Grade 3 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 3, Lesson 2

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
From Sea to Shining Sea

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 3, Lesson 2: A Dry Place (pp. 51-57)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Change Plants and animals adjust their ways of living to survive in the desert.

Talk with students about the plants and animals that live in your community and area of the country. Then discuss what would happen to these plants and animals if the climate changed. Consider a number of changes, such as temperature and rainfall changes. Conclude the discussion by talking about the animals and plants they know about that live in the desert.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to imagine they have to spend twenty-four hours in a desert. Tell them they have enough water and food and the proper equipment to stay for a day and a night. Have them write a journal entry about their experience. Have them tell what animals and plants they see and what the weather is like.
Provide a large piece of butcher paper entitled "The Desert" and display it in the classroom. Using what they know about the desert, have students draw pictures of it.

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