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Critter
Corner
Purpose:
- to use observations and inferences to better understand specific animals' lifestyles
- to hone observation and inference skills, applicable in any setting
- to illustrate a variety of animal lifestyles within an ecosyste
Materials:
- 5 animals from the same habitat in containers*
- 5 magnifying glasses
- Critter Corner question cards
- flip chart paper
- felt pens
- As a group brainstorm to create a word picture of the critter's ecosystem as a way to set the context for this activity. Ideally you would collect the critters with your class to help them understand the critter's ecosystem.
- Introduce the idea of animal lifestyles (see below). Generate a list of lifestyle types.
- Divide the learners into five groups. Provide each group with a critter, Critter Corner question card (see below) and a magnifying glass.
- Give each group time to answer the questions by observing their critter.
- Have each group share what they found out about their critter's lifestyle with the rest of the learners.
Question Card
Use these questions to see what you can figure out about this critter's lifestyle.
- What does its mouth look like (shape and size)?
- How do you think it locates its food (eyes, antennae, ...)?
- Describe how it moves (crawls, slithers, ...).
- What do you think it eats?
- What do you think might eat it?
- What do you notice about its colouring?
- Is it fast or slow?
- How do you think it protects itself?
- What can you say about this critter's lifestyle?
Lifestyles
Animal lifestyles can be categorized in many different ways. The following approach focuses on what and how animals eat. Within one ecosystem there are all sorts of animal lifestyles. Here are some examples of lifestyles you might encounter in British Columbia.
Animals can be:
Predators
Herbivores
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Omnivores
Recyclers
Parasites
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