Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: What is a habitat?

20 minutes

Find Out: Healthy habitats

25 minutes

Take Action: Make a terrarium

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

explore what a habitat is
recognise what makes a habitat healthy.

Students can:

understand the importance of maintaining healthy habitats
create a terrarium or biosphere.

Tune In: What is a habitat?

Step 1

Invite students to consider the following scenario:

Imagine you are going camping for 3 days in the bush. You will just be dropped into the campsite without a car and won’t be able to leave the campsite for the whole time. The good news is you get to choose the natural features the campsite will have. The bad news is that you won’t be able to take anything with you (yes, this game is even harder than the TV show Alone!).

Working independently or in pairs, students should think of everything they would like or need the campsite to have to help them survive. Remember, they can only request natural features, and humans make nothing! They should list these things in their workbooks.

Invite students to recall what all living creatures need to survive: food, water, air and shelter. How might this relate to what they would like the campsite to have?

Once complete, invite students to share their lists with the class.

Step 2

Introduce the term ‘habitat’ to students and invite them to consider:

What is a habitat?
How does it relate to their list of campsite requirements?

Share National Geographic's definition of a habitat: "A habitat is a place where an organism makes its home. A habitat meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive."

Explain that just like the students needed to consider everything they would need in their campsite, an organism will live in a habitat that gives them everything they need to survive.

Step 3

Pose the following questions to the class:

Are all habitats the same?
Do all living things need the same things in the same quantities? For example, do Great White Sharks need the same things as Eastern Grey Kangaroos?

Step 3

Watch the following video with your students describing what a habitat is:

Habitats: What is a habitat? - Discovery Education UK (youtube.com/watch?v=ZrSWYE37MJs)

After watching the video, again pose the following questions and invite students to respond based on what they saw in the video:

Are all habitats the same?
Do all living things need the same things in the same quantities?

Find Out: Healthy habitat

Step 1

Invite students to work in groups of 3 to complete a Chalk Talk (pz.harvard.edu/resources/chalk-talk) routine around the following questions.

When is a habitat healthy?
How important do you think a healthy habitat is to the survival of a species?
What might cause a habitat to become unhealthy?

Give 3 blank pieces of paper to each group and ask them to write the questions on each piece of paper (one per page). Students should initially work silently to record their thoughts on each piece of paper and respond to what the others in their group have written. As more thoughts are recorded, you can encourage students to start discussing their ideas within their groups. Finally, you can invite the class to share the ideas and responses that arose in their groups.

You could write the following questions on the board; these can be used to guide students thinking:

• What ideas come to mind when you read this question?

• How do your ideas connect to what others in your group are sharing?

• What questions are you left with?

Suggested answers to guide class discussion:

When is a habitat healthy? - When there is sufficient clean, fresh water, diverse and suitable food sources (such as native plants and animals), healthy soil for plant growth, clean air, and plenty of natural habitats for animals to find shelter.
How important do you think a healthy habitat is to the survival of a species? - When a habitat is unhealthy, there may be less food and water available for organisms, shelter might be scarce, and air quality could be poor. These factors can impact the health of a species and its ability to reproduce. If a species cannot reproduce, it may eventually become extinct.
What might cause a habitat to become unhealthy? - Anything that isn't part of the natural habitat can make it unhealthy, especially in large amounts. This includes human activities like pollution, land clearing, deforestation, introduction of invasive species, urban development (such as building houses, roads, or dams), and changes in temperature or rainfall due to climate change.

Step 2

Explain to students that we know that different organisms have differing needs in terms of the types and quantities of food, water, and shelter they need in a habitat. Pose the following question and explain that they will be researching the answers to this question:

What are the differences in habitat needs between a plant and an animal?

Step 3

Allocate your students into groups of 3-4, invite them to brainstorm and research the answers to this question, and record their answers as two mind maps.

As stated above, you could keep the question broad or define the animals and plants, for example

Fern and a Koala
River Red Gum and a Great White Shark
Wollemi pine and Wedge-tailed Eagle
Cactus and Corroboree Frog
Moss and Thorny Devil lizard

Learning differentiation:

Year 5 - Students should research and include information about how the features of the plants and animals they are investigating are adapted to their habitats.
Year 6 - Students should research and include information about how changes in the physical conditions of the habitat might affect their plants and animals (e.g., hotter temperatures, pollution, or lower rainfall).

Step 4

Invite students to share the results of their research with the class and engage students in a discussion around the following questions:

Were there any differences between what the animals and plants needed in a habitat?
Were there any similarities?
Year 5 - What are the most interesting features the plants and animals have to help them live in their habitats?
Year 6 - What physical changes could risk the health of the habitats you looked at?

Take Action: Make a terrarium

Step 1

Pose the question to your students:

What is a terrarium?

Explain to students that a healthy habitat doesn’t require a large area. If you’re trying to create a healthy habitat for a plant, you can provide everything the plant needs in a very small area, even in a jar! This is known as a terrarium, and students will have the chance to create their own terrarium and observe the plant/s in the terrarium (hopefully) enjoying a healthy habitat.

A terrarium is like an aquarium but is for plants instead of fish. Almost any type of glass container that you can get into can be used (no bottles). Soil is added to the bottom of the container and plants are planted into the soil. A beautiful terrarium can look like a mini forest wonderland. And the best part is, if you put it together well, the plants in the terrarium will need very little looking after because they live in a habitat that meets all their needs!

Step 2

Share the following video with students about what a terrarium is and how it works:

An Easy DIY Terrarium - Gardening Australia (youtube.com/watch?v=O2FoKuO4PaY)

You might like to share this short video (youtube.com/shorts/1Hb-s4b31ek) with your class about the oldest terrarium in the world!

Step 3

You can use the How to Make a Terrarium Factsheet to help students plan and create their terrariums.

Step 4

Once established, consider creating an observation chart for students to record changes they notice occurring within the terrarium and to monitor/manage watering and pruning.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the plants in their terrarium and consider how well the habitat serves their needs. Students can write a ‘care instructions’ exit slip outlining how to keep this new habitat healthy.

Hands-on Habitats: Making a Terrarium

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