Exploring Biomes - Fresh Water Habitats

From salt water and seashores, we moved onto fresh water habitats.  The class began by constructing a picture of cattails as inspired by Animal Habitats! "Pipe-Cleaner Cattails" project on pages 54-55.  A brief discussion of cattails followed.  As our local area has several marshes, most of the children were familiar with cattails.  In fact, one of my assistants brought in a few live cattails for our class to observe.

Once the pictures and observations were completed, I guided a brief class discussion on lakes and ponds.  I was sure to high light the main facts from lesson 16 in Properties of Ecosystems.  These included:

• similarities of lakes and oceans including sunlit zones
• definition of a pond versus a lake
• specific flora and fauna of lakes and ponds

Using Lakes and Ponds, by Fran Howard, I showed the children several examples of the plants and animals which live in these fresh water habitats.

Next, the children completed a worksheet from Habitats: Science Works for Kids Series, Evan-Moor, p. 47-48, entitled "Where Do We Live?"  The activity worksheet directed the children to color and cut out six animals who live in a fresh water habitat.  They were then asked to glue each animal to the appropriate part of the fresh water habitat: bank, surface, open water, or muddy bottom.

Following this activity, I then presented a brief lecture on rivers and streams using the information from Properties of Ecosystems lesson 17.  Some of the topics covered were:

• similarities of rivers and streams to lakes and ponds
• river and stream currents
• interesting river facts

The children then created fold out booklets of "Life in a River" by following the outlined directions in Animal Habitats, Grades 2-3.

As we discussed different animals they saw in their booklets, I directed the conversation toward the snapping turtle.  Adding a few interesting facts about turtles and tortoises, I steered them toward a different project.  The children assembled their own snapping turtles with the help of pages 56-57 in Animal Habitats!.

To end the class, I read aloud On the River ABC, by Caroline Stutson.  The book follows an ant traveling on a leaf boat through the waters of a river.  The ant sees many different animals on his journey to a new meadow.  The children liked the pictures and the different facts.  I liked the variety of animals presented in the book.


Resources:
Lakes and Ponds, by Fran Howard
On the River ABC, by Caroline Stutson


Anther Resource a.k.a. A Fun Extra My Child Got to Do Because I Am the Teacher:
Planet Earth, Education Edition: Fresh Water, Discovery Education DVD