Lesson

Title/Foc
us

Where are certain animals

found within Alberta, and
why?

Cour
se

Science - Grade
3
English - Grade
3

LESSON OUTCOMES
Demonstrate awareness that animals require different habitats in order to meet their basic
needs of food, water, shelter and space
Choose appropriate forms of oral, print and other media texts for communicating and sharing
ideas with others

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. By the end of the lesson, students will demonstrate an awareness of the habitat needs of
various animals through visual, oral and demonstrative formats. (Understanding)
2. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to produce visual and written representations of
their specific research [Poster Presentation or Write-up]. (Understanding)
3. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify important/relevant attributes of
effective research. (Understanding)

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Flash Cards with animal names on them
Ipads with pre-approved websites based on wildlife
Resources from the library based on wildlife (Nature Encyclopedia. What is
Hibernation? What is migration? Underground habitats. Animal Homes. Backyard
Habitats. A Grassland habitat. Life in a Grassland. Forest Food Chains. A Forest Habitat.
Why am I Rare? Gone Wild. The Food Chain. Predator! Predator. Nature All Year Long.
My First Nature Treasury. The Nature Book. The Jumbo Book of Nature Science. Alberta:
A Natural History.)
Resources from LearnAlberta for online information: trueflix bookflix
Poster paper
Previous poster for an example
Markers
Tape
Checklist (Pre-made)

PREPARATION AND LOGISTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Make Ipad cart available to students who want technology based research
Make resources available to students who want book based research
Have flash cards ready to hand out
Depending on the how well the teacher knows the class, we will either decide the groups ahead
of time or leave it to chance. Pre-decision would be to avoid unfair assessment.
Have an example of a previous poster
Guiding questions on the board (Prompt questions)

PROCEDURE

Introduction
Introduce the overarching question: What is the purpose of the Parks in
Alberta?
This is done through a brief skit, pretending to be a Parks Ranger. Introducing
ideas about: What kinds of animals are found in Alberta Parks? Ideas about the
relationship between predators and prey, and what that categorization means.
What kinds of habitats are evident in Alberta? Forest, prairie, mountains, caves,
lakes & rivers, rural & urban. What kinds of animals do we see within
Lethbridge? Are there animals that can be found in both urban settings and
natural settings? What animals live exclusively in the wild?
Body
Animal
1. Have students stand up and find the corresponding animal
that is presented on the flashcard they have been given
Research
2. Ask students to determine whether they are predator or prey
3. Ask partners to take either an Ipad or Resource book
(whichever they prefer) and begin researching the animal
that was presented on their card
a. Does your animal exist in a city, outside of the city, or both?
b. What does your animal eat?
c. Does your animal make a shelter? If so, what kind of
shelter?
d. How much space does your animal need to live?
Developmen1.
a.
t of Mini
Project
b.

c.

Oral
Presentatio
ns

2.
3.
1.
2.
a.

3.

Describe the assignment to the class

Students will create a poster about their animal shown on
their card that answers the questions posed above.
Show an example from a previous students poster - make
sure to describe that the project needs a visual element and a
written portion on the poster. Discuss the rubric for the
assignment.
Tell students that their will be an oral presentation when
they are finished in which half of the students will walk
around and view the other halfs presentations and vice
versa.
Have the poster paper and markers ready up at the front.
Allow students time in order to complete the projects.
Once the projects have been completed, ask the students to
hang their posters around the classroom (use the tape
provided by the teacher)
Gather students together and hand out the checklist
Describe the purpose of the checklist - complete the
checklist while viewing your classmates works. Put an X or
a check mark after finding the appropriate animal and name
the animal on your checklist
Divide the partner groups in half and have one half of the
groups stand by their project

Time

10 min

Time

30 min

30 min

35 min

a. Describe the purpose of the project is to inform your

classmates on what you have researched. For 15 minutes,
allow the other half of the students to view their classmates
projects.
b. Remind the students who are viewing that they are to fill
out their checklists while going to different projects.
4. Have students begin their presentations, once the 15 minutes
is up, switch the presenters and the viewers for 15 minutes.
(Walk around the classroom and observe each students
presentations)
Closure

Closure
Have students return to their seats once the presentations are
complete.
Use prompt questions to engage students in discussion
Which of these animals can be found within Lethbridge?
Which ones do you think are found outside of Lethbridge?
Which animals are found in both?
Do you think Parks are like homes for animals that can't live
with humans?
Are Parks designed to keep humans out, or to keep animals
in?
How can we ensure that other animals can acquire the
resources they need to be comfortable?
Allow students to finish filling in any blanks in their
checklist throughout the discussion
Have the students hand in their checklists

Time

10 min

Assessment
Exit Slip (Checklist) Formative Assessment (Learning Objective #1)
Observation and Discussion (Through presentations and closure
discussions) Formative Assessment (Learning Objectives #1- 3)
Grammar on presentations - Formative Assessment (Learning Objective
#2)
Clarity of content (Learning Objectives #1-3)
Posters - Summative Assessment (based on rubric)