Has anybody here done a habitats study with young dc?

[plain jane]

I was thinking of spending a couple of months studying habitats with my K'er but am having a difficult time coming up with ideas. I do want to do a bit more than just narrations (which I'd have to write) and illustrations and coloring pages. Are there any activity books out there that would include some nice experiments/activities?

 

I do have the One Small Square books which I want to use for each habitat. Just need something more to do than reading. :)

[my2boysteacher]

Evan-Moor has a couple books that might work.

http://www.evan-moor.com/Title.aspx?CurriculumID=6&ClassID=163&SeriesID=115&TitleID=413&EmcID=418

or

http://www.evan-moor.com/Title.aspx?CurriculumID=2&ClassID=207&SeriesID=5&TitleID=6&EmcID=15

depending on what level your little one is working.

[z2_mom]

we are using Animal Worlds by winter promise this year with my 1 grader...we are using the 2 grade and up program. We are loving it. Has all the animals and habitats with fun crafts laid out for you. I have added some things as I wanted to or saw fit.

 

http://www.winterpromise.com/animals_worlds.html

 

Lynda

[heart'sjoy]

:grouphug:Would love to join you. I have many fond memories of globe trotting through habitats with many favorite books.

 

FIAR titles we used.

Katy-no Pocket- australia grasslands

Ping- Asia- river

Celebrated dancing bear- Tundra-russia

The very Last first time-arctic

When I was young in the mountains- us woodlands mountains

The giraffe that walked to paris- africa savana

 

The FIAR guides were full of activities, mapping, science, literary analysis, math, hands-on activities

 

Other not FIAR books

-Wheel on the Chimney -africa

-Jan Brett books and her website for fun activities. Jan has a book set in a S. American Rainforest. I can't remember the title. But Carlos lived on our world map for several months with katy the kangaroo in Australia.

-enchanted learning website for maps and animal pictures

-DWN books have wonderful step by step instructions for drawing maps freehand and coloring the different biomes all mixed in with drawing the animals and copywork.

 

We finished with a FIAR title How to make apple pie and see the world.

 

 

We put everything in a notebook by biome:

[extendedforecast]

I was thinking of spending a couple of months studying habitats with my K'er but am having a difficult time coming up with ideas. I do want to do a bit more than just narrations (which I'd have to write) and illustrations and coloring pages. Are there any activity books out there that would include some nice experiments/activities?

 

I do have the One Small Square books which I want to use for each habitat. Just need something more to do than reading. :)

 

I'm not sure if this is what you're talking about, but I just took my kids to the zoo last week. I asked them to pay attention to how the different animals' zoo homes were different from each other. For example, the bats were in a dark room, while the monkeys were outdoors with trees. Over the next few weeks, each child is researching an animal of her choice that was not in the zoo, paying special attention to their habitats. My plan is to ask the DC to plan a zoo habitat for their animal trying to make it as close to it's natural habitat as possible. Then they will either draw or make a model of their habitat, depending on the ability of each child.

 

Cindy

[Jen500]

We've enjoyed Seymour Simon's "Pets in a Jar"

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Pets+in+a+Jar/010793/1263438792-1003320

 

Last year my dc made a toad habitat (an idea from the book). We kept the toad for a while and then released it.

[nukeswife]

I was using Animals and Their worlds, but my dd wasn't into the multiple books each day, so we just read what strikes her that day and then use the "Animal Habitats" book to pick a project from.

[The Governess]

Evan-Moor has a couple books that might work.

http://www.evan-moor.com/Title.aspx?CurriculumID=6&ClassID=163&SeriesID=115&TitleID=413&EmcID=418

or

http://www.evan-moor.com/Title.aspx?CurriculumID=2&ClassID=207&SeriesID=5&TitleID=6&EmcID=15

depending on what level your little one is working.

 

I have the first book and it has some activities that would probably work.

 

You could also find and print pictures of plants, animals, landscapes, etc. online for each biome and piece together a collage or make a diorama.

 

Hands of a Child also makes a few habitat lapbook kits - I think they have them for 6 or 7 different biomes.

[coffeefreak]

We made a poster incorporating each of the habitats in the poster. Then, we spent a month learning about an animal, cutting out a picture of it and pasting it in its proper habitat. We used the Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia that is recommended in TWTM. Easy Peasy :) Oh, and The Magic Schoolbus has a habitat book.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

[TXMary2]

We are currently studying habitats. We are doing a mural for each habitat. You can see pictures at our school blog www.winecupchristianacademy.blogspot.com

 

We watch animal videos at www.nationalgeographickids.com and I also search videos on You Tube and preview them before my ds watches.

 

We use the One Small Square books too.

 

Originally we were using Winter Promise Animals and Their Worlds, but I have tweaked it so much that I can't really say we are using that program, but we do use the resources.

 

Also we are doing a lapbook for each habitat. There are some good ones on www.homeschoolshare.com and also available for purchase at www.handsofachild.com

[lionfamily1999]

I've been trying to muddle my way through this exact thing, ever since reading someone's blog and seeing all the wonderful things they made with their little one. I really like these sources (that I've quoted) and can't WAIT to go find them.

 

Lol, we ended up looking at plants (yes, in the dead of winter), because I had seeds on hand from dinner... :lol: So, we're growing potatoes, sweet potatoes, acorn squash and pumpkins on the kitchen counter for right now. Way to think ahead ;)

 

We made a poster incorporating each of the habitats in the poster. Then, we spent a month learning about an animal, cutting out a picture of it and pasting it in its proper habitat. We used the Kingfisher First Animal Encyclopedia that is recommended in TWTM. Easy Peasy :) Oh, and The Magic Schoolbus has a habitat book.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

THANK YOU!

