This document provides the procedures for a 3-day standards-based learning activity where students will research animal habitats using an online database. On day 1, students will choose an animal and find pictures of it online. On day 2, they will research the habitat of their animal and get into groups based on habitat. On day 3, each group will create a habitat collage and include cut-out pictures of animals that live there. The activity aims to teach students about how animals' features help them live in different environments.

1. ProQuest Standards-Based Learning Activity
Animal Habitats
Teacher Procedures
APPROPRIATE FOR: Science, Grades K-2
TIMELINE: Two to three class periods
SCIENCE STANDARDS ADDRESSED THROUGH THIS LESSON
National Standards | Life Sciences Level I (Grade K-2)
Standard 5
• Knows that plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.
Standard 6
• Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environments.
• Knows that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that distinct
environments support the life of different types of plants and animals.
(source: http://www.educationworld.com/standards/national/science/index.shtml)
LEARNING EXPECTATIONS/OBJECTIVES
Students will use ProQuest eLibrary Elementary of SIRS Discoverer to describe different animal
habitats.
Students will make an animal habitat with the information they retrieve from ProQuest.
MATERIALS
• Computer with access to ProQuest and a printer
• Printer paper
• Pencils
• Colored pencils or markers
• Glue
• Scissors
• Roll of white butcher paper or other large paper
• Construction paper
• Old magazines
• Toilet and paper towel rolls, egg cartons, Styrofoam, etc.
ACTIVITY PROCESS: DIRECTIONS TO THE TEACHER
Description of Activity
Students will research a mammal, reptile, fish, insect or bird on SIRS Discoverer or eLibrary Elementary
to find out what kind of habitat it lives in. Based on their research, students will work in small groups to
make a habitat using a variety of collage materials.
© ProQuest LLC 2010 – May be copied for educational use only. 1

2. Background Information/Scenario
Children remember and learn more when they are actively engaged. The act of “doing” or “making” is
powerful in getting kids not just to learn about something and retain what they learned, but more
importantly to develop an excitement and intrigue for learning. In this activity, students create a habitat
using a variety of materials as a way to learn about animals and their habitats.
It would be helpful to collect some books about habitats to make accessible to the students. Have these
available as additional resources for this activity.
It would also be helpful for teachers to ask parents for some of the “junk” items listed in the material
section.
** This lesson can be a continuation of the Language Arts lesson, “Making Stories” and the Social Studies
lesson, “Where Do Animals Come From?” or it can be done independently. If the teacher has used
“Making Stories ” and/or “Where Do Animals Come From?” they can use the same animals that each
child chose to write their stories and proceed to the procedures for DAY TWO. Otherwise follow the
procedures below to find an animal starting on DAY ONE.
Outline of Procedures – Day One
1. Students will gather pictures of animals by doing a search on a ProQuest digital learning resource.
Assign a different animal for each child from the list below:
Giraffe
African Lion
Hippopotamus
Zebra
Crocodile
Kangaroo
Platypus
Koala
Wombat
Opossum
Bald Eagle
Grizzly Bear
Alligator
Fox
Swordfish
Iguana
Panda
Polar Bear
Walrus
Whale
2. Children will view pictures and decide which animal they want to study. Children will print out their
animal and write their names on the back of the pictures.
Outline of Procedures – Day Two
3. Students will go to the URLs of their animal when logged into ProQuest eLibrary Elementary or SIRS
Discoverer and find any information about the habitats of the animals. Use the URL links in DAY ONE.
To obtain more information, teachers and students can do a search on ProQuest Library Elementary or
browse through the topic tree under the Topics tab to secure useful information.
4. After reading the information about habitats and taking notes, divide students into small groups
according to which habitat their particular animal lives in. Each group will create one habitat, based on the
information they learned from their research.
© ProQuest LLC 2010 – May be copied for educational use only. 2

3. Outline of Procedures – Day Three
5. The teacher will put out all the materials for the habitats in a place that is easily accessible to students.
The teacher rolls out a long piece of butcher paper (3 - 6 feet long, depending on space in the classroom)
and places it on a group of desks or table for EACH group.
6. The teacher reconfirms with each group what can be found in their particular habitat. The information
they gathered and the books collected by teacher are all out so children can refer to them.
7. The students start making their habitat using the collage of materials. They do the “background” first.
For example, they might use torn pieces of blue construction paper for water in wetlands, paper towel
rolls for a trunk of a tree in the forest and markers for making brown small dots for sand in desert. They
keep making and creating until the paper is covered. Then, using the pictures of the animals they
retrieved from ProQuest, they will cut the animals out and put them within their habitat collages.
Conclusion/Finished Work
The teacher hangs the habitats up after they have finished drying. Each group chooses words to describe
their habitat. They write them down on small rectangle sized paper and hang them around their habitat.
ASSESSMENT
Students will be assessed based on these criteria:
• In what ways was the student involved with the activity?
• Were they a constructive member of their groups?
• Did they make the habitat according to the characteristics of a habitat that they learned from the
information found?
OPTIONAL EXTENDED ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES
Have children create “live” habitats. Have them make terrariums and/or aquariums of their own. Or, to
save time, space, and material, let them collaborate to make just one for the classroom.
© ProQuest LLC 2010 – May be copied for educational use only. 3