22 Animals and Habitats: Supplemental Guide 1A | What Is a Habitat?
Presenting the Read-Aloud 15 minutes
What Is a Habitat?
Show image 1A-1: Rattenborough the explorer
Greetings, fellow adventurers. You are here to learn something
new and, believe it or not, I’m here to teach it to you. I know
you may be wondering what you could possibly learn from a rat
climbing out of a dumpster, but I am Rattenborough, the famous
rat adventurer.
I travel the world looking at plants and animals and all the
different places they call home. I’m going to take you on a special
adventure all around the world. You’re going to learn about some
amazing and incredible places and animals. And we’re going to
start our exciting journey right here! I know, I know—it doesn’t look
like much, but it’s special to me, and it has everything I need.
Show image 1A-2: Alleyway
Welcome to my home. This is the alleyway where I live. Take
a look around. What do you see?^1 There are trash cans; litter;
boxes; drains and dripping pipes; old buildings and gutters. It’s a
perfect home for a rat. It has everything I need to live.
All living things need food and water to survive. 2 Animals, like
me, also need shelter. 3 So, animals need food, water, and shelter
to stay alive. My food comes from these trash cans and the litter
on the street; my water comes from the gutters, drains, and pipes;
and my family and I have a shelter down under some steps nearby.
All of these things make up my habitat. A habitat is a place where
an animal or plant lives that has food, water, and shelter. It’s true
that my home—the alleyway—is not considered a natural habitat,
like a forest or a pond; but when there are no natural habitats
around, some animals have to live in unnatural habitats, such as
this alleyway.^4 In an alleyway I can fi nd the three things I need to
survive. What are those three things again?^5 If a place lacks any of
these three things, then it’s not a good habitat.1 [Ask students to name what they
see in the picture.]
4 [You may wish to pause and talk
about natural habitats (e.g., desert,
forest, and ocean) and unnatural
habitats (e.g., fi sh tank, alleyway,
zoo).]
5 [Pause for students to reply,
naming food, water, and shelter.]
2 Survive means to continue living or
to stay alive.
3 A shelter is something that protects
from the weather or from danger.
A house or an apartment can be a
shelter; a tree can also be a shelter.