• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Adaptations to habitats). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. How does a polar bear's thick layer of fat help it? (It makes it lighter. / It helps it see in the dark. / It keeps the bear warm. / It helps it breathe under water.) → It keeps the bear warm.Prompt: The Arctic is very cold.
2. Adaptations: which statement is true? (A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Every animal can live in every habitat. / Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals.) → Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals.Prompt: Adaptations take many generations to appear.
3. Adaptations: which statement is NOT true? (An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive in its habitat. / A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Fish have gills to take oxygen from water. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals.) → A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched.Prompt: Can an animal decide to change its body for its babies?

• Show a picture of an unusual animal and ask where it might live and how it survives there.
• Share the objective: Camouflage, warning colours and mimicry. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which survival trick is this: a stick insect on a twig?
• Step 1: The animal's colour or shape matches its surroundings, so it is hard to see.
• Step 2: So the answer is: camouflage (blending in)
• Answer: camouflage (blending in)
• 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 survival trick is this: a flatfish on the sandy sea floor? (camouflage (blending in) / warning colours / mimicry (copying another animal)) → camouflage (blending in)Prompt: Is the animal hiding, showing off a warning, or pretending to be something else?
2. A hoverfly has wasp-like stripes but cannot sting. How does this help it? (Predators think it might sting and avoid it. / It helps it make honey. / It can now sting. / It keeps it warm.) → Predators think it might sting and avoid it.Prompt: What do birds remember about wasps?

• 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. True or false? Bright colours always mean an animal is easy prey. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Hiding, warning or copying?
2. Why is camouflage useful to a predator such as a tiger? (It makes it poisonous. / It scares prey away. / It helps it swim. / It can creep close to prey without being seen.) → It can creep close to prey without being seen.Prompt: Do tiger stripes stand out in long grass?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.