aimal? Which aimal would be best suited to actually live at the school? Why? Were there ay aimals that you could ot fid a suitable habitat for at the school? If so, why could t they live here? If you chose the same habitat for more tha oe aimal, what does that tell you about those aimals? Would certai aimals oly wat to live here at certai times of year? Why? How would the aimals you discussed have to chage if they actually lived at our school? Use this activity to begi a itroductory discussio about habitats ad the eviromet. Explai that all plats ad aimals live somewhere, ad there are reasos they live where they do. Throughout the uit, studets will lear more about why livig thigs are foud i certai habitats ad how they adapt to the eviromet aroud them. May of the uit s vocabulary terms are related to the spark activity ad ca be itroduced durig the spark. For vocabulary work, see the Vocabulary sectio i this Uit Guide. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 2 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Habitats/Eviromet Habitats/Eviromet (ou) WORD CARD (ou) WORD CARD (ou) WORD CARD Cut or Fold Habitats/Eviromet Habitats/Eviromet Habitats/Eviromet DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD DEFINITION CARD Learig A Z, Ic. All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com UNIT GUIDE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE Habitats/Eviromet Ivite studets to explai their uderstadig of what a habitat is ad to idetify ay familiar habitats. Show studets a globe or world map. The discuss what studets kow about differet regios of the world ad the livig thigs foud i each regio. Probig Questios to Thik About Use the followig questios to have studets begi thikig of what they kow about habitats. Do wild peguis live ear here? Why or why ot? How are the aimals that live i our area differet from the aimals that live i aother part of the world? How are the plats that live i our area differet from the plats that live i aother part of the world? Have you ever bee somewhere with a high elevatio? How is a place with a high elevatio differet from a place with a low elevatio? What is the differece betwee weather ad climate? How do plats ad aimals deped o each other? What does it mea to adapt? What do you thik of whe you hear the word eviromet? How is it differet from ad similar to a habitat? Tell studets they will lear more about these topics soo. UNIT MATERIALS Each uit provides a wide variety of resources related to the uit topic. Studets may read books ad other passages, work i groups to complete hads-o experimets ad ivestigatios, discuss sciece ideas as a class, watch videos, complete writig tasks, ad take assessmets. Resources are available for pritig or projectig, ad may studet resources are also available for studets to access digitally o. Selected uit resources are available i more tha oe laguage. For a complete list of materials provided with the uit, see the Habitats/ Eviromet uit page o the Sciece A Z website. VOCABULARY $ adaptatio atmosphere a chage i a orgaism or species that allows it to survive better i its eviromet a layer of gases surroudig a plaet, star, or moo Use the terms below for vocabulary developmet throughout the uit. They ca be foud i boldface i the Nofictio Book, the Quick Reads, ad/or other uit resources. These terms ad defiitios are available o Vocabulary Cards for studet practice. Additioal vocabulary lists are provided i the teachig tips for Ivestigatio Packs ad FOCUS Books. $ buildig block a importat part that helps form a whole thig or a whole idea Learig A Z All rights reserved. 3 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Core Sciece Terms These terms are crucial to uderstadig the uit. adaptatio atmosphere climate elevatio eviromet erosio habitat hiberate iterdepedet latitude migrate offsprig pollutio survive a chage i a orgaism or species that allows it to survive better i its eviromet a layer of gases surroudig a plaet, star, or moo the weather coditios i a area over a log period of time the height of lad above sea level all the livig ad o-livig parts of Earth the gradual wearig away of rock or soil by water, wid, or ice the place i which a plat or aimal lives ad receives what it eeds to survive to go ito a state of deep sleep, ofte durig witer relyig o each other a measure of how far a place is from the equator to move from oe habitat or regio to aother at a certai time each year a aimal s youg harmful material i the air, i water, or o the groud to stay alive; to cotiue to exist Other Key Sciece Terms The followig vocabulary is ot essetial for comprehedig the uit but may erich studets vocabulary. buildig block evirometal equator polar raiforest a importat part that helps form a whole thig or a whole idea relatig to the eviromet or to cocers about how to protect the eviromet a imagiary lie that circles Earth halfway betwee the poles relatig to areas of a plaet, star, or moo ear the orth or south pole a dese forest, usually i a tropical area, that receives a lot of rai ad cotais diverse aimal ad plat life Learig A Z All rights reserved. 4 www.sciecea-z.com