We are currently studying habitats. We are doing a mural for each habitat. You can see pictures at our school blog www.winecupchristianacademy.blogspot.com

 

We watch animal videos at www.nationalgeographickids.com and I also search videos on You Tube and preview them before my ds watches.

 

We use the One Small Square books too.

 

Originally we were using Winter Promise Animals and Their Worlds, but I have tweaked it so much that I can't really say we are using that program, but we do use the resources.

 

Also we are doing a lapbook for each habitat. There are some good ones on www.homeschoolshare.com and also available for purchase at www.handsofachild.com

THANK YOU!

[mom2boys030507]

We are currently studing the Artic. To end the unit my boys are going to make dioramas. I will make snow by whipping Ivory Soap and water. They will then use Toob animals to make it complete. One will do the north poll and the other will do the south poll.

 

HTH

[Alessandra]

We did this when dc were in first grade. My dc hated the One Small Square books, were a bit bored by the Bobbie Kalman habitat books, and so on. We ended up reading stories about individual plants and animals -- I remember Nico's Octopus, Cactus Hotel -- books like that. My dc learned most when they were emotionally engaged. We also had some pop up books and The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library. And dc made little habitats -- both pretend one with artificial plant and plastic animals, crayoned background and (a few) real ones like a cactus/succulent garden and a terrarium.

 

One book that I would highly recommend is the picture book The Salamander Room. Also anything be Lynne Cherry.

 

You can also download animal/habitat recordings. (I was such a technological klutz at the time that I bought cd's of whale songs, frog calls, etc.) And we stooped to movies, like Free Willy and its sequels. (I tried Richard Attenborough, but my dc were too young for these.)

Edited January 14, 2010 by Alessandra

[Tonia]

I did a habitat study with my dd when she was 4. We used the evan-moor book my2boys linked above (the second book). It has some cute stuff but you could easily come up with something on your own unless you want it for the worksheets.

 

We did use another book from evan-moor - Learning about Animals - that I really liked, though it's more of an animal overview.

 

My basic plan was to study five or six animals per habitat, one animal a week. We'd read a few books, I'd find a simple activity or craft, and we made a poster for each habitat and added a picture of the animal. You can see my plans here.

[*Jessica*]

I highly recommend the exploringnature.org Biomes of the World page! We had a lot of fun with learning about biomes earlier this year using that site along with Jean Craighead George's One Day in the (Tropical Rain Forest, Alpine Tundra, Prairie, Desert) series. We found the books at the library and enjoyed them so much that we have started adding them to our personal library so we can read them over and over again.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I was thinking of spending a couple of months studying habitats with my K'er but am having a difficult time coming up with ideas. I do want to do a bit more than just narrations (which I'd have to write) and illustrations and coloring pages. Are there any activity books out there that would include some nice experiments/activities?

 

I do have the One Small Square books which I want to use for each habitat. Just need something more to do than reading. :)

 

There are some activities in the One Small Square books. Some activities are for doing observations or projects in a typical habitat (like pond or woods). But there are also activities that help you see why things work the way they do (like seeing that ice forms across the top of a body of water, leaving the rest liquid.

 

You might also check out the Handbook of Nature Study blog for cool ideas.

 

Does your area have a parks system that might have nature days? The county parks department where my inlaws live has fantastic programing.

[missmoe]

Second the resources in WP's Animal World. I wasn't thrilled with the program as a whole, but the activity books the program uses are wonderful--hands-on books. My kids exspecially enjoyed creating the diaramas(sp?) for each habitat.

[lionfamily1999]

I highly recommend the exploringnature.org Biomes of the World page! We had a lot of fun with learning about biomes earlier this year using that site along with Jean Craighead George's One Day in the (Tropical Rain Forest, Alpine Tundra, Prairie, Desert) series. We found the books at the library and enjoyed them so much that we have started adding them to our personal library so we can read them over and over again.

That site is great, thanks so much for posting it!

[coffeefreak]

THANK YOU!

 

 

Absolutely! I love First Grade science. They grow up too fast!

Blessings!

Dorinda

[dee67p]

I started with HOAC lapbook on deserts and moved onto including Dover coloring pages and then turned the desert lapbook into a notebook instead b/c my kids get worried about constructing lapbooks. I include references to http://www.mbgnet.net/sets/desert/index.htm.

 

I'm working on an ocean habitat notebook starting with the HOAC lapbook, but I'll include the Ocean book from Williamson Kids can! and Janice VanCleave experiments book about the Oceans. I've looked at the Swimming Creatures book from Apologia, but I didn't get the most out of the Flying Creatures of day 5, so I'm not going that way for oceans. Plus, can you imagine a visit to as many examples of each habitat studied?

 

Deserts are done in 2 weeks, so I'm really hoping that the oceans stuff comes together soon. I'm following Paige's Elemental Science format for lesson plans because her directions are BRILLIANT for chemistry! Otherwise, get out and see as much of the world as we can!

[dee67p]

one thing I forget, I included and will include lots and lots of books. I just stop in front of the non-fiction juvenile section of the library at 574 area for deserts.

 

There seems to be quite a few references from Homeschool share that delve into story books about oceans, seashore, coral reefs etc...