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Overview:
Students learn that habitats meet the basic needs of animals in several ways. In Activity 1, they investigate prehistoric sea creatures to learn about their life and how they met their basic needs. In Activity 2, students research animals featured in Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure. In the Closing Activity, students build on this information to create and play a ‘bingo’ game.
This lesson is one in a series designed to accompany the National Geographic film, Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure. It was developed and reviewed with input from scientists, teachers and museum educators.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Science (Earth), paleontology, general science, biology, geography
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Geography Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface"
Geography Standard 17: "How to apply geography to interpret the past"
National Science Education Standards
- Science Content Standard C: Life Science—The characteristics of organisms; Organisms and their environments
- Science Content Standard D: earth and space science—Properties of earth materials: Fossils
Time:
Activity 1 (Habitat Needs): 20 Minutes
Activity 2 (What Swam in the Cretaceous Seas?): 40 minutes
Activity 3 (Cretaceous Seas Bingo): 60 minutes
Film (Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure): 40 minutes
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will:
- learn about the term "habitat;"
- learn about the four basic survival needs of all animals;
- research marine animals from the Cretaceous period;
- understand how habitats provide animals with critical elements necessary to survival;
- collect and organize information about a prehistoric creature;
- answer questions about prehistoric creatures; and
- play a bingo-style game to reinforce information about prehistoric marine reptiles.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Guiding Question: Did prehistoric animals have the same habitat needs as modern animals?
Try This First!
Share this definition: "Habitats are the natural environments of plants and animals." Ask students to brainstorm things that make up a habitat. Suggested responses: water, air, trees, rain, snow, sand, etc. Explain that the Earth has many different habitats and that each type of habitat is unique. Oceans, forests, deserts, and tundra are habitats. Rivers, lakes, and wetlands are also habitats. Even under water there can be habitats such as shallow-water or deep-water zones. A combination of many things—including temperature, soil, available food, rainfall, and geographic location—create a habitat.
Development:
Activity 1: Habitat Needs
Students learn that a habitat satisfies basic needs necessary for an animal to survive and will research the habitat needs of modern–day animals.
Directions:
1. Review. Write this definition of "habitat" on the board: "The place or environment where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows."
2. Brainstorm. Ask students to brainstorm four basic survival needs that all animals require from their habitat. Tip: Prompt students to think about things that are essential for survival. Four basic survival needs include:
- Food
- Shelter from weather and predators
- Water
- A place to raise young
3. Model an example. Model an example for students, e.g.,
Animal: salt water crocodile
Habitat: coastal marshes, estuaries, and shallow marine waters
Basic survival needs include:
- Food—carnivorous (eats meat) including fish, birds, reptiles, and mammals
- Shelter from weather and predators—have camouflage and can submerge for long periods of time
- Water—provided by diet and from freshwater sources
- A place to raise young—female prepares and guards a nest until the young hatch and are released
4. Brainstorm. Ask the class to brainstorm other examples using animals they are familiar with (e.g., dog, cat, hamster, bird, horse). For each example, discuss the animal’s habitat and basic survival needs. Continue until students have grasped the concept. For an increased challenge, have students brainstorm the basic survival needs of animals from a variety of habitats (e.g., jungle, Arctic, desert, Alpine regions).
Background Information
Habitats can undergo major transformations through natural forces such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes. But human activity also has the capacity to alter habitats in profound ways. As habitats become threatened, we are at risk of losing the biodiversity of life on Earth, a sort of genetic "bank account" of known and unknown species that adds value to ecology, medicine, the economy, and more. What are the biggest threats to biodiversity? Just remember "HIPPO":
- Habitat loss
- Introduced species (exotic and invasive)
- Pollution
- Population growth
- Overconsumption
Activity 2: What Swam in the Cretaceous Seas?
Students research marine animals from the Cretaceous period.
Directions:
1. Introduce the film. Explain to students that the basic survival needs of animals have remained basically the same over millions and millions of years. Even in prehistoric times, animals required food, shelter, water, and a place to raise their young in order to survive. In Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure students learn about sea animals and their habitat during a fascinating chapter in Earth’s history.
View: Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure.
2. Distribute Cretaceous Seas Fact Sheet (PDF, Adobe Reader required) to each student.
3. Divide class into small groups. Working in small groups, students can use Internet or library resources to complete the “Cretaceous Seas Fact Sheet.”
Suggested online resources:
4. Review answers. As a class, review answers to the Cretaceous Seas Fact Sheet.
Answer Key:
- Tusoteuthis
- Hesperornis
- Dolichorhynchops
- Xiphactinus
- Cretoxyrhina
- Henodus
- Protostega
- Ammonite
- Tylosaurus
- Styxosaurus
Closing:
Cretaceous Seas Bingo
Students create a bingo card and play a bingo game by answering the questions they researched in Activity 2.
Directions:
1. Distribute the Cretaceous Seas Bingo Pictures (PDF, Adobe Reader required) and Cretaceous Seas Bingo Card (PDF) to each student. One page is filled with 30 images of sea creatures, and the other is a blank card with 25 spaces. Tell students to cut out the animal picture squares and mix them up. Students should randomly select 25 animal pictures to glue or tape in each blank square. They will not use all of the pictures.
2. Distribute markers. Each student will need approximately 20 markers to use when they are playing the bingo game.
3. Explain game rules:
- Students play the game individually with the bingo card they created and their completed Cretaceous Seas Fact Sheet (PDF) (Activity 2).
- You will call out clues from the "Cretaceous Seas Fact Sheet." Players use their fact sheet to look up the correct answer. Then, they look on their bingo card for an image of the correct answer and place a marker in this space. They may place only one marker if they have more than one image of the animal.
- Players compete to be the first to fill five spaces in a row, column, or diagonal.
- You will continue calling out clues until a player wins and announces "Cretaceous Seas Bingo!"
4. Start the game by asking the first question. Keep track of clues (and answers) you have used. Continue asking questions until a student announces that they have won. Check their card to make sure they have the correct answers. If one of the answers is incorrect, you should continue the game. If it is a winning bingo card, the round is over, and students should clear their cards so that a new round can begin.
Note to Teacher
Although habitats like deserts and rain forests are very different, together they form a complex life-support system for every living thing on the planet. The first photographs of Earth from space allowed us to see our planet for the first time as it is, a small blue sphere moving through the blackness of space. People began to use the term "Spaceship Earth" to help explain the idea that we must all work together, like the crew of a spaceship, to take care of all the habitats that make our planet home.
This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-0514981. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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