year UNIT GUIDE Habitats/Eviromet savaa temperate forest tropical tudra urba weather a flat grasslad with few trees a forest i a part of the world with moderate temperatures havig a hot, humid climate typical of latitudes ear the equator a cold, treeless, arctic regio where the groud is always froze relatig to a city or tow a descriptio of the temperature, clouds, rai, wid, ad other coditios i the air HABITATS/ENVIRONMENT Word Search Name Date Directios: Below are defiitios of vocabulary terms. Figure out each term ad the fid ad circle it i the puzzle. Words may appear horizotally, vertically, or diagoally. K A U O L N D M P W Q H E F I D T R S G N WORD WORK L D H K C M R K K F M G F L L M E R G U C K X R O T A U Q E H K Z T F F I N S N R M B W V I F O C Y B V F A W J T G E Q F B N E Z L G H F J P T O N S S Y N R H T S A S Materials: o scissors o glue sticks V J A T M O S P H E R E I O O A X D R N T K M H R B S T P W D M P A S M T Z B I T B T V M O C J K T R S M E I I S E U H X I I L H O P M S Z M P I C O W L T J K A I L P L M R I K E U T Z I N R E G A J R B M G U E Y S C H Z D N H U C G E S U R V I V E V N J Y A T C E H T W X V S I L P G T R B A H W C L I M A T E H N L P Y O D L A M G G X I Z L M Y H V O R O L H C M J G T I Z S E Y S A H Z D N H U C E C I E S U U W I I 1. a layer of gases surroudig a plaet, star, or moo 2. the weather coditios i a area over a log period of time 3. a imagiary lie that circles Earth halfway betwee the poles 4. the gradual wearig away of rock or soil by water, wid, or ice 5. the place i which a plat or aimal lives ad receives what it eeds to survive savaa tudra 6. to move from oe habitat or regio to aother at a certai time each 7. a aimal s youg raiforest temperate forest 8. to stay alive; to cotiue to exist 9. havig a hot, humid climate typical of latitudes ear the equator 10. relatig to a city or tow Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com Credits: top left: czekma13/istock/thikstock; top right: Hooya/iStock/Thikstock; bottom left: pxhidalgo/istock/thikstock; bottom right: Jorda Ta/Dreamstime.com Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com HABITATS/ENVIRONMENT Directios: Below are some vocabulary terms from the Habitats/Eviromet uit. Cut apart the words with scissors. The glue them ito the correct group the ext page. Use the book for evidece to support your choices. The last box has bee left blak for you to write a vocabulary term of your choice related to habitats ad the eviromet. # Habitats/Eviromet Word Sort Name Date Directios: Glue the words you cut out ito the groups where they best belog. Buildig blocks of habitats climate elevatio erosio hiberate latitude migrate pollutio raiforest savaa Habitat types Thigs that chage habitats Word Sort Name Date temperate forest tudra Paste your ow vocabulary term here: Types of adaptatios If your vocabulary term belogs i oe of the groups, write which oe (if ot, leave blak). Use your vocabulary term i a complete setece. Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com Aalogies/Fill i the Blak Learig A Z All rights reserved. www.sciecea-z.com HABITATS/ENVIRONMENT Directios: Read the first pair of words or phrases ad thik about how they are related. The choose the aswer that shows the same relatioship i the secod pair of words. 1. short-term is to weather as log-term is to a. forecast b. climate c. slow d. temperature 2. savaa is to equator as tudra is to a. polar regio b. arctic forest c. elevatio d. latitude 3. tree is to forest as habitat is to a. temperate forest b. urba c. buildig block d. eviromet 4. pollutio is to car exhaust as adaptatio is to a. offsprig b. migrate c. erosio d. termites 5. elevatio is to sea level as latitude is to a. equator b. height c. tropical d. polar Directios: Fill i each blak with the correct word from the list. Use each word oce. adaptatio atmosphere iterdepedet offsprig survive 1. If a habitat does ot meet the eeds of a aimal, the aimal may ot produce may. 2. A ateater s log sout used for catchig ats i a hole is a example of a(). 3. Because bees eed flowers for food, ad flowers eed bees for polliatio, they are. 4. Some bears hiberate so they ca the harsh witer. 5. High i the moutais, the is thier, makig the temperature colder tha at lower elevatios. Vocabulary Activities You may choose to itroduce all the terms that will be ecoutered i the uit before assigig ay of the readig compoets. Vocabulary Cards with the key sciece terms ad defiitios are provided. Dots o the cards idicate the readig levels of the Nofictio Book or the Quick Reads i which each term ca be foud. If all level dots appear, the term may come from aother resource i the uit. Studets ca use these cards to review ad practice the terms i small groups or pairs. The cards ca also be used for ceter activity games such as Cocetratio. The Word Work activity sheets offer fu puzzles ad practice with key vocabulary terms from the uit. For further vocabulary practice ad reiforcemet, you ca choose from the vocabulary Graphic Orgaizers. To build customized vocabulary lessos with terms related to the topic, see. Studets ca use the Word Smart vocabulary Graphic Orgaizer to orgaize iformatio o the sciece terms. You may wat to assig each studet oe to three words to share his or her Word Smart kowledge with classmates. Studets who have the same word should first compare their Word Smart sheets with each other ad the report to the larger group. The sciece terms ca be used i oral practice. Have studets use each term i a spoke setece. As studets read, ecourage them to create a sciece dictioary by recordig ew vocabulary terms ad defiitios i their SAZ Joural. