Quality Core Curriculum Objectives:

Science                                   (Inquiry)
#1 – Asks questions, makes/records observations, sorts objects, communicates with others, makes predictions and inferences, makes sketches/diagrams, uses tables and charts.
#2 – Uses books and other media to obtain information.
#4 – Actively engages in learning via hands-on/minds-on science activities.

                                                (Life Science)
12 – Recognizes/describes basic life processes of living things in terms of how they respond to their environment.

Language Arts                       (Listening/Speaking)
#6 – Responds to questions on orally presented material.
#7 – Increases vocabulary to reflect a growing range of knowledge.

Vocabulary:  environment, habitat, graph (& many different animal names)

Objective:  Students will be able to identify characteristic life forms in two different environments.

Materials:  Photos or pictures of animals, cardboard for mounting photos, notebook paper, graph paper, pencils.

Procedure:

1.      Pick two types of environments in Georgia (such as the wetlands and forest). Ask students to make a collection of animals for each place.  They can draw pictures or cut out magazine photos.  Each student should supply two animals (one for each environment).  Glue the pictures onto heavy paper or cardboard.

2.      Ask the students to tell where their animals live.  Make a pile for each place and ask the students to put their picture in the place where their animals live.

3.      List the animals in each pile.  Some animals will appear on both lists. Ask the students to copy the two lists.  Tell them that they will soon go on a “nature walk” through each environment.  Ask the students to look at their lists and predict how many of each animal they will find on their “nature walk.”

4.      When the students are out of the room, place the animal cards in their “environment.”  Label one part of the classroom as forest, and the other as wetlands.  Put the animals where they live.  Some animals may be in both environments.  Put the animal pictures in all sorts of places, on a table leg, on a window ledge, etc. – to simulate where they might actually live.  Check with wildlife officials in your area to see what the actual proportions of animals are in each chosen environment, and use the animal cards accordingly.

5.      Bring the students to the “forest” and “wetlands” for a “nature walk.”  Let the students use their lists to tally the animals they see in each place.  At the end of the walk, students should total their counts and write that number on their lists.  Have the students take turns walking along the “path.” 

A sample list and tally might look like this: