Disciplinary Unit Final Project

I. General Information:

Grade Level: 2nd grade

Discipline: Science

Unit Topic: Animal Habitats

Time Frame: one 50 minute class (possibly 2 class periods if necessary)

Text: The Magic School Bus Hops Home: A Book About Animal Habitats
by Joanna Cole

Other Materials: poster paper, crayons/colored pencils/markers, student

made habitat journals

II. Essential Understand/Questions:

How do animals interact with their habitats?

Comparing/Contrasting habitats

How do animals interact with their habitats in order to get what they need to
survive?

III. Standards/Indicators:

Topic

F. Ecology

Indicator

1. Explain that organisms can grow and survive in many very different
habitats.
Objectives
 1 Investigate a variety of familiar and unfamiliar habitats and describe how
animals and plants found there maintain their lives and survive to reproduce.
2 Explain that organisms live in habitats that provide their basic needs
o Food
o Water
o Air
o Shelter

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1

Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2

topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.3

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading,
or listening.

IV. Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to identify various habitats and the animals that live in each.

Students will be able to explain characteristics of various habitats.

V. Evaluation/Assessments:

This is the final project for this unit and will be graded using a rubric that is
available at: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?
screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=2687932

At the conclusion of this lesson, students habitat journals will be collected for a
completion grade (and in some cases graded on writing abilities).
VI. Procedures:

Introduction

The teacher will lead a class discussion about the habitats that the class has
learned about and students will create chart in their habitat journals with the
characteristics of each habitat.
The teacher will introduce the final group project students will be working
on for the rest of class and possibly the next class.

Teaching/Activities

Students are randomly broken up into groups of three. Each group must
create their own island that consists of at least three different habitats. Each
student must be in charge of creating one of the habitats.
Students will work with their group to draw their island on poster paper,
making sure each habitat is visible. Along with the poster, each student is
responsible for writing a paragraph about the habitat they created (students
may use their habitat journals to help them).
Students will also prepare to present their island to the class.

Closure

Once all groups have finished their posters/presentations, each group will
give a short presentation about the island they created and the habitats within
their island.

***If students are not finished at the end of day one, the teacher should collect all
materials and allow students to finish the following science class. If this occurs, the
closure for day one would be cleaning up the classroom and collecting posters.
Day two would consist of students finishing their projects and sharing them with
the class. ***