Animals and thier Habitats

A WebQuery for 2nd Grade

Breanne Cresto
crestob@cwu.edu

Lupita Sanchez
sanchezg@cwu.edu

Introduction

You have gone on a field trip, to the Woodland Park Zoo. When you first arrive at the zoo you notice that thier is complete chaos. A frantic zookeeper approaches you and asks you to help her return the aminals that have escaped, back into thier correct habitats.

To be able to help the zookeeper return the animals to their appropriate habitats, you will have to research four different types of habitats and idenify which each animal belongs to.

Remember: It's important for each animal to be returned to their correct home so they can feel comfortable and safe, it might be too chilly in the artic for a dessert animal!

Task

You can help the zookeeper, by researching and exploring the four different animals. You will use any resources available; books, technology, magazines, etc.

You will be gathering data and research to help you determine the correct enviornment/habitat for the four differnt types of animals, Remember, your descion about where each animal should go, should be based on your research.

Jaguar
Sea Turtle
Penguin
Coyote

As your researching the four different animals, you will be filling out a worksheet to help you organize the information and facts on which animals belongs where.

Once you have succesfully completed this task. You will be creating a visual representation (i.e. diorama, poster, collage, etc) of either an artic, rainforest, dessert, or marine biome and the animal to go along with it.

The Process

Here are a few questions to help guide you through this assignment. You might not need to answer all of these questions, but they might be useful in completing your assignment.

What can you tell me about animal habitats?
Where should you start gathering the information you need about the different animals?
What kinds of information will be most useful?
Where can you find the information needed?
How do you know if the information you find is correct/true?
What did you learn from your research about the topic?
How can the info you find be organized or displayed to make it useful?
What patterns can you detect in the information you have collected? Any similarities or differences that are important?
Do you have enough information to complete the task?
If not, what else is needed?
Once you have all of the information you need, what is the best way to use it and complete the task?
Have you checked the rubric and task to make sure that you have completed all aspects of the task?
Does your visual representation truly represent the animal and their correct habitat?

Resources

The following internet sites will provide you with all the necessary information you will need to complete the assignment. Within each site you will need to do some reasearch in order to find the animals you are looking for. One site may not have the animal you are looking for so be sure to look at as many sites as you need. Also, feel free to do your own research and look at other sites that are not listed, but remember to document the sites you used.

National Geographic - Animal Facts

Information on animals. great graphics and pictures. Provides lots of information on animal habitats and behaviors. Is a great easy to use resource.

Animal Fact Sheets

A list of animals from all over the world. With facts on over 50 species of animals.

Ranger Rick

This site offers great guides for learning more about many different kinds of animals.

The World Almanac for Kids

Great information and pictures on a variety of different animals.

Evaluation

The following is a rubric based on your completed assignment. You will be graded on your internet use by listing what sites were used when doing research, on your worksheet that shows correct identification of four different animal's habitats, also on your diorama and how it represents the animal and their habitat.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Internet Use	Successfully uses suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Usually able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Occasionally able to use suggested internet links to find information and navigates within these sites easily without assistance.	Needs assistance or supervision to use suggested internet links and/or to navigate within these sites.
Graphic Organizer	Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between all topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has been completed and shows clear, logical relationships between most topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has been started and includes some topics and subtopics.	Graphic organizer or outline has not been attempted.
Visual Representation	Visual representation is neat, accurate and add to the understanding of the topic.	Visual representation is accurate and adds to the understanding of the topic.	Visual representation is neat and accurate and somewhat adds to the understanding of the topic.	Visual representation is not accurate OR does not add to the understanding of the topic.

Conclusion

Now that you have returned all the animals to their habitat you have learned along the way why certain animals can only live in habitats that are specific to their needs.

Next time you go on a trip to the zoo, we encourage you to look at other animals and their habitats. Where might an elephant live? Or how about a tiger?

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