Special Feature Lesson:
Special Feature Lesson:Students research one animal's habitat, food, water and shelter requirements. They communicate what they learn by decorating and assembling an "animal life block."
Print out the Animal Life Block pattern. Make enough photocopies for each student to use. You may wish to assemble a life block in advance to use as a model for the class. Note: You may want to enlarge the animal life block pattern on a photocopier, or recreate it by hand so the squares are larger.
Review the Puddler Special Feature story. Define and discuss habitats. Share common examples, such as forest, pond, prairie and wetland habitats. Ask students to name animals that live in a given habitat. Choose one example and talk about that animal's food, shelter and water needs.
Challenge students to learn about a wild animal of their choice: where it lives (habitat), what it eats, how it gets water, and the home it uses (shelter). You may wish to have younger students choose from a list of animals that are easy to research. Or, you can provide the needed information to the class by reading books out loud on a certain animal. Direct older students to resources such as books, magazines, the Internet and CD-ROMs.
Give students copies of the Animal Life Block pattern. Explain that they will use what they have learned to decorate each side of the life block and put it together. Share the following directions with them.
1. Decorate each side (square) of the life block to match the word shown. Make drawings, paste on pictures cut from magazines, and/or write a few words. Show the animal, its habitat, the food it eats, the water it drinks and the shelter it uses. Note: Be sure students orient the art with the words, so that it faces the proper way when the block is put together.
2. Cut out the pattern along the solid black lines. Note: If you want the finished block to be more durable, have students paste the cut-out shape to a piece of construction paper, and cut it out again.
3. Fold the shape along each dotted line. Fold in toward the center so the decorated squares show.
4. Tape the edges together where they meet to make a block shape. Set the block so that the "BOTTOM" side is on the bottom, and the "ANIMAL" side is on the top.
Have students talk about their life blocks. Challenge them to group the blocks according to habitat type, animal type, food type or shelter type.