How to Teach the Science of Winter Animals and Their Habits

The science of winter animals is great way to teach about habitats, food and the way the animals protects themselves from the extreme temperatures and weather. Children's fascination with animals makes this topic a great way to teach simple research skills to younger students.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pencil
• Papers
• Books
• Rulers
• Computers

1. Start by reading a good nonfiction book aloud with the class about winter animals and their habits. Examples are "Animals in Winter" by Henrietta Bancroft and Helen K. Davie, and "The Animals' Winter Sleep" by Lynda Graham Barber and Nancy Carol Willis. After you have finished reading the book aloud discuss it with the class.

2. As you discuss the book write some science facts on a large piece of paper with the students. Discuss different animals, their habitats, food and means of protection. After you have finished hang the paper where students can see it. This will be a start to the project that they will be doing.

3. Give the students a list of winter animals that hibernate and a list of those that don't. They have to choose three from the list that hibernate and three from list that do not hibernate to research. They will use Internet and book sources to make a chart that gives the name of the animal, habitat description, food and protections used in winter.
   The list of animals that hibernate can include ground squirrels, bats, frogs, snakes, ladybugs, and bears. The list of animals that do not hibernate can include skunks, badgers, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and beavers.

4. Students will research six animals from the two lists and make a chart of their choices. The chart should have four columns across and seven rows down. Headers in the first row should read "animal," "habitat," "food" and "protections." In the first column of each row write the names of the six animals chosen.
   The following web sites are good sources for the research project Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Animals Homes, and Animal Search (see resources). When using the Animal Search web site, type the name of the animal in the box then click on the Search button to come up with several links. Give the students three pieces of paper one for notes the other two to draw and write the chart or list for each animal.

5. Tell children to take good notes when researching the six animals. They can use book or Internet sources. After they finish the research they should fill out their chart listing the animals and their habitat, food and means of protection. Each section should have at least two complete sentences. Give them at least 1/2 hour for the research and another 20 minutes to complete the charts. They can use two pieces of paper if needed. Hang up the paper on a Winter Animal bulletin board.

Tips & Warnings

• Students should take hand-written notes, not print pages from the Internet. Make sure students write it in their own words. Taking notes is a good way to learn good research skills of reading and recording important points.

Resources

• Smithsonian Animals
• Animal Homes
• Animal Search