Preview · the opening missionRead this to the class:
The town council has written to the class. "We plan a new highway through Green Hill Forest. Deer, foxes, bears and frogs live there and will need to cross the road. Before we decide: what happens to living things when their habitat changes, and what is the best way to help them?" Your team's job: study four real habitat changes, then make a claim about which solution would work best for Green Hill Forest, with evidence.
Teams of three, with three jobs that rotate at each case: Reader (reads the case aloud), Sorter (sorts the living things) and Recorder (fills in the table).
Look inside the PDF
Sample pages, stamped “preview”. The download is the clean, full lesson.
In the full lesson PDF
9 printable pages
- Predict (5–10 min)
- Hunt (20 min)
- Reveal (10–15 min)
- Act (10 min)
- Background for the teacher
- Assessment
- Student sheet
- Worksheet: Case files
- Worksheet: Highway file
- Worksheet: Label it
- Worksheet: Try it at home
On the student sheet
- My predictions
- Case files
- My claim for Green Hill Forest
- Case files
- Highway file
- Label it
- Try it at home
US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white. The student sheet is on its own page, ready to photocopy.
Free with an account (any 3 lessons), or US$19 for all 4 lessons in this unit.
What students show by the end
- Sorts outcomes
- Explains why
- Claims the merit of a solution
From the lesson’s rubric, which scores each one as not yet, getting there or got it.
Questions teachers ask
How long does “What happens when a habitat changes?” take?
45–60 min. Group size: teams of 3.
How much prep does it need?
10 minutes: print the four case files (one set per team, cut apart along the lines, or one copy of each taped up as a station) and the highway file, and copy the student sheet.
What materials do I need?
None. No materials needed: just the printed sheets.
Which curriculum standards does it cover?
NGSS (US): 3-LS4-4. It also matches England National Curriculum, Year 4 and Cambridge Primary Science, Stages 3 to 5 (not endorsed by Cambridge).
What’s in the lesson PDF?
A teacher guide that walks you through predict, hunt, reveal, act, background for the teacher and assessment, then a student sheet (“My predictions”, “Case files”, “My claim for Green Hill Forest”, “Case files”, “Highway file”, “Label it” and “Try it at home”) on its own page, ready to photocopy. It’s US Letter and prints cleanly in black and white.
Can I try it for free?
Yes. A free account includes any 3 full lessons of your choice, and this can be one of them. After that, this unit is US$19 for all 4 lessons, yours to keep, or every lesson is US$199 a year.