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 It’s not often that a student gets to watch a monkey swing through the rainforest or see a lion hide behind the tall grass in a regular classroom setting.
Luckily, first graders at Bradt Primary School get to experience this during their plant and animal habitat unit thanks to Teaching Assistant Loriann Lynch.
For the past five years, Lynch has been turning her science lab classroom into different living environments, so that students can see where certain plants and animals live and how they survive.
“I love to see the look on students’ faces when they enter the lab and the room has been turned into a grassland or rainforest, complete with sounds,” said Lynch.
Lynch usually creates the habitats with found materials. She uses old sheets to simulate water, tissue paper for coral, and a shampoo bottle to prop up a cardboard animal cutout.
Each habitat is stimulating, colorful, and factual—and the “oohs” and “aahs” as students enter the classroom can contend for that.
“I run a hands-on, visually stimulating lab, and our students are excited to learn here,” said Lynch. “Children love animals and enjoy learning about where they live.”
In addition to viewing the habitat creations in the classroom, students follow-up with other learning activities, like working in their habitat packets, reading books about plants and animals from the school library, and watching small video clips about different living environments.
Students also get a chance to make their own habitat. They are currently making dioramas or posters of their favorite habitat or animal. The projects will be on display at Bradt School during Earth Week (April 21-25) for all students to see.
View photo gallery.
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