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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 30 minutes

What plants and animals need to stay alive

Animals and habitats

CCSS NGSS.K-LS1-1England: EYFS Understanding the World: The natural worldEngland: KS1 Y2 PlantsEngland: KS1 Y2 Animals, including humans

Objective and success criteria

Students will: What plants and animals need to stay alive.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: What animals need to survive

Leads to: How plants, animals and people change their surroundings

Materials: Animal picture cards, Habitat maps, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (What animals need to survive). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. A pet hamster needs… (food, water, air and a safe cage to shelter in / only food / only water / nothing, it looks after itself) → food, water, air and a safe cage to shelter inPrompt: Pets need the same basic things as wild animals.
  2. What animals need: which statement is true? (Animals only need food, never water. / Animals can make their own food from sunlight, like plants. / Animals need water to survive. / Fish do not need oxygen.) → Animals need water to survive.Prompt: Think about what you need to live.
  3. What animals need: which statement is NOT true? (Animals get energy from their food. / Fish do not need oxygen. / Animals need air to breathe. / Many animals need shelter from weather and predators.) → Fish do not need oxygen.Prompt: One sentence is a mistake.

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
  • Share the objective: What plants and animals need to stay alive. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: What do plants AND animals both need?
  • Step 1: All living things need water to stay alive.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: water
  • Answer: water
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. What do plants AND animals both need? (sweets / water / toys / a house with a roof) → waterPrompt: What would happen to a plant or a pet with nothing to drink?
  2. Needs of living things: which statement is true? (Animals can make food from sunlight. / Plants need light to make their food. / Plants eat bugs to get all their food. / Pets do not need air.) → Plants need light to make their food.Prompt: Plants make food; animals eat food.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Who needs this, plants or animals: a safe place to hide from danger? (plants / animals) → animalsPrompt: Who makes its own food, and who has to find it?
  2. How does a rabbit get its food? (It drinks only air. / It eats plants such as grass. / It does not need food. / It makes food from sunlight.) → It eats plants such as grass.Prompt: Animals cannot make their own food.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: What animals need to survive.
  • Use concrete materials: animal picture cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: How plants, animals and people change their surroundings.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/kindergarten.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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What plants and animals need to stay alive

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Who needs this, plants or animals: legs, wings or fins to find food?

    • A. plants
    • B. animals

  2. Question 2

    Needs of living things: which statement is true?

    • A. Animals that eat only plants are called plant-eaters (herbivores).
    • B. Animals can make food from sunlight.
    • C. Pets do not need air.
    • D. Only animals need water.

  3. Question 3

    How does a rabbit get its food?

    • A. It drinks only air.
    • B. It eats plants such as grass.
    • C. It does not need food.
    • D. It makes food from sunlight.

  4. Question 4

    Who needs this, plants or animals: sunlight to make food?

    • A. plants
    • B. animals

  5. Question 5

    How does a plant get its food?

    • A. It eats the soil.
    • B. People feed it bread.
    • C. It eats insects every day.
    • D. It makes its own food using sunlight, air and water.

  6. Question 6

    Who needs this, plants or animals: food to eat?

    • A. plants
    • B. animals

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Answer key: What plants and animals need to stay alive

  1. 1. B. animals

  2. 2. A. Animals that eat only plants are called plant-eaters (herbivores).

  3. 3. B. It eats plants such as grass.

  4. 4. A. plants

  5. 5. D. It makes its own food using sunlight, air and water.

  6. 6. B. animals