Lesson Plan from PDE SAS Website: Students on

Habitats
Subject: Environment and Ecology
Grade Level: 2nd grade
Standards:
4.1.2.A: Describe how a plant or an animal is dependent on living and
nonliving things in an aquatic habitat
4.1.2.C: Identify sources of energy in the aquatic habitat
4.4.2.C: Examine life cycles of plants and animals in an aquatic habitat.
K.K-2.B.1.1.1. Describe basic external structures of animals and plants.
K.K-2.B.2.1.1.: Identify and describe habitats (e.g. wetland, meadow,
forest, lake, river, ocean, pond).
Vocabulary:
Organism
Habitat
Natural resources
Sustainable
Ecosystem
Adaptability
Objectives:
The students will be able to identify the basic needs of living things
such as humans, animals, and plants.
The students will be able to identify food, water, and shelter
requirements for each of thee living things.
The students will be able to define habitats and give various examples
of habitats in Pennsylvania.
The students will see how certain conditions can affect habitats and
formulate solutions to the problem of decreasing habitats for certain
organisms.
Essential Questions:
What is the role of the habitat in providing basic needs of an organism?
What changes can be made to habitats that are becoming less
available to certain organisms?
Duration:

30-45 Minutes
Materials:
Pictures of various houses in different environments
Pictures/videos/books showing different animals in habitats
Textbook
Paper and pencils
Whiteboards and markers
Various story books about habitats
Procedure:
I will write the word habitat on the board and ask if anyone knows what
this means. I will take several responses from the children and write
then down on the whiteboard. We will talk about this, with me thinking
aloud and writing down what we are discussing. We will also write
down what we want to learn about habitats, using the KWL strategy
and vocabulary words that we also want to learn. Some of these
include: organism, habitat, natural resources, sustainable, and
ecosystem. I will continue to talk about what I think I know about
habitats and get their input as to what we want to know.
We will talk about humans and our habitats. I will show them different
pictures of people across our country, such as an Eskimo, a cowboy, a
fisherman, and a farmer. We will talk about what types of houses they
might live in and what kind of environment (weather, land, water, etc.).
I will read them the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse. We
will talk about the similarities and differences between their habitats.
We will then see pictures of animals and the children will have to
describe the habitat that they think each animal would live in. We will
write these things down on the whiteboard, and in our KWL charts.
What about Pennsylvania do we have different habitats as humans
and what types of animals do we have? What would their habitats be
like? What can we do to ensure that their habitats will be around? We
will learn a song about habitats, focusing on the three things that they
need; food, water, shelter. We will play a game where several children
are animals and others are different habitat needs (food, water,
shelter). The animals will choose which one they are looking for and
run over to a habitat. Sometimes there will not be enough. What would
happen if a habitat changed?
We will go back to our seats and discuss this.