Home | What is visual literacy? | Examples of visual texts |Using visual literacy | Assessing visual literacy | Books for children | Books for teachers | Free materials for teachers | Seminars & workshops | About us | Contact us | Copyright|
Habitats (Grades K–3)
InfoActive series
by David Drew illustrated by Marilyn Pride
A simple introduction to the animals and plants of three habitats:
- a desert of south-west USA
- an Australian tropical rain forest
- a European temperate forest.
Grade level K–3
Visual literacy
Block diagram: to show a typical "slice" of a desert environment
Cutaway diagram: to reveal what is hidden inside that environment
Detail diagram: to enlarge a detail of the diagram so that it can be more clearly seen and understood
Map: to locate these habitats in different parts of the world.
Table: to summarize facts observed in the diagrams in this book
Venn diagram: to summarize facts and to compare similarities and differences
Subject areas
English/Language Arts
- Identify and use headings, numbers and labels to interpret a diagram of information
- Write a report about one or more habitats based on the information in the diagrams
Science/Technology
- Recognize key features of three of the world's habitats: temperate forest, desert, and tropical rain forest
- Compare and contrast similarities and differences in these three habitats by looking closely at the diagrams
Mathematics
- Match numbering in a diagram
Learning strategies
Matching names to animals in their habitat.
Using a diagram to pool prior knowledge, and to hypothesize about the topic.
Using a diagram as reference material for a short essay about habitats.
Samples from the book
A block diagram "lifts out" part of a subject so that we can see around it. Here a part of a desert has been cut like a slice of cake.
More about block diagrams can be found here.
A cutaway lets us see inside the "block" to reveal hidden details. Here we see a mole hidden below the ground in a European forest.
More about cutaway diagrams can be found here. Cutaways in block diagrams are discussed here.
A detail enlarges part of the diagram. Here a block diagram of how ant lions catch ants has been enlarged so we can see the cone-shaped trap that the ant lion has made. The enlarged part of the diagram is called the detail.
Another example of a detail enlargement can be found here.
Ideas to get you started
- Choose one double-page spread in this book (such as the desert spread) and share it with your group of students.
- On a large sheet of paper collect all the information the children know about deserts. Arrange the information under headings for ease of using the information. More about using tables to organize information can be found here.
- They can use the diagram and also their prior knowledge. Add "?" to any item that you believe children need to check first.
- Show children the key features of an information report. An example to show them can be found here.
- Children use the notes they have made to write their own report about deserts.
- Now show the children one of the other habitats in the book (the rain forest or the temperature forest). Again, collect their information on a "chart" or table:
|
InfoActive is a visual literacy series for K–3
Titles in this series: The ball, the stick, the plane, and the feather December Do people eat flowers? Do you ever feel like this? The Earth and the Moon Find the piece that fits From egg to butterfly Great grandma's phonograph Houses How could I clean them? How would you mend it? I like this park Ice, water, steam Insects Inside you It's a farm Last month Make a paper bird Make it go My garden Our plant diary Pet survey Pineapple pizza Real or imaginary? Reptiles Rex and me Sometimes it will float Spring turns to summer Traffic What goes together? What if? What is missing? What will happen? What's your favorite? When I was one Where water comes from Which animals can fly? Why does a cat have whiskers? Will Wright |
| Desert | Temperate forest | |
|---|---|---|
animals |
owl, lizard, ant lion, fox | woodpecker, squirrel, beetle, mole |
plants |
cacti | oaks, grasses, fungi |
Has trees? |
no | yes |
Has insects? |
yes | no |
Has bare sandy soil? |
yes | no |
location |
south-west USA and Mexico | Europe |
Comparisons can also be made with a Venn diagram. This kind of diagram helps us to find similarities as well as differences:
Everything in the orange loop belongs to the desert. Everything in the green loop belongs to the temperate forest. Where the loops overlap, the items belong to both loops. Help children to "read" the diagram by asking questions such as:
- Name three things you find in the desert. (cacti, rocks, insects)
- Do you find oak trees in the forest or in the desert? (forest)
- Name two things you can find in both the forest and the desert. (rocks, insects)
Contents of All Sorts of Things
- A Forest (temperate forest, Europe)
- A Desert (in south-west USA or Mexico)
- A Rain Forest (in tropical Australia)
- Where are they? (world map)
To ask a consultant to show you this book
in USA click here (Pearson Learning)
in Canada click here (Scholastic Canada)
in Australia click here (Pearson Education Australia)
To purchase this book
in USA click here
The following two books show children how to read and write Venn diagrams.
In the series InfoActive Plus the book Animal Tails compares the different ways animals use their tails. On one page is a Venn diagram that summarizes two of these uses:
In the series InfoActive the book Some Plants Have No Flowers includes examples of Venn diagrams.
A Venn diagram in this book shows several ways we can group plants, showing (for example) that a cactus has flowers but no leaves:
Both these books provide examples of Venn diagrams that show children how these visual texts work.
Copyright © Black Cockatoo Publishing PL 2006
