2nd Grade- Sonoran Desert Wildlife Hunt

Grade Level:2nd Grade

Lesson Developer: Jack Anger

Lesson Plan Title: Sonoran Desert Wildlife Hunt

Concept / Topic To Teach: Sonoran Desert Wildlife

Standards Addressed:
Art

PO 101. Select and use subject matter and/or symbols in his or her own artwork . 


Science

PO 1. Identify the following as characteristics of living things: 
• growth and development 
• reproduction 
• response to stimulus 
PO 3. Identify observable similarities and differences (e.g., number of legs, body coverings, size) between/among different groups of animals. 
PO 1. Identify some plants and animals that exist in the local environment. 
PO 3. Describe how plants and animals within a habitat are dependent on each other. 
PO 1. Identify adaptations of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments. 


Reading

PO 1. Consistently read grade level text with at least 90 percent accuracy. 
PO 2. Read aloud with fluency in a manner that sounds like natural speech, demonstrating automaticity. 
PO 3. Use punctuation, including commas, periods, and question marks to guide reading for fluency. 


Writing

PO 1. Rewrite and illustrate selected pieces of writing for sharing with intended audience. 
PO 5. Write multiple sentences that support a topic. 

General Goal(s): Students should be able to identify and explain different wildlife within the Sonoran Desert.  

Specific Objectives: Each student will use the Sonoran Desert Explorers website to become a master on one specific species of wildlife in the Sonoran desert.  Once they have become experts on the species they will share their knowledge with the rest of the class.  In the end students should have a strong understanding about the different types of wildlife that live in the Sonoran Desert.

Required Materials: Markers, crayons, paper, computer, and Sonoran Desert Explorers website.

Anticipatory Set (Lead-In): Look at the different species of wildlife in the Sonoran Desert and how they relate to one another to survive in the wild.  Do some species prey on others?  How is each species critical to overall habitat of the Sonoran Desert?

Step-By-Step Procedures:
  1. Have each student pick a different wildlife species from the website and read the information about it.
  2. Students should then draw a picture of the species and write a few sentences about the species.
  3. Take the pictures that the students drew and put them in different locations all around the school.  If a species typically lives in a tree, take the picture and put on a tree within the school.  Do this with all of the different students’ pictures.  If students’ pictures are not easily recognized it may be helpful to print off a picture from the Internet to go alongside the students’ drawings.
  4. Gather all of the students in the classroom and begin the hunt.
  5. As a group, the class will travel all around the school keeping their eyes open for the pictures of the wildlife.
  6. Once a picture is found, the student who drew the picture becomes the “Hunt leader” and shares the information that they learned about that species with the rest of the class.
  7. Continue this process until each picture is found and each student has had the opportunity to be the “Hunt leader” and share their information.
  8. After all the pictures have been found, take the students back into the classroom and have a discussion about the information that everyone had learned.


Plan For Independent Practice: Students should then take a different species of wildlife that they learned about from their classmate and write one paragraph about some of the things they learned pertaining to that species.  

Closure (Reflect Anticipatory Set): Take the students back into the classroom and have each student share with the class one thing that they learned from the hunt.

Assessment Based On Objectives: Have each student go to the Sonoran Desert Explorers website and complete the assessments on two seperate web pages.  The first web page should be of the species that they drew a picture for and the second web page should be of a species that the student learned about from another classmate.

Adaptations (For Students With Learning Disabilities): Have the students team up with one another and present their information on one type of wildlife as a group.

Extensions (For Gifted Students): Have each student research two different types of wildlife instead of just one.

Possible Connections To Other Subjects: By writing about a species students are working on their English and writing.  Students practice their art skills by drawing a picture of a species of wildlife.  Students practice their reading by presenting their information in front of the class.
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