By becoming “habitat pen pals,” students learn about the diversity of habitats in their state, and write letters from the perspective of organisms living in those habitats.

Time Considerations

One or more 50-minute periods

Materials

• Copies of Habitats around the World teacher page
• Pictures of additional animals and habitats (optional, see Getting Ready)
• Student roster
• Chart paper, markers
• Tape
• Paper and pencils

Key Vocabulary

habitat, pen pal

Getting Ready

• Using the Habitats Around the World teacher page, select two or three habitats found in your state that your students may find familiar (such as forest, wetland, and ocean). Make enough copies of those pages so that there is one animal picture for each student in your class. Cut apart the pages, separating the habitat pictures and the animal pictures. (You may wish to supplement with pictures from the Internet of additional animals that live in each habitat.)
• Tape each habitat picture to a separate piece of chart paper labeled with that habitat’s name. Spread the animal pictures out on a table.
• On a student roster, assign an animal to each student and assign student pairs to be secret pen pals, making sure that pen pal pairs have animals from different habitats.

Doing the Activity

1. Introduce the activity by reminding students they have explored their schoolyard habitat, but there are many other habitats, near and far. Today, they will explore some other nearby habitats.
2. Have the students think of some nearby natural areas. For example, they might think of a nearby park, pond, forest, river, meadow, or even a vacant lot. Write each of these habitats on the board as students mention them.
3. Ask the students to name the types of animals that they would expect to live in each of these local habitats.
4. Tell the students that there are many different kinds of habitats. Show students the pictures of the two or three habitats you have selected. Have the students try to identify where each habitat might be found and what it might be like there.
5. Invite students to come up, one at a time, and choose an appropriate animal picture to tape under one of the habitat pictures. Offer direction, as necessary, on which animals go with which habitats. Tape the pictures on the chart paper to create a poster for each habitat.
6. Explain that they’ll be writing a letter to a pen pal from the point of view of an animal. Tell students who their pen pals will be and whisper to each student their assigned animal. Explain that the students should keep their habitats and their animal identities.
7. Write the following questions on the board:
   • What is your habitat like?
   • What other animals live in your habitat?
   • What’s a plant that lives in your habitat?
   • Why is this habitat a good place to live?
8. Tell the students that they should address each of these questions in their letters, but they shouldn’t name either the habitat or the animal they are writing about. Encourage the students to be accurate—yet creative—in the ways they address each point. For example, instead of simply saying, “Beetles live in my habitat,” a pen pal could say, “I had a delicious breakfast of beetles this morning.” Explain that, by addressing each point accurately and with lots of interesting detail, each “animal” will be providing hints about his or her identity and habitat.
9. Give students time to write their letters. Have them fold the letter in half and address it to their assigned pen pal.
10. Deliver the letters to the appropriate pen pals. Give the students time to read the letters they received and to try to figure out which animal and habitat are described. Then have the students share the letters they received with the rest of the group. (If a student is unable to figure out which animal or habitat his or her pen pal represents, ask for suggestions from classmates.)

Remember to visit the Enrich tab for recommended children’s books that support the science concepts covered in this activity.

Students look for signs of animals living in and around trees in the schoolyard, observing how a tree can serve as a habitat or as one part of habitat.

Time Considerations

50 minutes

Materials

• Copies of Safari Count student page
• Clipboards or hard writing surfaces (alternatively, digital cameras or tablets)
• Hand lenses
• Optional: student-made binoculars from 3: Trees as Habitats

Key Vocabulary

safari, sign

Getting Ready

• Plan this activity for a time of year when students are most likely to see animals outdoors, such as fall or spring.
• Before doing the activity, locate an appropriate area on the school grounds that students can explore. SAFETY: Check the site for any hazards such as deep holes, sharp objects, or poisonous or irritating plants.
• Plan to discuss appropriate outdoor behavior, as necessary. All living things, including plants, are to be respected and not injured in any way. Talk with students about following the rule: look, learn, leave alone. This includes leaving alone animals and their food, water, and shelter.

