Life in the Desert

Content Objectives

Children will:

• Learn about the concept of life in the desert.
• Access prior knowledge and build background about desert animals.
• Explore and apply the concept of desert animals to why desert animals are able to survive in a desert habitat.

Language Objectives

Children will:

• Demonstrate an understanding of deserts.
• Orally use words that describe what desert animals look like.
• Extend oral vocabulary by talking about how desert animals are different from other animals.
• Use key concept words [polar bear, clownfish, rattlesnake, den, reef, the Arctic, habitat].

Other

Explain

• Use the slideshow to review the key concept words.
• Explain that children are going to learn about:
• What a habitat is.
• What a habitat in the Arctic is like.
• What a coral reef habitat is like.
• What a desert habitat is like.

Model

• After the host introduces the slide show, point to the photo on screen. Ask children: What do you see in this picture? (sand, rocks, a few plants). Why is a desert a hard place to live? (really hot, really dry, very little water to drink).
• Proceed to the next slide. Ask children: Why does a camel's hump help it live in a desert? (helps it go longer without food).
• Say: The desert seems like a hard place to live. If you lived in the desert, what would you do to be comfortable? (answers will vary).

Guided Practice

• Guide children through the next two slides, showing the different plants and animals that live in the desert. Always have the children explain why that plant or animal is able to live in a desert.

Apply

• Have children play the games that follow. Have them discuss with their partner the different topics that appear during the Talk About It feature.
• After the first game, ask children to talk about how they can tell which animals can survive in the desert and help them learn more about the animals they're interested in. After the second game, have them discuss whether they would want to live in a desert. Close
• Ask children: Why is the desert a good habit for some animals? Explain.
• Summarize for children that a desert is an area that is very hot, very dry, and very sandy. A desert can be a hard place to live, but some plants and animals have special ways to survive in the desert. Encourage children to think about what they would do and see on a trip to a desert.