Both the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and the diamondback rattlesnake call Arizona home. While baseball gets people excited, fifth graders will get excited when they craft this snake. You'll need a picture or cutout of a diamondback snake showing detail of the pattern on its skin, pencil, various bags of dry beans (kidney, red, pinto, white and black) and white glue. Have students create the unique diamond pattern of a diamondback rattlesnake using dry beans. Students can sketch the general design onto the snake using a pencil and then fill in each section of the design with different beans.
The gila monster, found in Arizona, is poisonous and the largest lizard in the United States. The lizard is black with colorful orange, pink or yellow patterns on its back. Students will need two identical cardboard Gila monster cutouts, duct tape, white glue, empty toilet paper rolls cut into 2-inch pieces, papier-mâché paste, strips of newspaper, black and orange tissue paper and googly eyes.
Have students place the first cutout on a desk. Set several (three to four) 2-inch toilet paper rolls around the inner edges of the cutout and fasten them to the cutout using duct tape. Place the second cutout on top and tape it using the duct tape to the upper end of the rolls. Use duct tape to cover the 2-inch gaps within the two cutouts to create one solid (hollow) cardboard Gila monster base. Cover the Gila monster with newspaper strips dipped into papier-mâché paste, adding multiple layers. For the final two layers, use black tissue paper and apply it to the creature dipped in the paste. On the back of the creature only, alternate black and orange tissue paper to get a speckled look. Allow it to dry. Glue googly eyeballs onto the face.
Due to the diversity of Arizona wildlife, it'll be helpful for students to create a visual that shows where they might spot their favorite creature. They'll need a large piece of paper or posterboard with the outline of the state of Arizona drawn on it or a cutout of the state, markers or paints, sand and pine needles, glue and wildlife stickers.
Have students draw wildlife or press wildlife stickers on the map, indicating where different wildlife families can be found in Arizona. Ask students to draw the landscape in corresponding areas or glue on things like sand or pine needles to represent the habitat the wildlife calls home.
A collage is a simple way to display the diverse wildlife of Arizona. Students will need magazine pictures or photos of Arizona wildlife, scissors, rubber cement and a piece of poster board. Have students fill the poster board with the wildlife images they choose. Use rubber cement to attach these images. Students can cut the pictures or photos to the size they want using scissors.