Subject– Science – Living Things and their Habitats

Purpose – In this unit children will learn about a variety of habitats and the plants and animals that live there. They learn to tell the difference
between things that are living, dead and things that have never been alive, and apply this in a range of contexts. This unit allows children to research
a range of global habitats and how the living things that live there are suited to their environments, and also provides an introduction to the idea of
dependency between plant and animal species.

Vocabulary: Living things, plants, animals, habitats, conditions, living, dead, alive, dark, light, water, damp, dry, micro‐habitats, food,
food chain, sources, food webs, producer, prey, predator, environment, local, protected, endangered species, birds, reptiles,
mammals, amphibians, fish
Learning Outcomes Working Activities Resources
Scientifically
To investigate living things • Ask simple Main Teaching Lesson Pack
• Explore and compare questions. Think/Pair/Share - I’m Alive! In pairs, children discuss things that Large sorting hoops
the differences between • Observe we do that let us know that we are alive. Record suggestions on
things that are living, that closely, using the WB or on flipchart. Reinforce vocabulary
are dead and that have simple Life Processes: Using the Lesson Presentation ppt, introduce with the Life Processes
never been alive. equipment. children to the seven life processes and the mnemonic Mrs Wordsearch.
• Identify and GREN, giving examples of how these processes appear in plants
Stage 2 B4: Life exists in a classify. and animals. Refer back to the children’s previous suggestions
variety of forms and goes • Use and discuss which life processes were represented in this list.
through cycles- Animals observations and
2.4b.2 Find out about and ideas to suggest Living or Not? Distribute the Living or Non-Living Sorting Cards,
describe the basic needs answers to one card per pair (mixed ability). Show children the sorting
of animals, including questions. hoops, labelled ‘Living’ and ‘Non-Living’, and demonstrate how
humans, for survival • Gather and to sort a card into the appropriate set by considering if the item
(water, food and air) record data to does or does not demonstrate life processes. In pairs, children
help in sort their cards into the appropriate hoops. Choose a few
Key Words: Life process, answering volunteers to give reasons for their choices. Address
living, non-living, dead, questions. misconceptions.
never alive, Dead or Never Alive? Distribute the Dead or Never Alive Sorting
movement, respiration, Cards, one card per pair. Show children
sensitivity, growth, the sorting hoops, labelled ‘Dead’ and ‘Never Alive. Children
reproduction, excretion, sort their cards into the appropriate hoops. Choose a few
nutrition. volunteers to give reasons for their choices. Address
misconceptions.

How Can You Tell? As a class, ask the children to consider the
three examples on the Lesson Presentation, choosing volunteers
to state if they are living, dead, or have never been alive, and
giving reasons for their answers. Draw out answers that focus on
 the presence or absence of life processes, and in the case of
the pine cone, what has changed now that it is no longer a part
of the tree.
How Can You Tell? Group Activity: Split the children into small
groups of three or four (mixed ability). Divide both sets of
sorting cards between the groups, giving each group an
example of something that is living, something that is dead, and
something that has never been alive. Using the Living, Dead or
Never Alive-How Can You Tell Group Activity Sheet, each group
classifies their cards as living, dead or never alive and writes
reasons for their answers (WOWO board).

Record into books?

Extension – if more time reinforce vocabulary with wordsearch

or create a poster for MRS GREN

Plenary:
Which One Am I? Choose a volunteer to pick one of the images
from each of the slides on the Lesson Presentation. The class
take turns asking the volunteer questions about life processes
that can only be answered ‘yes’ or ‘no’, until the class can
identify which of the images the volunteer has chosen.

