Vacancy: Habitats Available!

Lesson Introduction

Animals choose habitats that best meet their needs for survival. These needs have developed as the animal has evolved. Important factors are food availability, space needs, water and shelter. Animals have to choose their habitats carefully, because where an animal chooses to live could have serious consequences for its survival. Animals depend upon being able to find reliable habitat in order to find suitable food and build a shelter in which to raise a family.

People also rely on suitable habitat and shelter for survival. This activity invites students to make comparisons between human needs for survival and preferences for habitat and the needs of animals.

Illinois State Goal	Standard	Learning Benchmarks
5	A	2b. Organize and integrate information from a variety of sources.
5	C	2a. Create a variety of print and nonprint documents to communicate acquired infomration for specific audiences and purposes.
5	C	2b. Prepare and deliver oral presentations based on inquiry or research.

Lesson Objectives

• learn about the habitat needs of prairie animals.
• compare and contrast the needs of different animals.

Time Allotment

1 class period of 45-60 minutes

Materials

• real estate ads from the classified sections of newspapers (one per student)
• paper
• crayons and/or markers
• poster
• glue and/or tape

PROCEDURE

Tap Prior Knowledge

1. Have students discuss suitable housing. What are the essential elements for people living in Chicago? Would these characteristics be different in different countries or climates? How? What elements do most people have in common in choosing shelter?

Share with Neighbor

2. Hand out the classified sections of the newspaper, featuring housing advertising. Have students circle ads for houses that appeal to them. Once they have had some time to read, study and circle their classified ads, have them share their favorite housing choices with the class. As students read their choices, write down their "habitat" choices on the chalkboard. For example, if the same student picks ads for large houses with trees in the yard, you might write down, "wooded habitat, needs large territory." Once you have a number of different likes and dislikes, move on to the hands-on activity.

Hands-on Activity

3. In this activity, students will each pick an native Illinois animal and write a classified housing ad to match the animal's habitat requirements. Have them think about what kind of shelter the animal needs, what kind of habitat they need, and where they get their food. For example, a student doing an ad for an eagle might write, "Tree needed, plenty of solitude required."

4. Have students write out their ad or type it neatly. Paste all the ads, in the style of a classified ad page, onto a large piece of posterboard and write the Activiy title at the top of the posterboard.

5. Have students try to match each habitat ad with the animal it represents. You can have the students work in groups.

Introduce Scientific Principle/Environmental Issue

Some animals can live nearly anywhere. Cockroaches and mice are good examples. Most wild animals, however, are very specialized and have adapted to a certain kind of wild habitat. They are not comfortable if there are too many of them living in one place. They have adapted to their surroundings over many hundreds or thousands of years. Some woodland animals may prefer recently burned logs, while others can only flourish in stable mature forests. Maintaining a large variety of habitat is the most important aspect of wildlife preservation. Without a place to live, eat, and raise offspring, animals cannot survive.

Relate Activity and Concept

Relate Activity and Concept Have students compare the classified ads that they wrote for their animals with the ads of other students. Do the ads have certain things in common? What are the differences? What habitats are the animals specially adapted for? What would animals do if food or shelter or territory in a certain area became scarce? Discuss the options for animals in the wild.

Learning Outcomes

• describe how habitat affects the survival of animals.
• describe the habitat needs of animals in Illinois.