Ecosystems: Habitats

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

There are so many different types of places around the world!

• Can you think of a few amazing places on the earth?

• Did you think of a dense jungle with monkeys swinging from the trees?
• What about a frozen tundra where polar bears can be found?
• When you pictured your places, did you think of animals and plants, or people and buildings?

• Did you know cities and forests both provide habitats for animals?

A habitat is a physical area where animals and plants can be found.

• How would you describe the physical area where your learning space is located?
• Are there any plants and animals around you?

There are many ways to describe habitats.

Habitats have certain abiotic factors that affect what can live there. An abiotic factor is a nonliving part of the environment. This means the temperature of the environment, amount of rainfall, weather, and even how much sunlight an environment gets, affects what can live there.

• For example, do you think a camel would be able to survive in the snowy tundra? Why or why not?

• Did you say camels couldn't survive in the tundra because it is too cold?

Fantastic! Camels don't have thick coats like most tundra animals do. They would not be able to survive the cold weather.

A habitat is an area where animals and plants are able to survive. Habitats provide animals with shelter, food, water, and protection.

Remember, habitats are only made up of physical features. This means the soil, temperature, sunlight, and weather.

A habitat focuses on where one population of species lives. This means a habitat may only focus on one species, like a chipmunk, living in a small patch of forest. The small patch of forest is that chipmunk's habitat.

Habitats can be big or small. A chipmunk's habitat is much smaller than a wolf's habitat. A chipmunk usually stays within a small area of forest.

Wolves do much more traveling than chipmunks. A wolf can travel up to thirty miles each day. This makes their habitat much bigger than the habitat of a tiny chipmunk.

Another way to think about habitats is by thinking of the area where you live.

If you don't live in the city, pretend you do. Picture the city in your mind. The city is huge! There are lots of tall buildings, cars, and roads. The city is not your habitat — that's way too big!

Zoom into your neighborhood — it is still a little too vast. Zoom in a little more to your family. Still too big! Finally, zoom into your house. Your house is your habitat.

It is only a tiny bit of the large city you pictured, but that is what a habitat is! Your habitat is the physical area (your house) and all its abiotic factors that allow you to survive.

Before moving on to the next section, explain out loud what an abiotic factor in your habitat is.