To understand animals and • Ask simple Main Teaching Lesson Pack

humans
questions. Our Habitat: What do humans need to stay alive? Revisit the Pictures of local
Stage 2 B4: Life exists in a • Observe seven life processes and discuss how humans and all other living habitats
variety of forms and goes closely, using things need certain conditions to stay alive and healthy. Discuss
through cycles- Animals simple how humans have adapted their habitats so that they meet the
2.4b.2 Find out about and equipment. right conditions to keep us healthy and safe.
describe the basic needs • Identify and Habitats Around the World: Using the Lesson Presentation
of animals, including classify. introduce children to the following habitats: urban habitats,
humans, for survival • Use woodland, ponds and coastal habitats.
(water, food and air) observations and Living, Dead or Never Alive: Remind children how the seven life
To investigate living things
ideas to suggest processes can be used to identify if something is living, dead or
Stage 2 B2: Habitats
answers to has never been alive. In pairs, children identify the objects in a
provide living things with
questions. heathland habitat that are living, dead or have never been
what they need 2.2.1
• Gather and alive, before feeding back to the rest of the class. List these
Identify that most living
things live in habitats to
which they are suited
and describe how
different habitats provide
for the basic needs of
different kinds of animals
and plants, and how they
depend on each other
Key/New Words: Habitat,
conditions, survive, urban,
woodland, pond, coast,
coastal.
To investigate living things
To collect data about the mini
beats found in a micro-
record data to things under their headings on the Lesson Presentation or on a
help in flipchart or whiteboard.
answering
questions. Our Local Habitat: Discuss which types of habitats there are in
Abu Dhabi – desert, coastal, mangroves, urban
Local Habitat Living, Dead or Never Alive: In mixed ability pairs,
children discuss the local habitat (see pictures) and make a list
of all the things that are living, dead or have never been alive
using the Local Habitat Living, Dead or Never Alive Activity
Sheet. Draw their attention to any plant debris (dead), to rocks
and stones (never alive) and what is beneath the ground
(alive). Use this website to inform you & the pupils of the wildlife:
http://www.uaeinteract.com/nature/default.asp
Local Habitat Map: Children draw a map of the local habitat
using the differentiated Local Habitat Map Activity Sheet.
Children draw a map of the local habitat, labelling plants, trees
and animal homes with adult support (same sheet as middles).
Children draw a map of the local habitat, labelling plants, trees
and animal homes.
Children draw and label a map of the local habitat, and draw
the animals that live there.
Plenary
Comparing Maps: Arrange the children in small groups and ask
them to compare the maps they have drawn. What features do
they have in common? Are there any differences? Give
children time to improve their maps if they would like to.
Stage 2 Microhabitats and Minibeasts: Using the Lesson Presentation, Lesson Pack
Conclusions and introduce children to the key vocabulary and to a number of Magnifying glasses
habitat. Predictions common minibeasts. Clipboards
Stage 2 B2: Habitats 2.5.a.1: Gather Microhabitats Enquiry: Do all minibeasts like living in the same
provide living things with and record data microhabitats? In pairs, give children time to consider the
what they need 2.2.2 to help answer answer to this question, before feeding back to the rest of the
Identify and name a questions (+) class. Explain that the children are going to investigate the
variety of plants and answer to the question by looking at two different microhabitats
animals in their habitats, Stage 2 and counting the different minibeasts they find there.
including micro-habitats Conclusions and Give children their maps from the previous lesson and allow
Predictions them time to look over them in order to identify possible
Key/New Words: 2.5.b.1 Use their microhabitats.
Minibeast, microhabitat, observations and Set up 2 fake microhabitats (as we live in the desert)
enquiry, survey, ideas to suggest - Under a log
pictogram. answers to - On the grass of a field
questions
Microhabitats Enquiry - Location: Children work in mixed ability
pairs to look at two different microhabitats, draw them on their
own Microhabitats Enquiry-Location Activity Sheets, and write a
sentence to describe the habitat using the words bank for
support.
Microhabitats Enquiry - Survey: Using magnifying glasses,
children work in pairs to survey their microhabitats together and
count up the number of each minibeast they find there,
recording the number on the Microhabitats Enquiry-Survey
Activity Sheet.
Microhabitats Enquiry - Pictogram: Working in their pairs, each
child uses the Microhabitat Enquiry- Pictogram Activity Sheet to
make a pictogram to show the number of bugs in one of the
two microhabitats that were surveyed, so that each pair
produce a pictogram for both of their surveyed locations.

