National Science Education Standards:

Content Standard A: Science As Inquiry
Content Standard C: Life Science - The characteristics of organisms; Organisms and environments

These activities help students understand an animal's basic needs.

(BACKGROUND INFORMATION)
This is what we already know about what animals need to live:

• A habitat is more than just a home. It's the environment that supplies everything that living things need to survive.
• For animals, their habitat must supply their food, water, air and space.
• There are many different habitats on the Earth. These vary in the landforms, sources of water, and climate conditions. Plants and animals are specially adapted to live in their habitats. Animals suited to live in the desert (very dry, either hot or cold) would have a difficult time living in the tropical rain forest (warm and very wet).

Activity One - No Place Like Home

paper, pencils, small objects from nature (hidden inside a bag)

1. Ask students to draw pictures of their homes, inside and outside. Ask the students to show all of the rooms (inside), and all of the things around their homes (outside).
2. Discuss the pictures, looking for similarities and differences.
3. All animals, including humans, need food, water, air and space. Discuss how a "home" supplies your basic needs.
4. Brainstorm with the class to create a list of some animals that might live near by. Ask the students to draw a picture of what that animal's home might look like. Where would the home be located? What would the home be made of? What kind of food might the animal have in its home?
5. Compare your home with the animal's home. What do you and the animal both need in and around your home? What parts of the environment do you share?
6. Ask a student to pull one natural item out of the bag. Discuss what "clues" are given by this item about another "home." How does this item fit into a larger "home?" Ask each student to add new ideas to the discussion, but emphasize that each comment must be different from any others that have already been shared.
7. As a class, discuss how animal needs are similar and different.

Extension:

Ask students to gather other natural items to share with the class.

Activity Two - Life Under a Rock or in a Rotting Log

none

1. Take students outside and look for rocks and rotting logs.
2. If you find a rock, carefully flip it over. Look for any animals living under the rock. Are there plants living under the rock? Are there any plants rooted under the rock but growing around it? Compare the soil under the rock to the soil beside the rock. Compare the underside of the rock to the top of the rock.
3. Once you've finished examining the rock, be sure to put it back, exactly as it was when you found it.
4. Look for a rotting log.
5. Carefully observe the log. Look on the outside for fungi and plant growth.
6. Are there any animals living inside the log?
7. Look for any evidence of animal activity such as insect holes or woodpecker holes.
8. Use a small stick to dig into the rotting wood. Look for animal passageways and tunnels in the log.
9. When you finish observing the log, return it to its original location.
10. Compare the two habitats. What's similar and different about each home? How does each habitat supply everything its animals need to live?

Extension:

Create habitats to encourage animals to live near you. Complete research to find out more about creating bat boxes, bird boxes, insect zoos, and worm homes.

Activity Three - Mini-trail

pieces of string 1-2 meters long, magnifying glass (optional)

1. Each person needs a piece of string to use to create a trail for another student. Give each student about ten minutes to use the string to mark a trail. Before they begin creating the trail, ask the students to think about these questions:
   • What living things do you think you'll find along the trail?
   • What plants do you expect to see?
   • What animals will live along the trail?
   • What nonliving things will be on the trail?
2. When time is up, let students "switch" trails so that they may explore a new trail. Use the same questions to guide the students' observations along the trail.
3. Discuss how the trails are part of a larger habitat. Does the area along the trail have everything the animals and plants need to live?

Extension:
Ask students to write a story about their travels along the trail.