Grade 1 - "The beautiful basics"

(from Project Wild,Washington D.C.: Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies & Western Regional Environmental Education Council, 1989)

Georgia Performance Standard:

S1L1- Students will investigate the characteristics and basic needs of plants and animals.

Method:

Students list and organize needs of people, pets, and wildlife.

Background:

All animals, either directly or indirectly, depend upon plants, sunlight, water, soil, and air.  

All animals – including people, pets, and wildlife – need food, water, shelter, and space in which to live.  These must be in the quality and quantity required by the particular animal.  Because animals need food, water, shelter, and space to be available in a way that is suitable to their needs, we say that these things must be available in a suitable “arrangement.”

The major purpose of this activity is for students to identify the basic survival needs of all living things and to recognize that people and all animals – including pets – have similar basic needs.

Materials:

Dry Erase Board or chalkboard

Procedure:

1.) Put three words on a chalkboard, so that a column of words can be listed under each:  People – Pets – Wildlife.  Ask the students, “What do people need in order to be able to live?”  List the students’ ideas in a column under the word, “People.”  Do the same for pets and wildlife. 

2.) After the lists are made, ask the students to look to see which ideas seem to go together into larger ideas.  For example, warmth might be combined with physical comfort and both might fit within the concept of shelter.  See if the students can narrow down the lists and come up with the essential survival needs for people, pets, and wildlife.  The most basic survival needs will be the same for each of the three groups.  The lists, when reduced, could include and be limited to:

Evaluation:

List at least four things plants and animals need for survival.

Which of these are needed by animals but not by plants: soil, water, air, food, shelter, arrangement, sunlight?