ý Teach > Primary > KS1 Science > Animals
Child VO:What do animals need to survive?
Maddie Moate:There are all sorts of different animals living around us. Theseanimals need the same four things to survive: air to breathe,water to drink, food to eat, and shelter - a place to live. The areawhere an animal lives is called a habitat and it's important that ahabitat provides everything an animal needs to survive. This is acorn snake, its name is Jack Frost.
Omolara:A snake is a reptile.
Enya:Reptiles are cold blooded. Their bodies do not produce any heat.
Enya:You stay in there where it's nice and warm.
Maddie Moate:Corn snakes need the place where they live their habitat - to bewarm. This reptile house is kept warm, so that it's just like JackFrost's natural habitat in the wild. Let's find out more from anexpert.
Yussef:Hi I'm Yussef and I'm an animal expert. One of the mostimportant things an animal needs to survive is a habitat. Ahabitat is a place where an animal lives, it could be somethinglike a hot desert, or even your own back garden. And it providesan animal with all the things they may need. It provides themwith food so if we take a crested gecko for example these guyslive high up in the trees of rainforests, and they like to eat thingslike insects and other bugs, they like to eat juicy fruit, and arainforest provides them with all of this. It also provides themwith leaves and branches and bumpy bark, where they canshelter from bad weather, and it provides them with protectionagainst predators.
Omolara:Are there any wild snakes living in the UK?
Maddie Moate:Yes there are. The most common is the grass snake. You canusually find them in England and Wales. Let's find out whatmakes a good habitat for a grass snake. A good habitat provideseverything an animal needs to survive. This grass snake will needto make sure the habitat is just right. It'll want water to drink -but also because grass snakes like to swim. And food - some of itsfavourite foods live in watery places. And shelter - from Autumnto Spring, grass snakes hibernate which is like having a very longsleep, so there will need to be somewhere it can shelter throughthe winter months. So this grassy, wet habitat is ideal for thegrass snake!
Child VO :This habitat looks a bit different than the last one.
Maddie Moate:That's right. Deer live in forests and on open heathland andmoors. This land is perfect for them to graze on as there is plentyfor them to eat.
Child VO:They must really like grass!
Maddie Moate:Yes! Deer eat grass, leaves and sometimes even tree bark. Onething all animals have in common is that to survive, they need toeat food. But animals eat different things depending on what typeof animal they are. Some animals eat plants, we call themherbivores. Some animals eat other animals, we call themcarnivores. And some animals eat both, they're called omnivores.Ok, let's see if you can remember which is which. Which type ofanimal only eats other animals?
Children:Carnivore!
Maddie Moate:Yes! Our corn snake eats mice, rats, birds and bats that makeshim a carnivore. Wolves and lynx are carnivores that onceroamed wild in the UK. But today in the UK, we only find them inzoos and wildlife parks. Can you remember the type of animalthat only eats plants?
Children:Herbivore!
Maddie Moate:Well done! Herbivores eat things like seeds, fruit, nectar andalgae. So, what do we call animals that eat plants and animals?
Children:Omnivore!
Maddie Moate:Pigs are omnivores they eat roots, veg, fruit, eggs, flowers,leaves, worms, and insects. They pretty much eat anything!Humans are also omnivores because humans eat both plants andmeat from other animals. But some humans choose to only eat aplant-based diet. There are so many different animals we sharethis planet with, and all of them depend on their habitats toprovide the things they need to survive. Which is why it is soimportant we look after their habitats and make sure we protectthem for the future, so that we can continue to live together witha rich variety of life.
Video summary
In this video, we explore the needs of all living things and how they find and access these.
The children are introduced to a corn snake and see the conditions corn snakes and grass snakes need to live.
With narration from presenter Maddie Moate and expert advice from zoologist Yussef Rafik, this video also explains about the names for different animals based on what they eat – herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.
Teacher notes
Discussion points:
1. The needs of living things:
- Discuss the four core things that living things need.
- Do pupils think any one of them is more important than others?
- How do living things access the things that they need to live?
- Discuss challenges facing living things in the future in accessing the things that they need.
2. Habitats:
- Discuss what a habitat is and what it should provide?
- Do all living things have the same habitat, and why?
- What do our habitiats provide us as humans?
- Discuss how climate change is causing habitats to change and develop.
3. What animals eat:
- Discuss the different things humans and other animals eat?
- What does each type of food we eat give to us?
- Discuss the names herbivore, omnivore and carnivore, and what they mean.
Suggested activities:
1. Habitats:
- Provide a selection of pictures of different animals for children to view and discuss.
- Can children sort these cards into groups of animals that live in different environments.
- Discuss the conditions that these animals need to live successfully.
- Discuss how changing enviornments and habitats can impact on the ability of these animals to live successfully.
2. Habitat arts:
- Work with pupils to develop a list of native living things to the UK, or more specifically from the pupils’ part of the UK.
- Pupils to select an animal of choice following the discussion.
- In a group, or individually, using a shoe box, or similar, can pupils create their own micro habitat to show the things that their identified animal needs to live successfully.
3. Wildlife watch:
- Work with pupils to choose an area of the school grounds.
- Undertake an observation to capture the number of living things within the area.
- Pupils to create a graph to show their results.
- Discuss reasons why so many, or so few, living things are found in the area and what we can do to support habitat restoration.
4. Habitat conservation:
- Pupils to undertake research around habitat challenges within the UK and in other parts of the world.
- Consider the impact of such habitat challenges on meeting the needs of living things.
- Pupils to draft a letter to a local or national representative to highlight their concerns and outline what they could do to support habitat restoration.
Curriculum notes:
This video aligns with Science in the National Curriculum in England, Northern Ireland, and 1st Level in Scotland. It also supports the Science and Technology Area of Learning and Experience within the Curriculum for Wales.
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