Habitats

Students connect their exploration of Earth’s land and water with a study of living things in this lesson. They begin by modeling different habitats on Earth to compare the living and nonliving parts of each habitat. 

• Earth’s landforms and bodies of water are also habitats for various living things. Habitats are places where life grows that provide plants and animals with water, air, food, and shelter.  
• There are many different habitats on Earth, made up of different living and nonliving things.
• Some habitats have more biodiversity than others because they are more diverse, which means they have more kinds of plants and animals than other habitats.
  
  

• What are examples of different habitats? How are all of these habitats similar?
• Why is a lake both a body of water and a habitat?
• Why are the kinds of living things found in lakes similar or different to those found in the ocean?
• Why is a rainforest a habitat?
• How are the living things in a rainforest habitat different from the living things in the ocean habitat?
• Why do living things depend on nonliving parts of their habitat?  
• How would you compare the biodiversity of living things in the Arctic with the diversity of the rainforest habitat?
• Why might there be greater biodiversity in the rainforest than in the Arctic?  
  
  

Misconception: Anything that moves is alive.

Fact: All living things share certain characteristics, including the need to exchange gasses with the environment (breathe) and the need for water.

Misconception: Animals do not need plants.

Fact: Animals and plants need each other. Animals need food, which they get either from plants or other animals.

Animal: a living thing that needs to eat other living things for energy, breathes in oxygen, and undergoes growth and reproduction

Biodiversity:  the different kinds of living things in the world or in a particular habitat

Habitat: a place where life grows; provides plants and animals with clean water, air, food, and shelter

Living : anything that breathes, needs energy, food and water, grows, moves, and reproduces

Nonliving: anything that does not meet, and has never met, all of the requirements of life

Plant: a living thing that makes food from sunlight

Predator: a living thing that eats other living things

Prey: a living thing that gets eaten by another living thing

Scientist Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall is a scientist. She lived in Africa for many years. She studied a kind of animal called a chimpanzee (chimp for short). Jane observed the chimps. She took notes on what they ate and when they slept. She also took notes on how they behaved with each other.

Studying Habitats

Jane studied the chimps in their natural habitat. A habitat is a place where life grows. It provides plants and animals with water, air, food, and shelter. There are many different kinds of habitats on Earth. Forests, lakes, oceans, deserts, gardens, and rivers are all habitats.

Each habitat has different kinds of living and nonliving things in it. A living thing breathes, grows, and moves. It reproduces. It needs energy, food and water. Food is important because it helps living things grow. As they grow, living things get bigger and more complex. Food gives living things energy. This energy allows living things to move. Some living things move in ways we can’t see. It happens in their bodies. Animals can also move from place to place.

For the hands-on activity of this lesson, students work in teams to create models of three different habitats: an ocean habitat, a lake habitat, and a forest habitat. They organize the living things within each habitat, and use their model to identify patterns in biodiversity. Students construct an explanation based on their observational data about the different types of living things in each habitat, describing how these types of living things compare to living things in other habitats.