River Animal Habitat Collage

• Contributed by the Bronx Children’s Museum

Grade Level: #

Pre-K through 3rd Grade

Length of Activity: #

45 minutes

Key Ideas: #

1. Animals live in neighborhoods/homes called “habitats.”
2. An animal’s habitat will have everything an animal needs to survive: food, water, shelter, etc.
3. Trout share their habitat with a variety of other animals.

Objectives: #

1. Students will learn which animals share a river habitat with trout.
2. Students will learn the different physical and geographical features that are found in a river habitat.

Discussion Prompts: #

• Invite the children to describe what a trout’s “home” looks like. Explain that we can use a new word to describe its home: “habitat.”
• Ask children what other animals live in or near the river with the trout. Chart their answers.
• As children name animals, show the corresponding picture using the Fun Fact Cards.

Materials: #

• A 5 x 5 canvas board (recycled cardboard is great for this)
• Tissue paper cut into 6 x 6 squares
• Printed river animal pictures
• Scrap paper (colored or patterned)
• Glue sticks

Procedure: #

1. Distribute a canvas to each student.
2. Show them the animal pictures and ask each child to choose one animal to create a habitat for.
3. Ask children to think about the habitat of their animal, or what time of day the animal might be active. Have each child choose a piece of tissue paper based for their background on their response (i.e., blue for water, orange for a sunset, green for grass, etc.)
4. Using a glue stick, children should cover the front of their canvas completely with glue. Carefully place the tissue paper on top of the glue and smooth out.
5. Turn the canvas over and glue down the edges so you have a perfect square again.
6. Children are now ready to add pieces to their habitat, including their chosen animal.
7. Ask children to use their fingers to tear the scrap paper into different shapes to create features of their habitat (i.e., round pieces are rocks, rectangles are tree trunks). They can also twist, fold, or tear pieces of tissue paper or scrap paper to create a multi-dimensional look to their habitat.
8. Children should set-up their habitat before they begin gluing, since this will allow them to layer pieces and experiment with perspective.

Evaluation: #

• Ask each child to present their habitat to the class and explain the different features.
• Display your “Trout Neighbors” near the fish tank to remind students that the trout shares its habitat with many other animals.

NYS Common Core: #

To view how this assignment meets common core standards in New York state, access the pdf of the River Animal Habitat Collage lesson plan