Unit Overview

This unit is an exploration of three habitats. The habitats focused on are rainforests, deserts, and coral reefs.  

Students will develop an understanding of what a habitat is.  

They will watch a PowerPoint presentation that introduces them to all three habitats.  

In this presentation, they will see animals from each area with links to additional information on each slide.  

Some links will allow them to hear animal sounds such as whales and dolphins as well as expose them to some of the fascinating projects out on the web such as The Jason Project.  

The unit goes on to explore each habitat individually after which students cooperatively complete murals for class display.  

The rainforest lesson goes a bit more in depth with the use of a Scavenger Hunt guided Web page.  

The unit culminates with a celebration in which the class hosts a rainforest luncheon with a menu of foods that are grown or produced from vegetation in the rainforest.  

Resources

 Desert USA Take a virtual tour of the desert at this Web site

Desert Ecosystem Great site to view the desert at night

Rainforest Explorer A solid introduction to the rainforest

Rainforest Live This site has a section for students and a section for teachers

Reef Life This site describes the various types of coral reefs

Coral Realm This site has information on reef fish, sharks and rays

Standards

The student understands the process and importance of genetic diversity.

The student understands the competitive, interdependent, cyclic nature of living things in the environment.  

The student uses technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity and promote creativity.

The student uses technology to locate, evaluate and collect information from a variety of sources.

The student uses the writing process to communicate effectively.