It's story telling time - with a climate education twist!

PURPOSE

In this activity students will be introduced to the concept of habitats through the book Welcome Home, Bear. The teacher will then give a brief talk about how climate change is changing and removing habitats for different animals.

GRADE LEVELS

1-3

TIME NEEDED

35-45 minutes

Welcome Home Bear by Il Sung Na book cover

Curriculum LINKS

Grade 1, Science, Topic E: Needs of Animals & Plants

Grade 2, Science, Topic E: Small Crawling & Flying Animals

Grade 3, Science, Topic E: Animal Life Cycles

MATERIALS NEEDED

Book: Welcome Home, Bear by Il Sung Na

Pencil & Paper

Instructions

1: Read Welcome Home, Bear or use this video:

Reading the book to students should take approximately 5 minutes.

2: Have the children make observations about the bears misadventures to the homes of different animals. Observations could include:

Bear didn’t like it when it was too cold, or too hot
Bear had a hard time in habitats or homes that weren’t perfect for him
To be happy and comfortable, bear had to be in his own habitat.

Ask children what the characteristics of the bear’s habitat is?

3: Share that all living things have a specific habitat that they need and that works best for them.

Ask children if there is anything they think climate change will be doing to change habitats of animals like bear? Answer: It will get warmer and cause stress for the bear. He may have to move north or find a different home.

More Bring Nature Home for Teachers

Bring Nature Home is our online database of tried-and-tested CPAWS Southern Alberta activities! Here are some ways that you can bring nature home (or to the classroom) today!