• 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. How does a fish get the oxygen it needs? (from the water, using its gills / from the food it eats / by jumping out to breathe air with lungs / it does not need oxygen) → from the water, using its gillsPrompt: Fish have special parts on the sides of their heads.
2. What animals need: which statement is true? (Animals only need food, never water. / Animals can make their own food from sunlight, like plants. / Many animals need shelter from weather and predators. / Fish do not need oxygen.) → Many animals need shelter from weather and predators.Prompt: Think about what you need to live.
3. What animals need: which statement is NOT true? (Animals need water to survive. / Many animals need shelter from weather and predators. / Fish do not need oxygen. / Animals need air to breathe.) → Fish do not need oxygen.Prompt: One sentence is a mistake.

• Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
• Share the objective: Habitats and microhabitats. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which habitat is the polar bear best suited to?
• Step 1: Polar habitats are icy and cold; animals there have thick fur or fat.
• Step 2: So the answer is: the Arctic (polar)
• Answer: the Arctic (polar)
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which habitat is the rattlesnake best suited to? (the rainforest / the desert / the ocean / the Arctic (polar)) → the desertPrompt: Think about where it could find food and stay at a good temperature.
2. Woodlice are found under logs and stones. What does this microhabitat give them? (hot and dry conditions / damp and dark conditions / bright sunlight / salty water) → damp and dark conditionsPrompt: Woodlice dry out easily.

• 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Why could a polar bear not survive well in a hot desert? (It cannot walk on sand. / Deserts have no sunlight. / It needs to eat cactus. / Its thick fur and fat would make it overheat.) → Its thick fur and fat would make it overheat.Prompt: What helps a polar bear in the cold?
2. Which animal lives in the desert? (sloth / jaguar / fennec fox / polar bear) → fennec foxPrompt: Think about whether each animal suits cold, heat, water or trees.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-2.