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Why would a wild animal visit a playground?
Animal Adventures Unit | Lesson 2 of 4

Why would a wild animal visit a playground?

Animal Adventures Unit | Lesson 2 of 4
Lesson narration:
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DISCUSS:

Why do you think the bighorn sheep come to the playground?

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DISCUSS:

Why do the sheep climb up into the dry mountains every night? Why don’t they just stay in the park? Any ideas?

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Step
01/17
Get your supplies.
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Step
02/17
You’re going to fold your Habitat Journal in half along the thick black
line. Flip it over, line up the corners, and make a crease. Fold it again
along the thin black line.
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Step
03/17
Write your name and date on the front of your Habitat Journal. Open
your Habitat Journal so that you can see the page with Park Habitat
at the top.
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Step
04/17
You’re going to practice looking for animals in the park habitat. Look
for bighorn sheep, hawks, lizards, tortoises, and coyotes. Count how
many animals you see in 15 seconds.
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Step
05/17
When you see an animal, find it in your Habitat Journal and add an X
to the square right above it. If you see that same kind of animal again,
add an X to the next square.
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06/17
You’ll have a minute and 30 seconds to find as many animals as
possible. Watch carefully! Ready, set, go!
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07/17
Circle each kind of animal that you found in the park habitat.
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08/17
Count up the total number of animals that you found in the park.
Count up all the boxes with an X and write that number in your
Habitat Journal.
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Step
09/17
It’s time to visit the Desert Habitat to see how many animals you can
find.
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Step
10/17
You’ll have a minute and 30 seconds to find as many animals as
possible. Watch carefully! Ready, set, go!
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11/17
Circle each kind of animal that you found in the desert habitat.
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12/17
Count up the total number of animals that you found in the desert
habitat. Count up all the boxes with an X and write that number in
your Habitat Journal.
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Step
13/17
DISCUSS:
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Step
14/17
Here’s what we noticed.
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Step
15/17
Take a look at the kinds of plants and the number of plants that the
botanist found in the park habitat and in the desert habitat.
DISCUSS:
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Step
16/17
We talked to a wildlife biologist who showed us these photos of
bighorn sheep in the park and the desert habitats.
DISCUSS:
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DISCUSS:
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🎉 That’s it for this lesson! How did it go?
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# Extensions
Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration you just completed.
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### Readings

These Common-Core-aligned readings are free with registration on ReadWorks. With the information in these readings, students can compare different habitats and discuss which organisms live in each one:

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### Online Resource: Animals in Unexpected Places

At the end of this lesson, we asked students to think about animals that show up in surprising places. You can challenge your students to use what they learned in the lesson and check out these two examples from Atlas Obscura.

Show students the pictures in these articles and ask:

Reveal answer

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### Challenge Question: Why do some bighorn sheep have collars?

You or your students may have noticed that some bighorn sheep were wearing collars. Why would anyone put a collar on a wild sheep? Ask your students if they have any ideas.

Bighorn Collar

Reveal answer

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### Activity: Schoolyard Habitat Scavenger Hunt

You and your students can go on your very own Habitat Scavenger Hunt. All you need to do is select two different places that you can explore and compare at your school site.

Print out the instructions here.

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Lesson narration:

Grade 2

Animal Biodiversity

Habitat Diversity

2-LS4-1

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students solve the mystery of why a group of wild bighorn sheep would leave their usual desert habitat to visit a second, very different habitat: a local playground. In the activity, Habitat Scavenger Hunt, students record observations of the diversity of life found in the desert and the playground, as well as the physical characteristics of each location. Students combine these observations to create an understanding of how the living and non-living parts of a habitat support the animals that live there.

Preview activity
COVID-19 Adaptations
Students can work solo
Students need a printout

Students at home
Students at school
Students at home / at school
Each student needs the Habitat Journal (printed).

Exploration

10 mins

Wrap-Up

10 mins

Grade 2

Animal Biodiversity

Habitat Diversity

2-LS4-1

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