Doing the Activity

1. Ask students whether they have ever heard the word “safari,” and ask what kinds of things they might see on a safari. Point out that a safari doesn’t have to be to a faraway place, and that they can even take a safari in their own backyard. Ask, “What might you see on a backyard safari?”
2. Tell students that they are going on a safari of the school grounds. You might stimulate their imagination by having them pretend that buildings are mountains and cliffs or that the lawn is a jungle.
3. Explain that they will look and listen for signs of animals (including insects) living or visiting there. Tell students that they will need to search carefully to find animals and that they will be more likely to find an animal if they are quiet. Ask students for ideas about where they might look and list their suggestions on the board. Possibilities include on the bark and leaves of trees, on shrubs, in the cracks of sidewalks, among blades of grass, on utility wires, in the soil around plants, along the edges of buildings, under leaves, and on walls and fences.
4. Point out to students that in addition to actual animals, they should look and listen for signs of animals. Remind them of the animal signs they found in 3: Trees as Habitats, and ask them what other signs they might find. Possibilities include feathers, nests, animal tracks, leaves that have been nibbled, slug trails, or anthills. Point out that people are animals too, and they can also look for signs of “people life” like candy wrappers or footprints. Point out that people are animals too, and they can also look for signs of “people life.” SAFETY: Remind students about appropriate behavior for working outside. (See Getting Ready for 1: Adopt a Tree activity.)
5. Divide students into pairs or small groups. Take them outside and allow a few minutes for them to find two animals or signs of animals. Bring the group together and ask a couple of groups to share they have found so far.
6. Challenge students to continue looking for animals and to record the animals or signs they find. Pass out clipboards and copies of the Safari Count student page, or provide digital cameras or tablets, for students to record their findings. You might also distribute hand lenses or have them use the binoculars they made in 3: Trees as Habitats.
7. Bring the group together, and invite students to share their experiences and compare their findings. Focus on the following questions:
   • What animals did you observe living in our schoolyard?
   • What evidence did you find of other animals?
   • What do these animals need to live? (food, water, air, shelter, space)
   • What kinds of food might animals find on the school grounds?
   • Where do these animals get water?
   • What kind of shelter might animals find on the school grounds?
   • What were the largest and smallest animals you found?
   • What surprised you the most?
8. Back in the classroom, help students graph the data they collected on the safari. Looking at the graph or graphs, which animals were the most common or most numerous? What other patterns can they see?

Remember to visit the Enrich tab for recommended children’s books that support the science concepts covered in this activity.

Students inventory the plants and animals that live in, on, and around trees and discover how plants and animals depend on trees in many ways.

Time Considerations

50 minutes

Materials

• Copy of Good-night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins
• Samples of plant or animal life signs (see Getting Ready)
• Empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls cut in half
• Tissue paper, paint, glitter, or other decorating materials
• All in a Tree student page
• Hand lenses

Key Vocabulary

sign, habitat

Getting Ready

• Obtain a copy of Good-night, Owl! (See Literature Connections).
• Collect fallen leaves, twigs, bark, fruit, or nuts that show signs of plant or animal life in trees. (Signs may be chewed holes, tunnels, scrapings, insect egg cases, webs, galls, moss, lichen, or fungi.) As an alternative, you may collect pictures of these things.
• Gather toilet paper tubes or paper towel tubes cut in half. Tape two tubes together, side-by-side, to make binoculars.
• Find an area with several trees (any size) or shrubs that the students can examine, including your adopted tree. SAFETY: Check the site for any hazards such as deep holes, sharp objects, or poisonous or irritating plants.

Doing the Activity

1. Remind students that they been observing trees and their parts to learn about their characteristics. In this activity, they will be looking at other animals and plants that are in and around trees.
2. Ask: What animals have you seen in or on trees? What were the animals doing in the trees (eating, making a nest, resting, and so on)?
3. Read the story, Good-night, Owl! aloud to your students. Ask students to name the animals that visited the hollow tree. What sounds did the animals make? What was each animal doing there? How did they use the tree?
4. Show students the signs of plant or animal life you collected. Discuss each sign with the students. Tell them that these examples show ways that animals and other plants depend on trees, and that trees provide a habitat for these plants and animals.
5. Remind students about appropriate behavior outdoors (see Getting Ready for the Adopt a Tree activity). Then give them copies of the All in a Tree student page and lead them outside to a tree. Challenge them to find things living on the tree’s trunk and branches, recording what they see on the student page. Give them plenty of time to make their observations; they can pretend to use their binoculars to look at faraway things, or use their hand lenses to look at things up close. Ask these questions:
   • Can you spot bird nests, chewed leaves, or other animal signs?
   • Do you see any animals climbing around or in the tree, or flying to and from it?
   • Do you see any other plants growing on the tree?
6. Have students look on the ground around the tree for fallen leaves, twigs, bark, fruits, seeds, or nuts that might also show signs of animal or plant life. Can they find any of the examples that you showed them earlier?
7. Wrap up with a discussion that introduces the concept of habitat as a place where an organism lives and which provides food, water, shelter, and space. (Space refers to having enough room to get access to resources like food, water, and shelter.) Ask:

• • How might a tree provide food?
  • Which organisms use some part of the tree for food? For water? For shelter?

Remember to visit the Enrich tab for recommended children’s books that support the science concepts covered in this activity.

Students explore the parts of a tree through mystery boxes, a blindfolded walk, and by sorting different leaves. This activity sharpens observation skills and descriptive vocabulary of trees and tree parts.

