Mystery Animal

LESSON 1

Children create a habitat as they guess the mystery animal, gather materials, and learn about snails' characteristics and behaviors. 

  • Container or terrarium for habitat 

  • Dirt or soil 

  • Small logs, sticks, and bark 

  • Natural materials like moss, dead leaves, small plants, and woodchips. 

Materials

  • Prepare the base for your habitat, whether it's a mason jar, container, or terrarium. 

  • Organize a nature walk to gather materials for filling your habitat. 

Preparations

  • Facilitate a hands-on learning experience that engages students in the exploration of habitats and animal characteristics. 

  • Encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills through guided questioning and hypothesis testing about the mystery animal. 

  • Support language development through vocabulary related to habitats, animal characteristics, and dietary preferences. 

  • Foster a positive learning environment where students feel motivated to ask questions and share observations. 

Objectives for Teachers

  • Children identify and understand the components of a habitat. 

  • Children engage in critical thinking by making educated guesses about the mystery animal based on habitat clues. 

  • Children develop observation and classification skills by identifying natural materials suitable for habitat construction. 

  • Children explore the dietary preferences of the mystery animal and relate them to its habitat and environment. 

  • Children foster curiosity and knowledge about snails through discussion and observation. 

Objectives for Children

Collect and Connect

Come up with actions and practice saying the poem “Don’t Rush Me Please” together.

Don’t Rush Me Please

I am a snail—

Don’t Rush me please.

I’m heading for

Those cherry trees.

I have no place

I have to be,

No pressing thing

I have to see.

I like this speed;

I like being slow;

It gives me time

To get to know

All the flowers

That I pass,

Every blade

Of every grass.

I am a snail.

This is my way.

Don’t rush me, please.

We’ve got all day.

-Barbara Vance

Activity Flow

  1. To start this unit, we have an exciting challenge! Let your child know they'll be making a habitat. Ask if they know what a habitat is. If not, explain it's like a home for plants or animals where they find everything they need to live. Together, list what plants and animals need to survive, like food, water, dirt, shelter, and air. 

  2. Now, let's talk about making a habitat for an animal! Keep the animal a mystery for now. Let your child know you'll give them clues as you build the habitat together. Start by showing them the container or terrarium you picked. Mention that the animal won't be bigger than the habitat. Encourage them to guess what animal it might be and make a list of their guesses. But keep the animal a surprise, even if they guess it right, and add it to their list.  

  3. Now, let's go outside and gather materials for our terrarium! Start with dirt for the bottom. While filling it, check your child's list of animals. Can any be crossed off? Encourage critical thinking with questions like: 

  • Which animals on our list need soil or dirt to live? 

  • Do any of the animals on our list live in water? 

  • Which animals can we remove from our list because they don't need soil? 

4. Once the habitat is filled with dirt, let's move on to the next material. Here's another clue about our mystery animal: it likes to hide under logs or sticks to stay safe from predators. Look for small logs, sticks, and bark. While gathering, revisit the list of animals. Can we eliminate or add any based on this clue? Here are some questions to think about: 

  • Which animals on our list might hide under logs or sticks? 

  • Do any animals on our list prefer to stay above ground? 

  • Can we narrow down our list further based on this new clue? 

5. Now that we've added logs and sticks to the habitat, let's make it feel more like nature. Look for natural materials like moss, dead leaves, small plants, and woodchips. Collect these items and add them to the habitat until it looks just right. 

6. Let your child know that once we have our animal, we'll make sure it has plenty to eat. Here's the final clue: our mystery animal enjoys a variety of foods, such as strawberries, apples, lettuce, cucumber, and even certain flowers and herbs. They also enjoy munching on decaying plant matter and fungi. They're not too picky—happy to snack on whatever tasty treats they find in the garden or nature. 

7. Let's take another look at our list of animals and see if we can narrow it down further now that the habitat is complete, and we've discussed its diet. Allow your child to make their final guesses, then reveal you’ll be bringing in a pet snail!  

8. To wrap up the lesson, let your child know that in the next lesson, they will get to find their pet snail(s). Ask them to share what they already know about snails. Here are some questions to get the conversation going: 

  • How do you think snails move? 

  • What colors do you think snails come in? 

  • Why do you think snails have shells? 

  • Have you ever seen a snail in our garden or outside?