Purpose
Students investigate why a polar bear belongs in snow rather than a desert and explore what animals need to stay safe, warm, and fed. Through read-alouds, images, and shared research, they identify habitat features and adaptations, then collaborate to design a scientifically accurate animal-habitat diorama. Students use stop-and-think circles and San Diego Zoo examples to explain their choices, receive feedback, and revise one habitat feature. At Project Night, they present labeled dioramas and explain how each feature meets their animal’s needs.
Learning goals
Students will identify animals’ needs for food, water, shelter, and space and explain how habitats help animals stay safe, warm, and fed. They will use read-alouds, images, observations, and labeled drawings to research how fur, feet, color, body shape, and behavior help animals survive, then apply an external-part adaptation to a simple human design solution. Students will collaboratively design a habitat diorama, write or dictate steps for making it, use a stop-and-think circle to explain their choices, and revise one feature after comparing it with San Diego Zoo habitats. At project night, students will present their dioramas and clearly explain how each habitat feature meets their animal’s needs.
Products
Students will create a notice-and-wonder chart, labeled animal-and-habitat observations, and a shared research booklet using facts from read-alouds, pictures, and media. They will develop a habitat plan and illustrated building instructions showing food, water, shelter, space, and an adaptation-inspired feature. After a stop-and-think circle and feedback from San Diego Zoo photos or a message, students will document and complete one revision. The final product will be an animal habitat diorama presented at Project Night, with students explaining how each feature helps their animal stay safe, warm, or fed.
Launch
Display side-by-side images of a polar bear in a desert and in a snowy habitat, then lead a “Notice and Wonder” discussion using drawings and sentence stems. Ask students to choose which home better meets the bear’s needs and point to evidence about food, water, shelter, space, and warmth. Introduce a message or photos from the San Diego Zoo showing how zoo teams design animal habitats. Invite students to become habitat designers and investigate, “What does an animal need in its home to stay safe, warm, and fed?”
Exhibition
At the school’s Project Night, create a “First Grade Zoo” where each student displays a finished animal-and-habitat diorama with labeled features. Students will point to each feature and explain how it helps their animal stay safe, warm, or fed. Families and visitors can leave picture-based feedback noting one habitat feature they learned about. Display the San Diego Zoo inspiration or feedback that helped students revise their designs.