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 5 www.sciecea-z.com
A Sciece A Z Life Series Word Cout: 1,686 Visit www.sciecea-z.com Writte by Kira Freed www.sciecea-z.com UNIT GUIDE Habitats/Eviromet Habitats ad the Eviromet BACKGROUND ad MISCONCEPTIONS Habitats ad the Eviromet Use this sectio as a resource for more backgroud kowledge o uit cotet ad to clarify the cotet for studets if miscoceptios arise. Refer to Usig the Iteret below for more ways to exted the learig. Q: Does the word eviromet always refer to issues related to protectig the atural world? A: No, ot always. Studets may cofuse the study of the eviromet with evirometalism. The word eviromet geerally refers to the surroudigs i which a livig thig lives ad operates. For example, May tree frogs thrive i a humid eviromet. The words evirometal ad evirometalism ofte relate to efforts to protect the atural eviromet. For example, The evirometal tourists helped clea up the habitat of the Galapagos tortoise. I order to uderstad ad take actio o importat issues cocerig the plaet pollutio, overpopulatio, eergy shortages, ad the like it is helpful to first uderstad the atural eviromet ad how its compoets are itercoected. Q: Is climate the same as weather? A: Weather describes the atmospheric coditios i a locatio over a short period of time, while climate describes the prevailig weather coditios over a log period of time. Climate is a more useful way to describe a habitat tha weather because it s a characteristic that stays similar from oe year to the ext, as opposed to weather, which varies from day to day. Q: Does every plat ad aimal live i oe distict habitat? A: Some do ad others do ot. Numerous types of plats ad aimals have adapted to live i several differet eviromets. For example, deer ca be foud i cold, high-elevatio forests as well as hot, low-lyig cayos. Migratig birds ofte call several differet habitats home durig differet times of the year. For these reasos, orgaisms are ofte ot classified by their habitat but rather by other characteristics. However, some orgaisms have such specialized requiremets that they are oly foud i a certai habitat. The saguaro cactus, for example, lives oly i the Soora Desert of the Uited States ad Mexico. It requires miimal freezig i witer ad grows best o hillsides i this warm, dry climate. Q: Are polar bears the oly livig thigs i Arctic regios? A: Certaily ot! While polar bears may be the highest-profile creatures i the Arctic, plety of other lad ad marie aimals live i this habitat, icludig caribou, rabbits, seals, ad whales. Also, may plat species have adapted to Arctic coditios, icludig liches ad some flowerig plats. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 6 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Q: Are all deserts hot ad barre? A: Actually, ot all deserts are hot, ad may are teemig with life. A desert is defied by its aual precipitatio, ot its temperature. For this reaso, Atarctica is classified as a desert, though it clearly does ot have a hot climate. Deserts ofte have dramatic swigs i daily temperatures, so the ights ca actually be quite cold. Ad deserts ca have a amazig level of biodiversity, despite what some old Wester movies would have us believe. Q: Do orgaisms adapt itetioally? A: No. Orgaisms do ot cotrol how they adapt. Adaptatios occur radomly over time ad may or may ot provide a helpful behavioral or physical chage that allows for a successful respose to evirometal demads. May adaptatios result from mutatios that lead to a better chace for survival. A idividual orgaism may exhibit a ew behavior due to evirometal circumstaces such as a bear eatig potato chips if they re available but it is ot cosidered a adaptatio uless the whole populatio has adopted the behavior. Q: I kow people ca cause habitats to chage. Have people ever caused ay species to become extict? If so, how? A: People have cotributed to the extictio of may species, icludig Chia s Yagtze River dolphi, the dodo, the Tasmaia wolf, Stellar s sea cow, groud sloths, ad thousads of others. These species could ot adapt to the chages that people wrought i their eviromets, icludig hutig, pollutig, competig for the same food sources, ad forcig species out of their habitats. Q: Do livig thigs oly cosist of plats, fish, birds, amphibias, reptiles, ad