Wildlife 'Real Estate' Ads

1. As communities spread out, spaces for native plants and animals usually become smaller, making it a challenge for native species to survive.
2. Have students find out which large and small mammals, reptiles, birds, insects, fish, trees, flowers, and plants are native to their area. Are any of them losing their homes because of development? Research the habitat for one native plant or animal species. Find out what is required for it to survive.
3. Real estate ads are usually used to advertise people’s homes. Use Crayola Markers to create an imaginary real estate ad for a home for the plant or animal you identified. These are just a few layout ideas—invent your own captivating design!
4. In the center of the ad, draw a living thing. Create a border by writing words describing the plant or animal’s environmental needs. Display the posters in the community.

LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.

LA: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

LA: Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate.

LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.

MATH: Represent and interpret data.

SCI: Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

SCI: Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

SS: Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment

SS: Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Possible classroom resources: A Forest Habitat (Introducing Habitats) by Bobbie Kalman; A Desert Habitat (Introducing Habitats) by Kelley MacAuley & Bobbie Kalman; A Rainforest Habitat (Introducing Habitats) by Molly Aloian & Bobbie Kalman; The Arctic Habitat (Introducing Habitats) by Molly Aloian & Bobbie Kalman; A Grassland Habitat (Introducing Habitats) by Kelley MacAuley & Bobbie Kalman

Invite a local naturalist to speak with the class about the community's environment, long ago changes and more recent changes to the community. After the visit, students post learning to a class blog.

Students work in small groups to gather data on native plants and animals that remain in their community. With the assistance of an adult, rope off a wooded area and attempt to count how many ties a certain native animal is spotted or a common plant. Gather data and organize it into a graph format for presentation to classmates. Contemplate why these plants and animals are thriving in your community.

Students work in small groups to investigate their community's past animal and plant life that appear to have been pushed out of the local environment. Students draw sketches of the animals and plants that have left the local environment. Discuss what changes in the environment to force them out. Brainstorm what can be done to the local habitats to invite these organisms back to a safe and healthy home.

Students investigate how they can join efforts to restore the habitat of a living organism that they have researched. Devise a plan of action to keep the organism's habitat healthy for living things.