Animal Homes
Know that animals make or find many different kinds of homes — birds build nests, rabbits dig burrows, bees live in hives, hermit crabs use empty shells, spiders spin webs — and that these shelters protect them and their young
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Animal Homes means animals make or find shelters—nests, burrows, hives, shells, webs—that protect them and their young. We will match animals to homes, act one shelter job, then check a fresh animal.”
Bring to the table
- Paper cards or quick sketches: nest, burrow, hive, shell, web
- A small cup or box as a pretend “shelter”
Extra for the adult
Worked example. A bird builds a nest to shelter eggs and chicks. A hermit crab uses an empty shell as a home.
Optional challenge. For Animal Homes, sort “built” vs “found” homes and add one new example from a walk or book.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: matches; protect language; support used. This session samples shelter ideas, not mastery of every animal home.
Share and support
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Teaching approaches
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2 approaches
Animal Homes means animals make or find shelters—nests, burrows, hives, shells, webs—that protect them and their young. We will match animals to homes, act one shelter job, then check a fresh animal.
Spend about 12 minutes matching animals to homes and naming the protect job, then checking a new animal.
Match animal shelter examples while avoiding the idea every web or nest is a permanent home.
Match animal shelter examples while avoiding the idea every web or nest is a permanent home.
Family records and proof options
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Save photos, notes, and attendance. Export a proof packet for compliance or portfolio reviews.
Practice this concept
Start practiceAnimal homes practice
Match animals to homes that protect them and their young.
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Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
PhET Interactive Simulations · Practice link — not the full lesson
Forces and Motion: Basics
Before you open · source notes
Forces and Motion: Basics supports hands-on exploration for Animal Homes. Not every lab worksheet.
Free interactive or educational page, no sign-in required for the tested path.
Before you openAsk the learner what they changed in the sim or page and what they observed.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public PhET Interactive Simulations HTML5 page. An anonymous GET on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt for this sim URL. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. The sim is interactive in-browser; Gakuva does not embed or host it.
PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder. “Forces and Motion: Basics.” External sim; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
Unknown — link only
Check understanding
- Names at least 4 different types of animal homes (nest, burrow, hive, web, shell, den, lodge)
- Explains that animals need homes for shelter and to keep their babies safe
- Matches common animals to their homes
“If you ask your child where different animals live, can they describe several animal homes — like a bird's nest, a rabbit's burrow, or a bee's hive — and say why animals need shelter?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Conceptual
- Subject
- Science
- Domain
- Animals of the World
- Age range
- Ages 5–7