mammals? A: No. While these orgaisms may be what studets thik of first ad all of these are livig thigs there are may others, such as isects, worms, crustaceas, fugi, protozoa, ad bacteria. Q: Are wildfires always harmful to habitats? A: No, ot always. Certaily, some wildfires ca cause great harm to habitats by killig ihabitats, removig atural resources, ad fillig the air with particulates. But fires are also a atural ad importat part of may ecosystems. Some plats require periodic fires i order to release their seeds or to thi out a forest caopy so light ca reach the areas below ad foster ew growth. May aimal species are also adapted to wildfires. While idividual members of a species may perish i a fire, the species as a whole may beefit if the fire creates a better balace amog plat ad aimal species. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 7 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Jupiterimages Corporatio EXTENSION ACTIVITIES Usig the Iteret Most search egies will yield may results whe the term habitat or eviromet is etered. For better results, search for iformatio o a specific type of habitat, or pair oe of the above terms with a geographical regio or a aimal or plat species. Be aware that some sites may ot be educatioal or iteded for the elemetary classroom. More specific iquiries are recommeded, such as: habitat of Alaska kig salmo black bear habitat How are elevatio ad climate related? What lives i wetlads? Where do cocouts grow? bird iterdepedece evirometal issues for childre fish adaptatios Below are some liks with excellet resources for studets ad/or teachers. Natioal Geographic devotes portios of its site to habitat educatio. O the Eviromet tab, there is a sectio devoted to habitats, complete with maps, photographs, ad related articles. The Geography-Actio program cotais lesso plas orgaized by grade ad habitat, habitat maps, a quiz, ad more. http://eviromet.atioalgeographic.com/eviromet/habitats www.atioalgeographic.com/geography-actio/habitats.html Natioal Geographic offers backgroud iformatio, ofte icludig descriptios of life cycles, o may aimal species. http://kids.atioalgeographic.com/sitemap EcoKids is a free evirometal educatio program provided by Earth Day Caada aimed at youth who care about the plaet. O its website, you ca browse for games ad activities related to wildlife, climate chage, lad use, ad other relevat topics. www.ecokids.ca/pub/games_activities/idex.cfm The Public Broadcastig System (PBS) televisio series Nature covers may topics related to this uit. O the program s website, you will fid a sectio for educators that offers lesso plas ad accompayig video clips from the series. Visitors ca also view etire episodes or watch footage o how the shows were produced. www.pbs.org/wet/ature/category/for-educators/ May evirometal actio orgaizatios provide iformatio o edagered or imperiled species ad habitats. Oe such group is Defeders of Wildlife, which offers geeral facts about may aimals ad habitats, plus iformatio o curret threats ad suggestios for how people ca help. www.defeders.org/wildlife_ad_habitat/idex.php Learig A Z All rights reserved. 8 www.sciecea-z.com
Habitats/Eviromet Projects ad Activities Field Trip/Guest: Brig studets to a atioal or state park, ature preserve, or other atural area to lear about the flora ad faua that live there, alog with ay evirometal issues these orgaisms are facig. If a trip is ot feasible, ivite a aturalist to speak to the class about a particular habitat. Research/Project: Challege studets to research a plat or aimal species with which they are ufamiliar. The have them create a shoebox diorama showig the orgaism i its atural habitat. Writig: Prepare several cards with ames of familiar aimals ad aother set of cards with types of habitats. Have each studet draw oe card of each type ad the write a humorous tale about a aimal that has to live i a ew habitat. (If the cards draw match a aimal to its real habitat, have the studet redraw.) For extesive writig istructio, visit. Arts: Have the class vote o oe or more types of habitat themes to use i decoratig the classroom, icludig the door. Studets might build three-dimesioal models, make cutouts o butcher paper, hag posters, or brig i real items foud i the habitat(s). Project: Put studets i groups ad have them ivet a game for the class to play that ivolves habitats. Examples could iclude a board game i which aimals have to avoid risks i their habitat, a role-playig guessig game, or a variatio o a commo sport. Commuity Service: Provide studets with opportuities to take part i a effort to protect edagered species. Research: Help studets coduct research to compare how oe aimal or plat species has adapted to livig i two differet habitats (for example, a desert coyote versus a arctic coyote). Research/Home Coectio: Studets ca coduct research as a family/home project or i the library/ media ceter to exted the learig about a topic i oe of the Quick Reads or other uit resources. Learig A Z All rights reserved. 9 www.sciecea-z.com