Mrs. Kirkpatrick's 2nd Grade Science Page

ANNOUNCEMENT

We will be starting our unit on animal habitats. I know many of you have been looking forward to this topic all year and now it's finally here!!! We will be studying the rain forest, desert, arctic, grasslands, and oceans. Then, you will be working with a partner to create a project about an animal from a habitat I will assign to you. You will research your animal using resources like books from the media center as well as the internet.

Animal Habitat Final Project

For our final assignment of the year, each student will work with a partner to research an animal from an assigned habitat and create a project about it. The project will include a poster, a diorama, and a paragraph that tells about the animal and the habitat the animal lives in. Your paragraph will tell what the animal looks like, what it eats, how long it lives, the climate of the habitat, a description of the habitat, and one interesting fact about the animal. You and your partner will also present your project to the class. I will use a rubric to grade the project. The project will be due on May 3rd.

What is a habitat?

A habitat is the place where an organism or a community of organisms lives. A habitat includes all living and nonliving factors or conditions of the surrounding environment.

What is an environment?

All the physical surroundings on Earth are called the environment. The environment includes everything living and everything nonliving.

What is climate?

The long-term weather—or state of the atmosphere—of any place is known as its climate.

ANIMAL HABITATS Assignments

This page lists assignments for April 22 through April 26. This week we will focus on 5 different animal habitats and will lead up to our animal habitat projects. The websites listed provide students with more information about the habitats.

DAY	ASSIGNMENT
Monday	Read We’re Roaming Through the Rainforest to class Students will write one fact about the rainforest and draw a picture.
Tuesday	Read The Arctic Habitat to class. Students will write one fact and draw an Arctic animal.
Wednesday	Read Miss Smith Under the Ocean to class. Students will make a list of 5 plants and animals found in the ocean and draw a picture of each.
Thursday	Read Step Into the Desert. Students will write one paragraph about what it would be like to live in a desert.
Friday	Read Explore the Grasslands . Students will draw a picture of the grasslands and label the plants and animals.

How will my project be graded? I will use the following rubric to grade your animal habitat projects:

Rating Scale: 4 = Excellent, 3 = Nice, 2 = So-so, 1 = Weak, 0 = Missing

Animal Project Rubric

	0	1	2	3	4
My project was turned in on time.
I followed directions given to me by my teacher.
All of my information is organized with correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
My project is neat and detailed.
I used creative materials.
My project is interesting to look at.
My project shows accurate knowledge of my animal.
Presentation

Grade: ____/32 _____% ____

Helpful Websites

National Geographic for Kids - Animal Habitats: This site provides a lot of information about animal habitats from deserts to grasslands to rainforests and the animals that live there.

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/

Science and Technology for Kids: This site has many links to other sites with information about animal habitats. These sites are both informational and fun!

http://kids.aol.com/KOL/2/HomeworkHelp/Archive/homework-help-jr-living-things-animal-habitats

Encyclopedia Britannica for Kids: Students can use this online encyclopedia designed specifically for kids to research their animal and habitats.

http://kids.britannica.com/

If you have any questions about any of the assignments or the project, you can e-mail me at venturaj@osceola.k12.fl.us.

I am looking forward to seeing all your wonderful projects and learning about interesting animals and habitats!

~Mrs. Kirkpatrick~