Time Considerations

Parts A and B: 50 minutes
Part C: 50 minutes

Materials

For Part A:

• Natural objects from trees (see Getting Ready)
• Medium-sized box (no smaller than a shoebox)
• Old sock, tape or needle and thread (optional)
• Chart paper
• Bags or containers for collecting natural objects (one per student)

For Part B:

• Blindfolds or masks (one for each pair of students)

For Part C:

• Tree leaves
• Needle-shaped leaves or pictures (optional, see Getting Ready)

Key Vocabulary

tree, senses, wood, food, paper, product, pulp

Getting Ready

• Find an area where several different kinds of trees grow, preferably including your adopted tree. If your school has few trees, perhaps you could take the students to a wooded park. SAFETY: Check the site for any hazards, such as deep holes, sharp objects, or poisonous or irritating plants.
• Collect one or more objects from the ground underneath each of the trees. For example, you might collect several kinds of leaves (pointy edges, fuzzy underside, pine-needle clusters); bark (smooth, rough, crumbly); and nuts, seeds, or fruits (acorns, walnuts, pine cones). NOTE: Do not tear living parts off trees.
• Cut a hole in the top of the box. The hole should be no larger than necessary for a hand to fit through comfortably. You may want to tape or sew the top part of a sock to the hole to prevent students from peeking in. Put the objects you collected into the box.
• (Optional) If your site doesn’t have them, collect a few clusters of needle-shaped leaves from another location. If this is not possible, find a picture of needles that you can share with the students.

Doing the Activity

PART A—Mystery Box

1. Ask the students what is important about the sense of touch. How do they use their sense of touch? Can they identify objects using only their sense of touch? Show students a variety of objects in the classroom, inviting them to touch and describe each object. List the descriptors (adjectives) on chart paper to make a “word bank” for the rest of the activity.
   SAFETY: Remind students about appropriate behavior for working outside. (See Getting Ready for 1: Adopt a Tree activity.)
2. Take the students to the place where you found the natural objects and give each person a bag or other container. Have each student reach into the mystery box you prepared earlier and feel as many of the items as possible. Have them describe the objects they feel.
3. Then have students search for “tree parts” that match those in the mystery box. Point out that they should not tear living parts off trees or other plants. Tell them to put the tree parts in their containers.
4. Bring the students together and ask volunteers to pull one object at a time from the mystery box. Have the students hold up the object they collected that matches the one from the box.

PART B—Feel the Difference

1. Take students to the wooded area you selected for the activity. Divide the group into pairs, giving each pair a blindfold. Explain that partners will take turns wearing the blindfold and examining a tree using only touch. (Students can just close their eyes if they’re uncomfortable wearing a blindfold.) SAFETY: Point out any potential hazards students should avoid.
2. Have the sighted partners carefully lead their blindfolded partners to a tree. SAFETY: The safest way to lead is to have the blindfolded person take the “sighted” partner’s arm and walk about a half step behind him or her. The “sighted” person should walk slowly and describe anything that needs to be avoided. When they reach the tree, the “sighted” partner should place the blindfolded partner’s hand on the tree.
3. The blindfolded student should examine the tree’s bark and, if possible, its leaves and other features. After they’ve spent a few minutes at the first tree, have students move on to another tree. Tell them to pay close attention to the differences and similarities between the two trees.
4. Have the students switch roles and repeat the activity. (If possible, have the students choose new trees for each blindfolded person.)
5. When everyone is finished, bring the students together and have them describe the different trees they examined. Then see if the students can find which trees they explored based on what they felt. If they can’t find the tree, their partners can show them.
6. Invite students to write a description of their experiences, using descriptive words drawn from the word bank in Part A.

PART C—Looking at Leaves

1. Take students to the wooded area you selected for the activity. Ask each student to collect three to five different kinds of leaves. Encourage them to only pick up leaves from the ground, rather than pulling them off plants.
2. Direct students to work in pairs or trios, pooling their leaves together. Ask them to examine their leaves and sort them into groups so that all the leaves in a group are alike in some way.
3. Have students share some of the ways they sorted the leaves. Ask:
   • What are some differences among the leaves?
   • What do the leaves have in common?
   • Do any leaves have teeth (pointy edges)?
   • Do any have hairs? Where?
   • What do the leaves feel like?
   • Who found the biggest leaf? The narrowest leaf? The smallest leaf?
   • Have any leaves been eaten by insects? How can you tell?
   • Can you trace the veins on the leaves with your fingers?
4. If no one collected needles, pass out some that you collected earlier or show them a picture of needles. Have students compare the needles with the other leaves.
5. Have each student give one of their leaves to another student. Explain that they will find what kind of tree that leaf came from. Walk from tree to tree, and have students compare their leaves with leaves on the tree. If a student has a leaf that matches a plant, stop and examine it more closely:
   • Where on the branch do leaves grow?
   • Do the leaves grow far apart from each other, close together, or in clumps?
   • If the leaves are needle-like, how many needles are in each cluster?
   • Are all the clusters the same? Are all the needles in the cluster the same length?
   • Do all the leaves on the tree look exactly the same?
   • What color are the leaves?
   • Are this tree’s leaves larger or smaller than the leaves of other trees in the area?
   • What’s similar or different about this tree and another nearby tree?
6. Continue looking at trees until all students have found the tree from which their leaf came from.

Remember to visit the Enrich tab for recommended children’s books that support the science concepts covered in this activity.

Remember to visit the Enrich tab for recommended children’s books that support the science concepts covered in this activity.