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Science lesson plan · Kindergarten (Reception and Year 1 in England) · 45 minutes

What animals need to survive

Animals and habitats

CCSS NGSS.K-LS1-1CCSS NGSS.K-ESS3-1England: KS1 Y2 Animals, including humans

Objective and success criteria

Students will: What animals need to survive.

  • 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: Living and non-living things

Leads to: Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores; Habitats and microhabitats; What plants and animals need to stay alive

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

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Living and non-living things). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is it living or never alive: cat? (living / never alive) → livingPrompt: Does it grow and need food?
  2. Which of these has never been alive? (grass / rock / oak tree / goldfish) → rockPrompt: Living things grow, feed and have young.
  3. Living things: which statement is true? (Plants are living things. / Clouds are alive because they move and grow. / Trees are not alive because they do not move around. / A teddy bear is alive because it looks like a bear.) → Plants are living things.Prompt: Living things grow, feed and have young.

Hook · 5 min

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

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Why does a rabbit need a burrow?
  • Step 1: A burrow keeps the rabbit safe from predators and bad weather.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: for shelter and to stay safe
  • Answer: for shelter and to stay safe
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 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 all animals need to stay alive? (food, water and air / a television / sweets and fizzy drinks / toys and games) → food, water and airPrompt: Think about what you need every day to live.
  2. What animals need: which statement is true? (Fish do not need oxygen. / Animals need air to breathe. / Animals can make their own food from sunlight, like plants. / Animals only need food, never water.) → Animals need air to breathe.Prompt: Think about what you need to live.

You do: independent practice · 10 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 · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. What animals need: which statement is true? (Fish do not need oxygen. / Animals need water to survive. / Animals only need food, never water. / Animals can make their own food from sunlight, like plants.) → Animals need water to survive.Prompt: Think about what you need to live.
  2. Why does a rabbit need a burrow? (to find sweets / for shelter and to stay safe / to make the soil wet / to grow taller) → for shelter and to stay safePrompt: What does a home give an animal?

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: Living and non-living things.
  • 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: Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores; Habitats and microhabitats; What plants and animals need to stay alive.
  • 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 animals need to survive

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    What animals need: which statement is true?

    • A. Animals can make their own food from sunlight, like plants.
    • B. Animals only need food, never water.
    • C. Fish do not need oxygen.
    • D. Animals need air to breathe.

  2. Question 2

    What animals need: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Animals need water to survive.
    • B. Fish do not need oxygen.
    • C. Animals need air to breathe.
    • D. Animals get energy from their food.

  3. Question 3

    Why does a rabbit need a burrow?

    • A. to make the soil wet
    • B. to find sweets
    • C. for shelter and to stay safe
    • D. to grow taller

  4. Question 4

    A pet hamster needs…

    • A. only water
    • B. food, water, air and a safe cage to shelter in
    • C. only food
    • D. nothing, it looks after itself

  5. Question 5

    What do all animals need to stay alive?

    • A. sweets and fizzy drinks
    • B. a television
    • C. food, water and air
    • D. toys and games

  6. Question 6

    How does a fish get the oxygen it needs?

    • A. it does not need oxygen
    • B. by jumping out to breathe air with lungs
    • C. from the food it eats
    • D. from the water, using its gills

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Answer key: What animals need to survive

  1. 1. D. Animals need air to breathe.

  2. 2. B. Fish do not need oxygen.

  3. 3. C. for shelter and to stay safe

  4. 4. B. food, water, air and a safe cage to shelter in

  5. 5. C. food, water and air

  6. 6. D. from the water, using its gills