Utah State Science Core: 4th grade

Science ILOs: Communicate effectively using Science Language and Reasoning, Standard V Objective 2:Students will describe common plants and animals found in Utah environments and how these organisms have adapted to the environment in which they live.

Activity Objectives: Students will consider the survival needs of all living things.

Time needed: 1 hour.

Materials needed: Index cards, something to write with.

Best season: Any

Background information: None needed.

Engage:

Tell the class “We’re going to play a game.”  Pass out scrap paper or index cards to the group.  One for each individual.

Tell the following story:  “You are going to go on a camping trip for a whole month.  You are going to be with a group, and each member of the group is going to bring something that will help the whole group.  Expect that the weather will be variable.  There will be nice days and cold, blustery days.  You will not be able to go back home every night:  you are going out into the wild.  There will be no opportunities to go back and get more stuff.  Think of one thing you would want to have and write it on the card.  There are no wrong answers.  Remember that there are other people who are also bringing things.”

Explore:

Now give the following instructions:  “In a moment, I’m going to have you get up and form in groups.  Here are your criteria for group-forming.  You will look at the other cards in the room and make groups of 5 people.  You will want to make groups that will survive the month.  We won’t have a long time to form our groups.  I’m only going to give you 30 seconds to form your groups.  When you hear me make this obnoxious sound (make an obnoxious sound) it is time to stop.  Anyone who is not in a group by that time will be assigned to a group by me.  So begin.”

The class will form into groups of 5.  You might need to help them do this quickly.  Let them form groups according to their own ideas.

After 30 seconds has passed, make your obnoxious sound and then look at what you have.  Place the stragglers into the existing groups or into their own group.

Give the following instructions:  “Let’s now look at our groups and share what we have.  I’m going to write the stuff that you have on the board and then we’ll discuss it after everything is on the board.”

Have each group give tell you their items, and write them by group on the board.  Give them group names like group A, B, C, etc.  Don’t get too bound up in naming the groups.

After everyone has shared, have everyone sit down in his or her seats.

Explain:

As a class, compare the different groups.  Look at the items that they have, and determine whether or not this group will survive, given the things they are bringing.  Who is going to “die?”  Who is going to “survive?”  Why?  What are the things that they really need?  Is anything missing?

This is what the group needs to get by the end of the explain activity:

There are five components to habitat, which is the stuff that you need in order to survive.  You need food, water, shelter, space and air.  Without these things, you, or any living thing, would die.

Elaborate:

Have a discussion with the class.  Describe some specific environments in Utah, in particular, deserts, forests and wetlands.  What habitat resources are available in each?

What is plentiful in each of these environments?  What is harder to get in each of these environments?  Think of the animals that live in these environments.  What tools for survival do they have so they can get at these different resources? How do they cope with change, such as the onset of winter?

Evaluate:

Have each child select a plant or animal from a Utah environment and create a one page paper that includes a drawing or picture of the organism, a list of the organism's habitat needs (food, water, shelter, space, air), how it gets what it needs from its environment.  Also include a description of how the organism copes with scarce resources, such as when winter comes.