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Gimme
Shelter: Designing Habitats
Summary
Students design a habitat for a creature of their choosing, thereby
learning about the needs of the creature. The activity can be
combined with a field trip and a critical consideration of zoos
and aquaria to determine whether they are really adequate habitats.
Subject
Area
This activity has been designed for the Visual Arts curriculum
at throughout the Secondary level. It would work effectively within
Design and Drafting course as well as in the sciences.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching, learning, and evaluation will focus on the student’s
ability to:
- Follow
a plan through to a finished product;
- Describe
the importance of shelter to a specific species of animal;
- Identify
the materials and techniques used by at least one species to
construct its shelter;
- Construct
the type of shelter created by the chosen species;
- Identify
the components of habitat essential to the life of the species
that the student has chosen;
- Complete
a design for an artificial habitat that will adequately maintain
the chosen species;
- Critically
analyze and discuss ethical dimension of confined habitats such
as zoos and aquaria.
Materials
The materials required will depend on the animal chosen. Most
species will require habitats that cannot be reproduced in the
classroom, so scaled designs or “mockups” will have
to be substituted. If a habitat is produced that will actually
contain living organisms, ensure that more than minimum standards
for survival are met. Encourage students to use natural materials
if it can be done without damaging a natural environment. For
model construction a variety of materials will be required depending
on the type of shelter selected.
Background
Each organism has specific needs. In this design project, not
only needs must be satisfied, however, but questions of maintenance
and viewing must be considered. There will be a conflict between
the needs of the animal and the perceived needs of humans. Furthermore,
students must satisfy more than the physical survival needs of
the animal.
Classroom
development
- Before
introducing the activity, write the word “Habitat”
on the board. Have the class brainstorm the word in small groups,
and then have them develop a definition of “habitat”
and list the various components of a habitat and the components
necessary for survival.
- As a
class, develop a consensus definition and list, and make sure
that all students have a copy of the agreed-upon definition
and list in their notes.
- Introduce
the activity, the objectives and expected outcomes.
- Set
up groups of two to four students, have them choose one creature,
and then research that creature’s habitat needs (research
will include library work, contacting resource people in zoos,
aquaria, and pet shops). Remind students that they are expected
to critically access the validity of the information that they
obtain, and be able to support the choices that they make with
both data and well reasoned personal opinions.
- Design
and build the habitat based on research and notes. Some students
will recognize the impossibility of building a habitat within
the confines of economics and traditional zoos. If this happens
in your class, direct students to present a written proposal
as to why this is impossible within the existing constraints,
and then allow them to construct a habitat without regard for
any constraints beyond those of the animal’s needs.
- Each
group presents their work to the class, starting with their
creature, its needs, and how their habitat design meets these
needs.
- In a
class discussion, compare the various creatures’ natural
life needs (including where the creatures are found in nature)
with the artificial approaches being considered in the project.
- Some
students will hopefully consider the idea that zoos are, according
to Ron Laidlaw of Zoo Check Canada, at best a “veneer of
natural environment for the public consumption” that satisfies
the imagination of the human observers rather than the needs
of the animal. We provide animals with concrete trees and metal
leaves so that we can evoke the illusion of a natural setting
in our own minds. The animal knows the difference between their
true natural environment and an artificial one, just as we humans
can discern between a television and a slab of concrete in the
shape of a television. This realization on the part of some
students does not in any way negate the value of this activity.
It is the activity that brings students closer to an understanding
of the needs of animals, and by extension humans. If students
are able to transcend the scope of this activity to the point
of addressing the ethical foundations on which it is based,
so much the better.
Further
Development
- Students
can visit a zoo or aquarium or be visited by a zoo or aquarium
staff person.
- This
activity is a Visual Arts extension of the activity “Designing
a Habitat” from Project Wild. The original activity can
be used as a complimentary activity in the Transitional Years
curriculum, or as cross-curricular link in the senior Environmental
Science curriculum.
- Students
can be encouraged to become volunteer members of a local zoo
in their area, or join an animal advocacy group such as the
Humane Society or Zoo Check.
- As a
class, students can design a human habitat according to the
criteria that they applied for animals. Attempt to build this
habitat somewhere in the school and have a student live in this
habitat for a period of time, keeping a journal of their experience.
Resources
Zoo Check Canada
5334 Yonge St.
Suite 1830
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6M2
(416) 696-0241
Zoo Check Canada monitors the conditions of zoos and zoo-type
conditions across Canada through surveys and audits. This organization
is active at municipal, provincial and national levels of government
in promoting legislature that will protect animals. Zoo Check
Canada is comprised of concerned people from various walks of
life including: lawyers, artists, municipal politician, scientific
advisors, zoo veterinarians, and ornithologists among others.
They are currently developing Fax Sheets on various issues related
to their work that should be available in late 1994. If you are
planning to contact them, or have your students contact them,
please make your requests as specific as possible to your needs.
Outline the area or animal in which you are interested, your plans
for the material, and perhaps your learning outcomes, so that
the staff can send you the information you really need.
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