Lion Country Safari Habitats Vol. 1
(Designed for grades 1-3)
Purpose:
To recognize that living things exist in different habitats around the world, and that all living things need food, water, shelter, and space in order to survive.
Program length:
30-45 minutes
Background:
A habitat is the specialized area and specific conditions necessary for an animal to survive and grow naturally. This includes everything that animal may need on a day-to-day basis, such as food, water, shelter, and space in which to move freely. Habitats can be highly specialized such as one leaf on a particular tree for an insect, or generalized such as the Amazon rain forest for the scarlet macaw or two-toed sloth. Each animal needs a specialized habitat; however, many animals may share one habitat. Every living organism in a habitat exerts visible as well as invisible influences over every other living organism in that habitat. As a result, the types of relationships that can develop within any habitat are infinite in number. There are a few main habitats that cover the earth. While these are not the only habitats, they are the main ones that are easily recognized. The main habitats of the world are: rain forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, and temperate forests.
This program will introduce the students to the basic needs of all living things (food, water, shelter, and space) by meeting some animals and learning about their environment in the wild. Their learning will be reinforced with hands-on activities.
Sunshine State Standards: This program meets the following Next Generation Sunshine State Standards and is STEAM compliant:
SC.1.L.17.1 Through observation, recognize that all plants and animals, including humans, need the basic necessities of air, water, food, and space.
SC.2.L.17.1 Compare and contrast the basic needs that all living things, including humans, have for survival.
SC.2.L.17.2 Recognize and explain that living things are found all over Earth, but each is only able to live in habitats that meet its basic needs.
MAFS.1.G.1.2: Compose two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, right rectangular prisms, right circular cones, and right circular cylinders) to create a composite shape, and compose new shapes from the composite shape.
MAFS.K12.MP.2.1: Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
VA.1.H.3.1: Identify connections between visual art and other content areas.
VA.2.H.3.1: Describe connections made between creating with art ideas and creating with information from other content areas.
Pre-Visit Activity:
Habitat I Activity 1
This activity is designed to introduce students to some of Lion Country Safari’s animals and their habitats in the wild (Answers: two-toed sloth: rainforest; African lion: grasslands; African spurred tortoise: desert; American alligator: swamp)
Post-Visit Activity:
Habitat I Activity 2
Print a copy of this chart for each student (or group of students, if you would prefer that they work on this as a group activity) and ask the students to complete it on their visit. When you get back to class, review their charts.
Want to add an art activity to this program? Click here.
