Students will investigate why a polar bear’s surroundings matter, record visual evidence, and begin an engineering design brief for an animal habitat diorama inspired by San Diego Zoo habitats.

Students will investigate animal needs, adaptations, behaviors, and San Diego Zoo habitat examples before defining design requirements, drawing two habitat concepts, gathering peer feedback, and using a weighted picture matrix to select an evidence-based team design.

Students will construct their planned animal-habitat dioramas, apply safe building techniques, and test each model against shared engineering criteria. Teams will collect picture-checklist and count data, explain how features meet animal needs, exchange peer feedback, and make an initial correction before the San Diego Zoo-informed revision phase.

Students will use San Diego Zoo evidence and peer feedback to revise one habitat feature, retest their diorama with consistent measures, document improvements and trade-offs, and rehearse an evidence-based Project Night presentation.

Students will refine their evidence-based habitat explanations, present tested and revised dioramas to the school community at Project Night, and reflect on how their designs help animals stay safe, warm, and fed.