Animals come in many shapes and sizes, inhabit different places, and live in different ways. Biodiversity is the term that describes the many different species sharing one habitat. Understanding what makes a species special and where and how it lives are important if people are to learn to conserve and co-exist with wildlife. Divide students into several small groups.
Have one person teacher in each group be the recorder. Animal species names can be written in a column on the left side of the page. Each heading should be completed for each species. Take the students outside and have them list all the animals that they see. The recorder will write down all the species the students name and each individual or group that they see.
Try to include domestic and wild animals, if possible. Have them include not just mammals , but also birds , amphibians , and reptiles , if possible.
Go back inside the classroom and make one list of every species that was seen by the students. Each student in each group should choose one animal that is on the list and be responsible to total the number of animals seen and complete the categories listed above. By totaling these for all the groups, your list will tell you a great deal about the animals the class observed today. Have someone copy down all of the data collected today for later use. Let children use pictures of animals, field guides, and other books if needed.
Save these cards for future activities. If possible, do this activity a second time in another area where other species may be seen. Discuss which habitat had more biodiversity and why habitats may differ in biodiversity. Using the cards the students drew, separate into two piles, one of wild animals, one of domestic. Discuss their similarities and differences. Then have students draw scenes where wild animals would be found and scenes where domestic animals would be found.
Clip a picture of an animal on the back of a student. The student turns around so the other students can look at it. Then the student asks questions to find out what the animal is. Talk as a group first about the kinds of questions to ask:. Make an alphabet book of animal species. For example, the prickly pear cactus , which is adapted for sandy soil, dry climate s, and bright sunlight, grows well in desert areas like the Sonoran Desert in northwest Mexico. It would not thrive in wet, cool areas with a large amount of overcast shady weather, like the U.
The main component s of a habitat are shelter , water, food, and space. A habitat is said to have a suitable ar range ment when it has the correct amount of all of these. Sometimes, a habitat can meet some components of a suitable arrangement , but not all.
For example, a habitat for a puma could have the right amount of food deer, porcupine, rabbits, and rodents , water a lake , river, or spring , and shelter tree s or dens on the forest floor. The puma habitat would not have a suitable arrangement, however, if it lacks enough space for this large predator to establish its own territory.
An animal might lose this component of habitat—space—when humans start building homes and businesses, pushing an animal into an area too small for it to survive. Space The amount of space an organism needs to thrive varies widely from species to species. For example, the common carpenter ant needs only a few square inches for an entire colony to develop tunnels, find food, and complete all the activities it needs to survive.
In contrast, cougar s are very solitary , territorial animals that need a large amount of space. Cougars can cover square kilometers square miles of land to hunt and find a mate. A cougar could not survive in the same amount of space that a carpenter ant needs.
Plants need space, too. Coast redwood trees, like the ones in Redwood National Park in the U. A tree that massive would not have enough space to grow and thrive in a typical community park or yard.
Space is not the same as range; the range of an animal is the part of the world it inhabits. For example, in the northern part of the U. If there were a drought , plants would become scarce. It would no longer be a suitable arrangement. Too much food can also disrupt a habitat. Algae is a microscopic aquatic organism that makes its own food through the process of photosynthesis.
Nutrients like phosphorous contribute to the spread of algae. Algae also dies very quickly, and the decay ing algae produces an algal bloom. The algal bloom can discolor the water, turning it green, red, or brown.
Algal blooms can also absorb oxygen from the water, destroy ing the habitat of organisms like fish and plants. Water Water is essential to all forms of life. Every habitat must have some form of a water supply. Some organisms need a lot of water, while others need very little. For example, dromedary camel s are known for their ability to carry goods and people for long distances without needing much water.
Dromedary camels, which have one hump, can travel kilometers miles without a drink of water. Even with very little access to water in a hot, dry climate, dromedary camels have a suitable arrangement in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Cattails, on the other hand, are plants that grow best in wet areas, like marsh es and swamp s. Dense colonies of these tall, spiky plants grow directly in the mud beneath lakes, stream banks, and even neighborhood pond s.
Imagine a pond at the bottom of a dirt-covered cliff. If enough loose dirt slid down into the pond, it could fill up the pond and absorb the water, not leaving enough for the cattails to grow. Shelter also provides a space for eating, sleeping, hunting, and raising a family. Shelters come in many forms. A single tree, for example, can provide sheltered habitats for many different organisms.
For a caterpillar , shelter might be the underside of a leaf. For a mushroom fungus , shelter might be the cool, damp area near tree root s. For a bald eagle , shelter may be a high perch to make a nest and watch for food. Although they are not endangered, their habitat is growing smaller.
Visit the link for a brief overview of how animals adapt to their habitat. Did you know that animals camouflage themselves so they can adapt to their environment? Adaptation can protect animals from predators or from harsh weather. Many birds can hide in the tall grass and weeds and insects can change their colour to blend into the surroundings.
This makes it difficult for predators to seek them out for food. Some animals, like the apple snail, can survive in different ecosystems- from swamps, ditches and ponds to lakes and rivers.
This is often the case in swamps and shallow waters. To know more about how the apple snail can survive in different habitats visit the link. In the harsh cold climate of Alaska, the animals have learnt to adapt to the weather by storing food in their body and protecting themselves from the cold with thick furs.
Human inhabitants in Alaska have also learnt to cope with the environment by building shelters that insulate and hold the heat, and yet do not allow the structure to melt. To know more about this go to this website.
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