The kid have been having a blast learning all about the Earth and how to take care of it as we prepare for Earth Day.

They have enjoyed learning about endangered species and habitats, as they love animals in general so much.

In this Earth Day Unit about Endangered Species and Habitats the kids learned about animals and habitats in the air, on land, and in the water.

Earth Day Unit: Endangered Species and Habitats with Free Printables

Upper Letter Writing Practice

We've done this activity before but everyone loves it, which is a HUGE deal when it comes to writing, because well...  Not a single kiddo in this house enjoys writing in any way. 

Dinomite writes his letters next to the ones already written.  Bulldozer and Princess, trace the letters already there.

Lowercase Letter Writing Practice

Not only do they work on uppercase letters, but also lowercase letters.

 Endangered Species Cards

I am not one to spend any money purchasing cards and printables online, as I just don't have the funds to do so right now.  Almost everything you see on my blog is free.  However, I did splurge on these cards.  

Though some of the animals are not technically "endangered," they are threatened etc.  The description cards are wonderful, although definitely written for an elementary aged child.  

I went through each card with Dinomite, reading them aloud.  Then we worked through all the big words.  It went very well. For Bulldozer and Princess, matching pictures with names will be sufficient.

Source:  These cards were purchased at Montessori Helper. 

Introduction to Clocks

Dinomite worked on learning how to tell time earlier in the year, but I've noticed he's forgetting.  Bulldozer and Princess have never worked on telling time.  

I've hesitated putting an activity on the shelves regarding time, just because only Dinomite can work on it.  That was, until today.  

I just happened to glance at our telling time flash cards as I had just finished going through some fun manipulatives a relative gave me. I love it when ideas come together!

 

Step 1:  Matching the time on the clock with the time on the card.

For Bulldozer and Princess, the whole purpose is to introduce them to the clock.  They are to make the hands on clock match the clock on the flashcard.

Step 2: Identifying the actual time in numbers.

Once they've done so, they can turn over the flashcard and look at the time.  Mommy and Daddy are doing this with them for the first little while, to help them learn how to say time. Then hopefully they'll be able to do it on their own.

Dinomite is to match the time on the clock and then without looking at the back, tell the time correctly.  He can then look on the back to see if he is correct.

How Many Endangered Species Are Left?

Mommy and Daddy spent a lot of time researching endangered species this weekend and came across a list of the top ten most endangered species. After looking up numbers, to see exactly how many are actually left, we created a graph activity for the kids.

The information sheet includes pictures of each animal for the kids, so they know which one is which.  All they have to do is find the number, if they can't read.  For Dinomite, we included less than and about phrases  he has to interpret.

Once the graph is completed the kiddos are asked to tell us about it.

Source: I created this printable as part of my Endangered Species Printable Pack 1.  For your free copy, click on the link located at the bottom of this post.

Hundred Board

This week we're introducing the Hundred Board.  The front side of this board has all of the numbers, the back side has empty squares for Dinomite who doesn't need the numbers.    I'm so excited to finally have a board of my own.  (It came as part of a manipulative pack a relative gave me.)

Endangered Animals Sorting & Patterns

We did this activity a while back, but last night I thought of it again, when I realized that most animals in the package are endangered.  The kiddos sort a few of the crackers, and then practice making patterns with them.  This is one of Bulldozer's favorite activities, especially when he gets to eat the broken ones.

Source: This idea came from a site that no longer exists online.

The Ocean Habitats

I have been trying to come up with ways to teach the kids the 5 oceans.  There are very few songs out there that include all 5, and well just so little info out there in general.  

A while back I stumbled across these cards.  This week I decided to pull them out again. If nothing else, they will help the kids identify the names of the oceans, and notice the many creatures that live in the oceans.

Source:   I found this activity at bogglesworldesl.com.

The Earth:  Continents & Oceans

In attempt to review our continents and once again work on learning our ocean names and locations, I brought out our maps to color and label using the Montessori continent colors.  I included a map of the world, so the kids could find the oceans, to know where to label them.

Sources;  The map coloring page is at Crayola.  The continent cards were part of an animal activity we did a while back and found on the internet.

Since this unit study, I have created the Montessori-inspired Continents and Oceans Bundle. This resource includes so many fabulous printables about continents and printables.

Dangers to Healthy Habitat Match Up

In an effort to try to help the kids understand why animals are endangered, I created Healthy Habitat cards and Dangers to Habitat cards. The kids were asked to match the cards up.  Each habitat could technically be affected by each danger, however for their little minds, match ups made the most sense.

So far, they've really liked the cards.  Two out of three kiddos have commented on how sad the dangers are and want to do something about it.  I'll admit it was a very sad activity to put together, but one they really do need to understand to make a difference.

Source: I created these cards as part of my Endangered Species Printable Pack 2. This is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Food Chains of the Grasslands

My kiddos are very familiar with the food chain in regards to the Grasslands of Africa, so I didn't make up cards to match up, but instead put a basket full of animals with some plant life.  I ask each kiddo to explain the food chains to me and tell me who eats what and who. They do a fabulous job!

Ocean Animal Maze/Puzzle

A friend gave us this little activity, so I figured this week was a goo time to try it out.

Arctic Sensory Bin

My kids love sensory bins, and I just couldn't resist including a couple this week, my first being the Arctic sensory bin.  

It includes:

• Arctic animals
• white and blue beads
• gems and stones
• cotton balls
• plastic glacier figures.  

The best part was that all of it was on hand in our house!

 

Oil Spill Rescue

This is one of my favorite activities of the week and a great visual way to teach kids about oil spills.  I loved that it included so much fine motor skill work!

Mommy initially covers all of the water animals up with black play-dough.  It is then the kiddo's job to rescue them all, removing all of the "oil."  The kiddos enjoy the process so much, that they decide to cover the animals with play-dough and rescue them again!

Rainforest Sensory Bin

I must say, I was pretty pleased with how this sensory bin turned out, and again, all of the contents were available at our house already.  

The bin includes:  

• several rainforest animal figures
• a variety of green and blue beads
• green pom poms
• plastic plant life
• brown popsicle sticks
• green popsicle sticks

Dinomite really enjoyed playing with it today.

 

Blind Folded Endangered Species Identification

My kiddos don't really enjoy having their eyes covered, especially Bulldozer who is so visually oriented. However, they are liking this activity so far.  

We study the animal characteristics, then I blind fold the kiddo.  Once I know they can't see, I spread the animals out on the floor in front of them.  They pick one up at a time and try to identify the animal.  It's working pretty well I must say!

How to Draw a Whale & Elephant

Lastly, I included an art activity.  Dinomite and Princess seem to really enjoy the step-by-step drawing cards.  This week I included an elephant and a whale.

Sources. The elephant cards can be found at How to Draw 200 Animals.  Click HERE for the whale cards.

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