Art: Designing Sustainable Animal Habitats

Here is an introduction to lessons at CGK Afterschool.

CGK’s two-month-long project works will be based on the main “Driving Question”.

Here are the Driving Questions for this “Art” lesson.

“How can we build a sustainable animal habitat?”

The lesson theme was “Animal Habitats.”

We followed this theme and question with fun lessons each week that drew the student’s interest.

Here are the comments of Ms. Kitty, the teacher who was in charge of the lessons.

Week 1

The students were introduced to the project of Animal Habitats by showing them different habitats across the world and some examples of what animals live there. The students were able to make observations of what they saw in the habitats, think of animals they thought lived there and answer whether they would like to visit the habitats. We watched some short videos from Planet Earth, where they could see amazing footage of environments with different climates, and Our Planet, which showed animals in their natural habitat, and the children enjoyed being able to identify the habitats after we’d discussed them. The class then played a game where they were divided into two teams and each team had been given three different habitats and a group of animals. They had to communicate within their teams to decide where they thought the animals lived, then they swapped habitats and tried to match the animals with the other three habitats. They then tried to work together as a whole team to match the animals and habitats in 30 seconds, otherwise the teachers would win. They had a lot of fun trying to match everything and when revealing which matches were incorrect, they were able to think together and discuss where they thought the correct habitat was. The students then completed a worksheet for an animal of their choice, where they needed to draw the animal, its habitats and think of answers to the questions: where does it eat? Where does it drink water? Where does it sleep? And any other information they wanted to share.    

Week 2

The students were told how the aim of this project is to build a habitat for an animal and shown examples of different styles in which they could produce their habitat. We discussed what they could see in the examples; thinking about the animals, plants, colors, materials which were used, what they liked etc. They seemed to like the habitats which looked realistic and used authentic materials, such as sticks, rocks or leaves. Once the students were familiar with the habitats again, they started to brainstorm animals which they are interested in and began to work in their workbooks. They narrowed down their ideas and focused on one animal which they will research, thought of questions they want to know about their chosen animal and any facts they already know. As a class they shared their animals and friends were able to feedback any additional information they knew.

Week 3

As a group we briefly talked about the animal chosen in week 2 and what habitats they belong to, and then formed the working groups based on the habitats. Two groups were researching and working on the Arctic, one group chose the Forest and one group chose the Wetland. Each student had an information pack about their animal and were reading through it to pick out key points and interesting information, such as size, weight, lifespan, prey/predators. Once they had written down the information they had learnt, they started to make a group poster for their habitat and animals. These posters were presented to the class and students were able to ask questions and give feedback.

Week 4

The students were introduced to food chains and how they are important for animals to be able to survive in their habitats. They thought about the food chain of their animal and created flow charts showing the cycle of what is the prey and what is the predator. Once they understood the food chains they were able to start thinking about the design of the habitats within their groups, thinking about materials they need and what they will make. These designs were presented to the class and friends were able to ask questions and make suggestions of improvement.    

Week 5

The students started working on their habitats. Everyone was thinking about the landscape and what colors are seen in the habitat really well. Different materials were used in creative ways and a lot of progress was made by all four groups. When it came to presentation time, all four groups explained what they had made and why, and their friends asked well thought-out questions/advice.

Week 6

The students finished working on their habitats, making sure they had the animals which they had chosen, thought about the food and water resources for the animals to be able to survive, and an area where the animals would be able to sleep/stay safe. Once the students were finished working on the habitats, they began to think about what they wanted to say and show to the parents during the final presentation.

Week 8

The students practiced talking in their groups about their habitat and what information they wanted to share in the presentation. They also practiced talking about their habitat with the camera, making sure they block the camera and remembered to face the audience for the final presentation.

In their final presentation, they reflected not only on the animal houses they had built, but also on what they had learned about different habitats.

The students were able to present how they had worked on the project over the past two months.

After the presentation, the students looked relieved and also felt a sense of accomplishment.

We could feel the children's growth and looked forward to the next lesson even more.