A habitat is a place where a plant or animal lives, a kind of home base where conditions are uniquely suited to meet all of their needs. Habitats have these special characteristics:

• There is enough food in the area and it is the right kind of food.
• There is enough water in the area and it is the kind the animal or plant needs.
• There is enough space for individual animals and populations of animals to grow and behave normally.
• There is enough cover and shelter to protect the animal and allow them to breed and rear their offspring.

In their selected habitat, plants and animals also enjoy an optimal climate: the patterns of temperatures and precipitation are those that suit each living thing.

Most animals and plants are adapted to live in only one environment. However. There are some animals that thrive in multiple habitats. For example, Arctic seals live in two habitats: in the frigid ocean and on ice floes throughout the region.

Changes to habitat can come abruptly or gradually. Natural disasters such as hurricanes or wild fires can change a habitat overnight, causing plants and animals to be destroyed or forced to move to other habitats at great risk. Animals and plants can sometimes adapt to gradual habitat changes. Over time, members of the species who have evolved to meet a challenge in the habitat have a better chance of living and passing that characteristic on to their offspring.

The problem occurs when habitat change happens rapidly, as is occurring today in response to temperature and precipitation pattern shifts around the world. Some animals have the capacity to respond quickly to these changes, but many do not.

Habitats: Home Sweet Home

Coping with Climate Change

• Recognize and describe that gradual (climatic) and sudden (floods and fires) changes in environmental conditions affect the survival of organisms and populations. (MD 3.0 D.1.a (Grade 8)
• Explain that populations increase or decrease relative to the availability of resources and the conditions of the environment. (MD 3.0 F.1.a (Grade 6)
• Identify and describe a range of local issues that have an impact on people in other places. (MD 6.0-B. 1a (Grade 6,7,8)
• Earth's climate is an example of how complex interactions among systems can result in relatively sudden and significant changes. (NSF, 3.8)
• Evolution, including the origination and extinction of species, is a natural and ongoing process. (NSF 6.2)
• Changes in environmental conditions can affect the c. survival of individual organisms as well as entire species. (NOAA 1c)
• Evidence indicates that changes in many physical and biological f. systems are linked to human caused warming. (NOAA 6f)
• The atmosphere covers the entire surface of Earth; thus, activities that e. effect climate (e.g., energy use leading to greenhouse gas release into the atmosphere) in one region affect human beings and other species worldwide. (NOAA 7e)
• AAAS-Science in Personal and Social Perspectives, Natural Hazards

Nature vs. Nurture After students view this video, involve them in this discussion: When an environment changes, plants and animals who live in that environment face three outcomes:

• As a group, they can change genetically by adapting to their new habitat.
• They can respond individually through a process called phenotypic plasticity.
• They can respond by moving to other areas that replicate their old environment or they can die.

Which outcome is more likely in the face of climate change? This article may help you analyze this question. This source focuses answers to this question on the fate of the Arctic polar bear.

In Your Backyard After students view this video, involve them in this activity: What's happening to the species of plants and animals that are part of your environment? Are they changing or moving away to other locations? Your observations are important to the National Phenology Network. Sign up to be an observer, helping collect vital data that will certainly impact your future.

Changing Habitats ... Vanishing Species Before or after students view this video, involve them in this activity: In 2005, Harvard Museum of Natural History presented an online symposium on habitat change and its effects on animal populations around the world. Your students could attend the conference virtually.