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OUTDOOR EDUCATION SCIENCE AND GEOGRAPHY LESSON PLAN (4th -5th)
Date:
Camp: Mount San Jacinto State park/ Palms
Springs Tramway
Instructor: Martha Vasquez
Supervisor:
“What Kids Need to Bring to Camp”
Water, comfortable shoes (closed-toe shoes),
jeans, sun hat, sunscreen and snack bar.
 Medications - Parental note for medications
Standards:
4LS3.c. Students know many plants depend on animals for pollination and seed dispersal, and
animals depend on plants for food and shelter.
4LS3.a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving
components. 4LS3.b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and
animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
The National Geography Standards: How to use mental maps to organize information about
people, places, and environments.
Physical Systems: The characteristics and spatial distribution of
ecosystems on Earth's surface.
The Uses of Geography: How to apply geography to interpret the past.
To apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.
List Materials Used:
Paper construction paper
Pencils colors/markers
1. Introduction & Inclusion Activity:
I will start by asking the students some questions like this: What is a basic need? What are
some basic needs that you have that you can think of? Do you think humans and animals have
the same basic needs? What do you think are the four most important basic needs that we as
humans have? Are there the same for animals (including pets, farm animals and wild animals)?
2. Content Objective:
Students will: 1) identify their own basic needs for food, water, shelter and space in a suitable
arrangement; and 2) generalize that wildlife and other animals have similar basic needs. In
addition they are going to learn; How to apply geography to interpret the past by observing the
view and finally how to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.
1. 3. Identify the Strategies/Procedures used in the lesson:

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a) We will talk about the definition of the four most important basic needs (water, food,
shelter and space).
b) Once they understand the definition of each basic need; we need to make sure they
differentiate between shelter and space.
c) Give the students drawing paper and crayons. Ask the students to draw a picture of
where they live, including pictures of where they find food, water, shelter and space.
Ask the students to label the parts of their drawings where they find their food, water,
shelter, and space.
d) For example: Habitat components can be shown in a number of ways. A grocery store
down the street may be included for food. Space can be shown as the area outside and
inside the house or apartment. Space can also include the neighborhood. (Space
actually includes all the areas used for survival.)
e) 3. Once the drawings are complete, tell the students that when food, water, shelter,
and space go together in a special way so that animals, including people, can live, we
call that place a habitat. The food, water, shelter, and space are in an arrangement that
makes it possible for animals to live.
f) Ask the students if they could live in a home where the bathroom was four miles
north, the kitchen was 12 miles west, and the bedroom was nine miles east! Some
animals, however, do travel great distances in their habitat. What might some of these
animals be?
g) Ask the students to write the word habitat in big letters at the top of their drawing,
talking with them about the meaning of habitat.
Play the game “oo-Roo!”In a safe area. Procedure in the attached page..
4. Collaboration Skills: (Only Check 1 or 2)
x Participating fully □ Valuing diversity of culture ideas □ Solving problems creatively
□ Sharing □ Group management skills □ Listening attentively □ Thinking constructively
x Working on tasks together □ Listening □ Discipline □ Expressing appreciation
□ Making responsible decisions □ Assessing improvement □ respecting □ Empathizing
□ Reflecting on experience □ Resolving conflict □ Celebrating achievement □ No put downs
5. Reflection questions to be asked: (Write at least One Question Per Each Level)
□ Content: what do you think are really important basic needs, such as water?
□ Social Skills: In playing the game: “oo-Roo” what were some things you notice?
□ Personal: During the game activity, what would you choose to do different if you were to play
it again?
6. Provide Opportunity for appreciation: (Examples)
 Thank you for listening attentively.
 I liked the way you passed out the materials.
 Thank you all for working together.
 Thank you for participating.
7. Comments/Evaluation:
 What things you notice while playing the activity? Do you think you can always
meet all your needs?
 What happened at the end? Were there more kangaroos or goods.

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Oo-Roo!
Have you ever seen kangaroos in the bush? They spend their time searching
for the food, water, shelter and space they need to survive. When these
things are plentiful, most of the animals stay healthy and give birth to their
young. Most of them can avoid being killed by predators. In a year with lots
of food, water, shelter and space, the number of kangaroos usually increases.
In some years, however, there is less food, water,
shelter or space. A drought may dry up the water
supplies, or a bushfire may burn all the plants the
kangaroos use for food. Without water or food the
animals often become stressed. Stressed animals, as
well as very old or young animals, are more likely to
die from a disease or be killed by a predator, such as a
dingo or kangaroo shooter. Then there would be
fewer kangaroos. Their numbers would decrease.
The game of ‘Oo-Roo’
Your class will play a game to find out how the number of kangaroos changes
each year. Some students will pretend to be the food, water, shelter or space
that the kangaroos need for survival. Other students will pretend to be
kangaroos. A few students will also pretend to be a disease or a predator
that can kill kangaroos. Each round of the game will represent one year.
Each year, the kangaroos will search for the food, water, shelter and space
they need for survival. Those kangaroos that find what they need and avoid
disease and predators will live and produce joeys that survive. Any that do
not find what they need will die. A few might also die each year because of
diseases or predators.
During the next round of the game, the unsuccessful kangaroos will become
food, water, shelter or space for the remaining kangaroos in the mob. At the
end of each round (or year), your class will count how many kangaroos
survived and reproduced successfully.
As you play this game, watch how the number of kangaroos changes year by
year as the amount of available food, water, shelter or space changes.
Getting ready to play the game
Your teacher will tell you whether you will begin the game as a kangaroo
or as an available resource. Kangaroos will stand along one line and the
resources will stand along the other line. All players will stand with their
backs to the opposite line.
What the kangaroos do
Before each round of the game, each kangaroo will decide whether to
look for food, water, shelter or space and will make the sign of that need.
Once the sign is made, a kangaroo cannot change what it will look for.
What the resources do
Before each round of the game, each student who represents a resource
will choose to be food, water, shelter or space and will make the sign of
that resource. Once the signs are made, students cannot change what
they represent. Your teacher will secretly assign one student to

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represent a disease and another student to represent a „roo shooter in
addition to representing a resource.
Signs
Food Water Shelter Space
Playing the game
When your teacher says „go‟, both lines will turn and face each other.
Still making the sign of what they need, kangaroos will run across the
playing area and try to collect those resources from the opposite line.
When a kangaroo finds a matching sign for food, water, shelter or space,
it will take its match back to the kangaroo side of the playing area. This
will show that the kangaroo met its need and successfully reproduced
that year.
Any kangaroo that doesn‟t find a matching sign for food, water, shelter
or space will die and become part of the resources in the next round. If
a kangaroo finds a matching resource that also represents a disease or a
„roo shooter, that kangaroo will die and become part of the resources in
the next round.
Those students who represent the resources will stay in line until a
kangaroo needs them. If no kangaroo needs a particular resource during
any round, those students will continue to be resources in the next round.
After each round, your teacher will count and record how many
kangaroos are left. Then everyone chooses a different sign, and your
teacher assigns different students to be a disease and a „roo shooter.
Let’s talk about it
1 In your game, what happened to the number of
kangaroos when there was plenty of food, water, shelter
and space?
2 What happened to the number of kangaroos when there
was a shortage of food, water, shelter or space?
3 In the bush, what would kangaroos use for food, water
and shelter?
4 What might cause the availability of food, water and
shelter to change from year to year?
5 Which kangaroos would be the most likely to be killed
by diseases or by predators?
6 Do you think that the number of kangaroos would
change or remain steady each year?
7 Could the number of kangaroos change for reasons
other than births or deaths?
http://www.science.org.au/pi/book7/s7l8.pdf