3.2 WETLAND WORDS
(Level: 4 :: Wetland Habitat)

Purpose: To identify a wetland and words associated with it.

What You Need: reference materials :: pencil :: work sheet (included)

What You Do:

We have included a Word Search An African Wetland (available here if you cannot view pop-up windows) and a Word Search "Amphibians of Ontario" in the Amphibians Unit. You may wish to use one of these with your students or you may wish to have them create their own, more complex word search activity using this blank word search (available here if you cannot view pop-up windows) as follows:

1. Working alone or in pairs, ask your students to select a type of wetland (e.g. a pond, swamp, marsh, bog, fen).
2. Using reference materials the students should make a list of 15 words which contain names of plants, animals, and non-living factors found in their wetland.
3. Ask the students to use copies of the enclosed sheet to create a word search using the words on their list. The words can be printed backwards, forwards, or diagonal. Any empty spaces can be filled in with extra letters.
4. Collect and distribute the puzzles among the class to allow individuals and/or groups to solve their classmate's puzzle. ( First, you may wish to photocopy the puzzles for the students who created them.)
5. As the students find the words in the puzzle, they should circle it, and then write it in the columns to which it belongs (eg. Plants, Animals, or Non-Living Parts).
6. The students should now be able to identify the type of wetland based on the words.
7. Students can be challenged to add the names of any other plants and animals that might live in this type of wetland.

Click here to see the list of activities for this unit.