TITLE: Exploring Habitats and Our Environment
7, 8	3-4 weeks for activities and 2-3 more weeks to start the naturalization project.
Students will complete audits of home, school, community and report on how these can affect our lifestyles.

Language, Mathematics, Science and Technology

**** ecology, produce, consumer, food web, food chain, environment ****

Optional Activities

• Individual research
• Group work
• Computer simulations and models
• Field Studies

Recommended Activities

1. Oh Deer! Student become "deer" and components of habitat in a highly-involving physical activity.
2. Food Chains
   • Terms of ecology using computer program ECOLAB or Biology: the Environment II: "Cycles and Interactions". or C.W.F. Package for National Wildlife Week, 1996, Learning About Wildlife, Unit 14 may be utilized.
   • From the knowledge they have obtained, students may construct their own food chain and identify the niche of each organism.
3. Backyard/schoolyard conversion plan, may be a model or poster. Activities for the Naturalized Area could include:
   • What Shall We Grow?
   • Food for Our Feathered Friends
   • Bird Identification
   • Build a Bird Feeder
   • Create a Pond
4. Construct or modify a habitat to produce a more "natural" ecosystem, e.g.
   • bird house
   • bat house
   • nesting box
   • butterfly box
   • plant an alternative lawn
5. Disappearing Habitats
   1. Brainstorm how we affect our environment, e.g.,

      oil spills

      hazardous/non-hazardous waste production

      population growth

      and decide how these factors contribute to disappearing habitats.
   2. Activities for Disappearing Habitats
      • Endangered Species
      • Collingwood Bioregion Wildlife Habitat Destruction

Project Wild

Videos
Available from SCBE resources:

• VL1358 - Harmony Puzzle - Environment and Economy
• VL0888 - Conserving our Natural Resources
• VL1235 - Hooked on Oil (Nature of Things)

Internet

WWW resources may be used for a variety of purposes:

1. teacher background information;
2. downloading text, images, sounds and animations for creating student materials;
3. printed as "hard copy" student resources;
4. older students can be taught to find/block/copy/paste text and download images/sounds/animations for research/presentation purposes;
5. students may test hypotheses and discover concepts in an interactive environment;
6. younger students will need to work with an older student, parent helper, teacher-librarian or resource teacher;
7. all students should be instructed in safe and responsible use of the Internet.

• Energy Quest, (student resource)
• E Patrol, (student resource)
• Explorers' Club, (student resource)
• Backyard Wildlife Habitat Planning Guide, (student resource)
• Georgia Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat, (student resource)
• The Green Lane, Environment Canada,(teacher resource)
• EcoNet, (teacher resource)
• EnviroNet, (teacher resource)
• Destination Conservation, (teacher resource)
• GSN's Internet Project Registry, (teacher resource)
• Environmental Education-E-Library, (teacher resource)

• Teacher Observation
• Conferencing
• Self and Peer
• Work Samples
• Questioning
• Performance Indicators

Level 1

• Requires assistance to manage time constructively and organize materials
• Works in a group and independently when monitored
• Demonstrations include some of the required information
• Able to complete, with assistance, a basic audit of home and school (audits of waste, energy, water)

Level 2

• Requires occasional assistance to complete activities, including the organization and putting away of materials
• Is developing the ability to work in a group and independently
• Demonstrations reflect content and include some of the required information
• Able to complete basic audits of home, school and community (audits of waste, energy, water)

Level 3

• Uses time constructively to complete activities including organization and putting away of materials
• Works co-operatively in a group and independently as required
• Demonstrations reflect content in a clear manner and include all required information
• Able to complete several audits of home, school, community (audits of waste, energy, water)

Level 4

• Manages time constructively to complete activities including the organization and putting away of materials
• Works co-operatively in dividing tasks among group, assumes leadership role and also works independently as required
• Demonstrations reflect content using detailed information and extends to applications of everyday living
• Able to complete several detailed audits of home, school, community and report on how these can affect our lifestyles (audits of waste, energy, water)

• Group conferencing with teacher
• Individual conferencing with teacher
• Student presentations to large group (as an individual or in small groups)
• Written summaries of activities and results of experiments/audits
• Portfolio of unit
• Posters, dramas, video production

Lois Beiers, Greg Brucker, Paul Hannan, Tescor

This lessonware was prepared for ©ScbePack by Destination Conservation and The Simcoe County District School Board. For further information on the 200 outcomes based curriculum units available in ScbePack lessonware contact:

Bonnie Carter
bcarter@edctr.scbe.on.ca, 1-705-734-6363 ext. 270