OCW
OUR CHANGING WORLD LESSON 1: WHAT LIVES IN A HABITAT? Key vocabulary: habitat
Resources: Teaspoons, pots, magnifying glasses, digital microscope and laptop, camera or tablet computer, pond dipping equipment (nets, trays), identification keys, materials to make a class book, OCW diaries
Health and safety: Ensure children wash their hands after handling plants and animals. Do not allow unrestricted access to ponds or allow young children to work unaccompanied. Avoid open (unfenced) water, which could be deep and dangerous. If working on the seashore take proper account of the local tide patterns. See Be Safe! section 6.
Key information: Where an organism lives is called its habitat. The size of a habitat varies enormously from a tropical rainforest to a single leaf of an oak tree. If the habitat is small (for example, the leaf of the oak tree, the space under a stone, a log pile or a crack in a wall) then it is sometimes referred to as a microhabitat. The boundaries as to what makes something a microhabitat are not clear-cut, so in this module the term ‘habitat’ is used throughout, regardless of size. Where necessary specific examples of the habitat being referred to are given.
LESSON SUMMARY: This lesson is part of a series: it sets the foundation for Lesson 2 which comprises a series of revisits to the habitats. In this series of lessons children look at and identify some of the animals and plants that live in a habitat. By the end of the lessons they are able to talk about the types of animals and plants that live in different habitats. It is best for these lessons to take place at the start of the year before the weather gets colder and it becomes harder to find the animals. Preparation required: Identify two different habitats that children can visit throughout the year, for example, a log pile, wood, a pond, rock pools at the beach, a clump of flowers in a meadow. Take a photograph of the habitats.
National curriculum links:
Working scientifically links:
To identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats
Observing closely and gathering and recording data to help in answering questions
Learning intention:
Success criteria:
To observe and identify what plants and animals live in different habitats
• I can use identification keys to name some animals and plants. • I can make careful observations of an animal.
Scientific enquiry type: Grouping and classifying
EXPLORE: Explain to children that they are going to explore a habitat and identify what is living there. This will include both plants and animals. Show the photograph that you have taken of the habitat. Ask children to think about what might live there. Can they name or describe any plants or animals that they would expect to find living there? Explain that they are also going to be looking at small habitats, for example, under a wood pile, as well as fairly large ones, such as a pond. Can they suggest anything that may be living there?
ENQUIRE: Explain to children that when you take them out they will be able to use the identification keys, such as woodland trees and birds, to identify as many plants and animals as possible as they walk through the habitat. Their challenge is to make a detailed observation of an animal they find living in the habitat. When they come to look in some habitats, such as under a stone, they need to look quickly to identify how many different types of animals are present and, if possible, catch one of each type to put in a pot. These will be recorded in different ways. The challenges are differentiated by ways of making and recording the observations.
Challenge 1: Children take photographs showing the basic features of the animals that they find Ask the children to take a photograph of each animal they find. This will show the colour and shape but may not show all the features clearly. The children label the photograph highlighting the features shown in the photograph.
Challenge 2: Children draw in detail the animals that they find, using magnifiers to study them Provide the children with a magnifying glass and ask them to draw the animal in as much detail as possible. Ask: What shape and colour is its body? How many legs does it have and where are they? What are they like? Can you see its eyes?
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