• The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer
• Photographs and information (in Teacher Background) on spotted salamanders, river otters, American alligators and bottle-nosed dolphins

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Procedure

1. Show the students photographs of the spotted salamander and discuss with them some of its life history. Ask the students, "If you found a spotted salamander in the woods and wanted to take it home to your room, what would you need to do to make sure it survived?". Discuss this with the students and write down their predictions.
2. Introduce and read the book The Salamander Room, by Anne Mazer, to the students. Discuss the book with the students and have them think about some pertinent questions:
   • Where could Brian find the salamander in South Carolina?
   • How did Brian change his bedroom so that the salamander could live there?
   • How did he meet the salamander's (and its friends’) needs?
   • Where did Brian end up sleeping?
   • Could the salamander live in the boy's room without changes?
   • Could the boy live in the salamander's habitat? Why or why not?
   • What are four things shown in the book that all animals need to survive? (Food, water, shelter and space)
   • How did Brian provide these for the animals in his room?
   • At the end of the story, would Brian's room be a good habitat for a little boy?
3. After reading the story, create a word web on a class chart on the things the salamander needed to survive.
4. Show students photographs and information provided with this activity on river otters, American alligators and bottlenose dolphins. Have the students pick one of these animals and then as a class decide what they would have to do turn the classroom into a habitat that is suitable for that animal to survive in. Write on a chart all of the habitat needs the students determine will need to be met to keep the animal in the classroom. Then with construction paper or other art materials, create the habitat in part of the classroom. For example, if students choose a river otter, on the wall have them create water for them to swim on and land for them to walk on. Then have them make fish in the water for food. Then have them create a log to put on land for shelter. Then have them create a river otter itself.  Have students label "river otter" and the places where it can get "air", "food", "water", "shelter" and "space" in this habitat. 

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Follow-up questions

• If the students moved into a salamander’s habitat, what would they need to change to make it suitable to them? How could they make sure they could get food, water, shelter and space from the habitat?
• If the students went to the salamander's habitat and changed it for themselves, would the salamander still be able to survive there?