Why do deer live in places with trees?
The kindergarten performance expectation K-ESS3-1 asks students to: “Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.” In our kindergarten informational text for this performance expectation, Why Do I Live Here? by Sarah Wassner Flynn, students learn why a forest is the perfect habitat for deer. You can access the text here:
https://texts.starrmatica.com/sample-texts
After students read the text, you might interest them in exploring the relationship between other animals and their habitats. Download the free version of the Switch Zoo App. Students can build an animal and place it in a habitat they think will be suitable for that animal.
https://switchzoo.com/switchzooapp.htm
This simple matching activity could be enhanced by a class discussion about why each habitat is best suited for that animal. You could further the discussion by having students imagine what habitats would be the worst suited for each animal and asking them to explain why.
Your students can check out the habitat games available on PBS Kids. They can explore a variety of habitats to learn what animals live in each and what they need to survive.
https://pbskids.org/plumlanding/games/index.html
For an offline alternative, you can have your students complete the activity linked below. As an extra challenge, ask them to explain why the animal they drew will survive best in their chosen habitat.
https://www.education.com/worksheet/article/my-animal-habitat/
Why Do I Live Here? is found in, StarrMatica Texts: Science Your Way, a collection of informational texts written specifically to address every K-5 NGSS Performance Expectation. All texts in the collection begin with a phenomenon photo and are written at six different Lexile levels, so all students can read the same content at their reading level. You can find out more about StarrMatica Texts: Science Your Way here: http://www.starrmatica.com
