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Draw an Alien in its Natural Habitat

Author(s): Linda Akiyama

Lesson Overview

Grade level(s):

Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5

Subjects(s):

Biology/Life Science

Topic:

What is a Living Thing?

Big ideas(s):

Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.

Vocabulary words:

Before: See vocabulary words taught in previous lessons of this unit, "What is a Living Thing and How Does a Living Thing Respond to Its Environment?"

During: alien, habitat

What you need:

one copy for each student of "Draw an Alien in Its Natural Habitat" sheet (attachment), drawing paper, pencils, color pencils

Grouping:

Students draw independently

Setting:

classroom

Time needed:

10 minute introduction and discussion

20 minutes to fill out worksheet

30 minutes to draw

Summary: 

This is an extension and assessment activity for the Unit, "What is a Living Thing, and How Does a Living Thing Respond to Changes in its Environment?"

Prerequisites for students: 

A prerequisite to teaching this lesson is to teach the previous lessons in this unit. 

UNIT: What is Life and How Does a Living Thing Respond to Its Environment?

Lessons:

1) What Do Living Things Have in Common?

2) Living or Non-living?

3) Introducing Cells

4) Introducing the Process of Investigation Science

5) Student Designed Investigations Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, - "A Living Thing Responds to Its Environment"

        Part 1 - Observation

        Part 2 - Testable Questions, Predictions, Materials, and Procedures

        Part 3 - Collection Data and Drawing Conclusions

 

Learning goals/objectives for students: 

Students will be able to apply what they have learned about living things, structures of living things and how living things sense and respond to their environment by creating a habitat and an alien that could live in that habitat.

An alternative is for the teacher to provide a written description of a habitat and have the students draw or do a written description of an alien that could live in that habitat.

Getting ready: 

copy one copy for each student of "Draw an Alien in Its Natural Habitat" sheet (attachment)

Lesson Implementation / Outline

Introduction: 

Write on board: Alien - a living thing that lives in a habitat that is not on Earth. Share the definition of the word, alien, with the class.

Tell students that they are going to use what they have learned about living things on Earth to help them imagine what a living thing might be like that lived in a habitat that in not on Earth.

Activity: 

1. Review what all living things on Earth have in common (Use charts from "What is a Living Thing?" lesson.

2. Ask students what living things on Earth need to survive.

3. Ask students what structures  living things have to help them get what they need from their environment to survive.

4. Tell students that at the end of this lesson they will be asked to draw an alien in its natural environment. They can imagine an environment on another planet or moon and then figure out what a living thing would need to survive there. Then they can think about what structures their alien would have that allowed it to survive in that environment. Have students work as a whole class to think of what would be part of an environment that could support life. Then create an alien with structures to survive in that environment.

5.Have students fill out the "Draw an Alien in Its Natural Habitat" sheet (attachment)

6. When they have finished the sheet, have them draw their alien in its natural habitat.

Checking for student understanding: 

Assess worksheet and drawing.

Wrap-up / Closure: 

Display drawings and worksheets. I display them at the end of the unit science fair.

Standards - Grade 3

Life Sciences: 
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism's chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
b. Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

Standards - Grade 4

Life Sciences: 
2. All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. As a basis for understanding this concept:
b. Students know producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.
Life Sciences: 
3. Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving components.
b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Standards - Grade 5

Life Sciences: 
2. Plants and animals have structures for respiration, digestion, waste disposal, and transport of materials. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know many multicellular organisms have specialized structures to support the transport of materials.
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