As a result, student groups propose which environmental elements need to go into a habitat for each animal. In Lessons 3 through 6, the class uses its proposals to create a classroom habitat for dwarf African frogs and fiddler crabs and begins to care for the animals outside of their natural habitats. After recording the questions they have about each animal, students establish individual animal logs for recording their observations over time. The class discusses which characteristics are important to study in order to compare the animals, something that they will do in later lessons. They also explore the purpose of scientific drawings in comparing and contrasting animals.
Students closely observe the frog and crab and begin to log the animals' characteristics.
Through a reading selection, students learn about an actual research study in which researchers are examining the behavior of dolphins. By the end of Lesson 6, students have established and maintained two habitats. In Lesson 7, they observe how the frogs and crabs interact with the living and nonliving elements in the habitats. In addition, students have an opportunity to answer some of their own questions about the animals and to exchange information with each other in a class science meeting. Lessons 8 and 9 introduce the third animal, the land snail.