Grade Level:  2

Objectives:  The students will be able to identify habitat characteristics of rainforests, deserts, and coral reefs.  This will include animals, vegetation, people and climate. 

Materials:  Class Murals (done in previous lessons), Rainforest lunch (peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chocolate chip cookie, pineapple fruit cups, and fruit punch), books to read: Swimmy by Leo Lionni, Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker, Mojave by Diane Siebert and videos such as Ferngully, The Little Mermaid)

Procedure:  Review definition of a habitat.  Ask students to identify the three habitats studied in the unit.  Students should be able to identify each habitat's animals, climate, and vegetation. 

Activity:  The students will be read a variety of books with settings of different habitats.  As a group, they are to identify the habitat and explain how they know this.  To culminate, the students will be served a lunch of food grown or produced with rainforest vegetation.  They will watch videos with settings of different habitats.  The class will be decorated with the murals made throughout the unit.   

Evaluation:  Students will be given a unit final where they will be asked to identify and describe habitat characteristics.  (This test should be made by the teacher for her individual class since she knows best the material covered and the ability of the students.) 

Extension Activity: Online Habitat Facts 

• Students will learn how to type various habitat Internet addresses and collect information on each habitat

• Students will launch the Internet and type following addresses:
  NOAA  - Year of the Ocean Kid's and Teacher's Corner
  Rainforest Action Network  - Kids learn what they can do to help the rainforest
  Cyber Zoo - Desert Biome

• Students will collect data about each habitat

• Teacher can create a box template for students to record information in or students can use a Desktop Publishing draw application to draw boxes

• Students will rewrite information collected in their own words in boxes

• Students will copy pictures from the Internet page to fill in blank areas

• To copy and paste on a Mac, click on the picture and hold down the mouse. A menu will appear, click on "Copy this image," click on File- Save

• On a PC, right click the image, click on "Copy," go back to document, go to Edit, click on "Paste," click on File- Save

• Spell check and print pages 

Homework: Students will design a rainforest menu and share with class. They can add clip art or their own art. Using desktop publishing, they can change the font, style and color. Remind students to proof read and spell check.

Tip: Students can save their work to a disk and print in school after proof reading and spell checking in class.