Environmental Detectives
-
Pre-site Activities/Teacher
Led
Grade Level: 4
Content Area: Science
Time to Complete: 1 hour
Title of
Lesson: Wildlife is Everywhere
South Carolina State Standards
Addressed:
|
I.A.1.a. |
Identify characteristics
of different
environments. |
|
I.A.1.b. |
Describe the diversity
of life forms supported
by the environment. |
|
I.B.2.a. |
Describe how organisms
may benefit their
environment. |
|
I.B.2.b. |
Describe how organisms
may harm their
environment. |
|
I.B.3.a. |
Describe changes in the
environment caused by
humans. |
|
I.B.3.d. |
Relate how human
population growth
changes the environment. |
Lesson Description:
Students search their environment (classroom) for evidence of wildlife.
The major purpose of the activity is for students to understand that people
and wildlife share environments. By investigating microenvironments,
the students should be encouraged to generalize from the information they
acquire that wildlife exists in some form all over the world.
Focus Question For Students:
|
1. |
What animals do you think you
will find in your classroom? |
|
2. |
What do these animals need to
survive? |
|
3. |
Are there any areas on earth
where you couldn't find these
animals? |
Culminating Assessment:
|
1. |
Have the students write a
paragraph describing what
creatures they saw including
the description of the
environments in which they
lived. |
|
2. |
What indirect evidence such
as webs, dropping, or
feathers were found? |
|
3. |
Could these animals have
survived in any other
environment? Why? |
|
4. |
Complete
The Post-Site Activity |
Material/Equipment/Resources:
Teacher Preparation:
Complete steps in "Plan Your Discovery"
and complete the pre-site activity prior to the field trip (an on-site visit
with a naturalist at the park can be arranged to go over the activity if
desired).
Procedures:
Explain to the students that people often think of wildlife only as large
animals living in the wild. But wildlife includes all animals that are
not domesticated by people. This includes small organisms-even those
that can be seen only through a microscope. Spiders, insects,
reptiles, worms, and most species of fish, birds and mammals may be
considered wildlife.
Wildlife occurs in a variety of forms and can be found all around us.
Even when we think we can see or hear no animals at all- they exist
somewhere around us- maybe even under our feet? There are even tens of
thousands of life forms on our skin. People are never truly alone in
an environment.
|
1. |
Have the students explore the classroom looking for signs of
wildlife. It might be a spider web, dead insects near
lights or insect holes along the baseboards and behind books.
After this search discuss with the students what they found and
emphasize that we are sharing our environment with other living
things. Why did these creatures make their home in the
classroom environment? |
|
2. |
Take the
class on the school grounds and give everyone, working in pairs,
five minutes to find an animal or some sign that an animal had
been there. Afterwards, sit with the class and discuss what
they found and the characteristics of each environment. |
|
3. |
Talk with
the students about life in the indoor and out door
environments. Emphasize that they have seen that people and
wildlife share environments. |
Extensions:
When the students
go home have them survey their yards, homes or neighborhoods and look
for wildlife. If they can’t name the creatures they see, have them
write descriptions and bring them back to class.
| 
