Younger kids can show their knowledge of the anaconda environment with little more than a shoe box, construction paper, crayons and scissors. They can cut out and color trees, boulders and wildlife for the background, then color a river in the foreground and glue on a green rubber snake to represent the green anaconda. For more of a challenge, they could build a more complex one with several environments, such as caves and forests, where anacondas also are found. Have the class build several dioramas, one for each environment, and add one for the Florida Everglades to illustrate the danger of allowing such species to escape their native environment.
Older kids can use modeling clay and other materials to build a lifelike tabletop project, complete with a river with real water. They can build individual props, such as trees and boulders, and place them in the appropriate spots in the tabletop. With more room to use than with a diorama, several environments can be represented in one scene. Anaconda prey can also be represented and these can range from rodents to wild pigs to deer, along with aquatic prey such as turtles and even small crocodiles.
Have kids paint their idea of an anaconda's habitat with plenty of detail and combine it with a brief report about the anaconda. Have the class seek out photos of habitat features online, print them out, then assemble a collage of environmental elements. Assemble a poster of the elements necessary for an anaconda to live, including water, sand where it can sun itself, grass where it can conceal itself while waiting for prey and caves where it can sleep.
Loan kids a camcorder and have them make a film about the habitat of the anaconda. Ask them to think about what would happen if an anaconda lived in their town, as happened in Florida. Have them film areas they think it would inhabit, bodies of water it would prefer, prey it might choose to eat and places it could conceal itself. These could include less obvious choices, such as culverts for concealment and sleep and grassy fields for hunting prey. Kids can also use digital cameras to photograph the same elements, then build a slideshow online.