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Backyard Explorer 3 to 5 / Week 02 / Friday
5/6
Week 02 · Map Your Habitat

Friday

Good, so-so or impossible
// Food, water, cover and space, drawn from above
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Good, So-So or Impossible

Rocket holds up a drawing of a frog in the middle of the parking lot. "Frog habitat!"

Raven raises an eyebrow. "How long would a frog last on hot pavement?"

Rocket thinks. "Not long. No water. No cover. Too hot."

Nova projects three cyan faces: a smile, a flat line and a frown. "Rate every spot," she says.

Three ratings

Scientists say a living thing in a habitat can do one of three things.

It can survive well. It gets all four needs, and it grows and raises young.

It can survive less well. Some needs are met, but not all. It struggles.

Or it cannot survive at all. A key need is missing, so it cannot stay alive there.

A frog needs water and cover. On hot bare pavement it cannot survive.

A frog near a creek bank with plants survives well.

A frog in a dry lawn with one small puddle survives less well.

Living thingSpotRatingWhy
frogcreek bank with plantssurvives wellWater, cover, food and space are all there.
froglawn with one puddlesurvives less wellSome water, but little cover. The puddle may dry up.
froghot bare pavementcannot surviveNo water, no cover, too hot.
grassopen sunny lawnsurvives wellLight, soil and rain are all there.
grassunder a thick dark bushsurvives less wellSoil and water, but very little light.
grasssolid concretecannot surviveNo soil for roots.
RATE THE SPOT
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A fish in a bucket with no water. Which rating?
A bird in a yard with bushes, seeds and a bird bath. Which rating?
A tree seedling in a sidewalk crack with a little soil. Which rating?
Moss on a hot, dry, sunny rooftop. Which rating?

Finish your map

Your map now shows sun, shade, water and cover.

Add one last layer: a rating for three spots.

Pick a living thing. Pick three spots. Give each spot a smile, a flat line or a frown.

Write one sentence for each rating that names the missing or present need.

Check your key one more time. Every symbol on the map should be in it.

  1. Choose one living thing you have seen near home.
  2. Pick three spots on your map.
  3. Rate each spot: smile, flat line or frown.
  4. Write why, using the words food, water, cover or space.
  5. Add the three faces to your map key.
A living thing that gets all four needs survives ____.
A living thing missing a key need ____ survive.
A frog on hot bare pavement is missing ____ and cover.
Week checkTrue or false?
A habitat supplies food, water, cover and space.?
Shade stays in one place all day.?
Dew counts as water for a small animal.?
Every living thing survives well in every spot.?
A map key explains the symbols.?
WHY THIS EXERCISENeeds, moving shade, tiny water and a key. That is the whole week.
What rating does a frog get on hot bare pavement?
WHY THIS EXERCISEWhen a key need is missing, the living thing cannot survive there.
Try it
Take your map outside with your grown-up.
Stand in each of your three rated spots. Does the rating still feel right?
Change any rating that needs it. Scientists update their work all the time.
Safety first
Stay with your grown-up.
Look with your eyes. Never touch a wild animal, insect, nest, egg, mushroom or unknown plant.
Wash your hands when you come inside.
Draw your three rated spots side by side. Give each a face and one need word.

Three ratings, done! Tomorrow is Explorer Day: the finished habitat map.

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