Plenary
Microhabitats Enquiry- Conclusion: Working in their pairs,
children discuss the questions on the Lesson Presentation before
feeding back their ideas to the rest of the class. Looking closely
at their pictograms, children should be able to establish that
different kinds of microhabitats encourage different kinds of
minibeasts, and to suggest some reasons why this might be the
case.
To investigate living things
Stage 2 B2: Habitats
provide living things with
what they need 2.2.1
Identify that most living
things live in habitats to
which they are suited
and describe how
different habitats provide
for the basic needs of
different kinds of animals
and plants, and how they
depend on each other
Key/New Words:
Habitat, research,
conditions, ocean,
tropical rainforest, arctic,
desert,
adaptation.
Stage 2 World Habitats: Using the Lesson Presentation introduce children Lesson Pack
Planning to the following habitats: the ocean, the Arctic, tropical Internet access
Investigations rainforest and the desert. Divide children into four mixed ability Mini whiteboards and
2.1.a.1 Ask groups and designate a habitat for each group to research. pens, class set
simple questions Topic books on the
Researching Habitats - Part 1: Briefly introduce the idea of following habitats:
Stage 2 research. Using topic books, the fact sheets and the Internet, ocean, rainforest,
Planning children research their given habitat and record their findings Arctic and desert
Investigations on the differentiated Researching Habitats Activity Sheet.
2.1.b.1 Start here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zxq6pv4
Recognise that
questions can be
answered in
different ways
Children draw their habitat, labelling plants and animals.
Children draw and label their habitat, and write a sentence
to describe the conditions there.
Children draw and label their habitat, and write a few
sentences to describe conditions there.
Researching Habitats - Part 2: Draw the children back into the
mixed ability groups depending on the habitat they researched.
If the groups are large, you may wish to split each one into two.
Ask each group to generate questions to ask the other groups
about the habitats they have researched, using the Lesson
Presentation to give examples of suitable questions. Choose a
scribe (or designate an adult) for each group to jot down the
questions on a mini whiteboard.
Question and Answer: In turn, invite each group to the front of
the class and support them in answering questions from the
other groups about the habitat they have researched.
(Extension task – World Habitats Sorting Activity)

To investigate living things
Stage 2 B2: Habitats
provide living things with
what they need 2.2.1
Identify that most living
things live in habitats to
which they are suited
and describe how
different habitats provide
for the basic needs of
different kinds of animals
and plants, and how they
depend on each other.
Key/New Words:
Survive, adapt,
adaptation, depend,
dependency.
Plenary
How Do I Survive? Using the Lesson Presentation, children
consider an animal from each of the four habitats and suggest
how it survives in its environment. Give children time to consider
this in pairs before feeding back to the rest of the class.
Stage 2 World Habitats: Prompt children to recall what they have learnt Lesson Pack
Planning about the world habitats they researched in the previous lesson:
Investigations the oceans, Arctic region, tropical rainforests and deserts.
2.1.a.1 Ask What are the special conditions of these habitats? What
simple questions animals and plants live here?
World Habitats Game: Arrange children into groups of three or
four and explain the rules of the game.
Children play the World Habitats Game, considering the animal
or plant adaptation and deciding which habitat the living thing
belongs in.
Dependency: Using the Lesson Presentation, discuss the
example of a squirrel, an oak tree and a fox to explain how the
living things in a habitat depend on one another to stay alive.
Dependency Activity: Children complete the differentiated
Dependency Activity Sheet, labelling a habitat with living things
and a brief description of their dependencies to show how the
living things in their habitat depend on each other to stay alive.
Children complete sentences to explain how plants and animals
in a habitat depend on each other.
Children label a desert habitat with four living things and
complete sentences with adult support.
Children label an arctic habitat with six living things and
complete the sentences with a word bank for support.
Children label a rainforest habitat with eight living things and
complete the sentences without support.

To investigate living things
Stage 2 B2: Habitats
provide living things with
what they need 2.2.3
Describe how animals
obtain their food from
plants and other animals,
using the idea of a simple
food chain, and identify
and name different
sources of food
Key/New Words:
Food chain, consumer,
producer, predator,
prey, herbivore,
carnivore, omnivore.
Plenary
What About Us? How do humans depend on other living things
for survival? What living things depend on us? Children discuss
these questions with a partner and then give feedback to the
rest of the class.
Sources of Food: Remind children of previous learning about Lesson Pack
herbivores, carnivores and omnivores. As a class, children think
of examples of each and possible sources of their food. http://www.bbc.co.uk
What Is a Food Chain? Using the Lesson Presentation, outline the /education/topics/zbh
idea of a food chain and introduce key vocabulary. In pairs, hvcw
children discuss the living things given on the Lesson
Presentation and how they can be arranged into food chains.
Give children time to draw a food chain on their mini
whiteboards before they feed back to the class. Record some
suggestions.
Food Chains Sorting Activity: Working in groups of 3 or 4,
children arrange the cards from the Food Chains Sorting Activity
into as many food chains as possible.
Food Chains Activity Sheet: Using the Differentiated Food Chains
Activity Sheet, children draw two food chains and record which
habitat they would be found in. Children can use examples
they have made in the previous activity or come up with new
ideas.
Children draw three-step food chains.
Children draw one three-step food chain and one four-step
food chain.
Children draw four-step food chains.
Food Chains Concertina Book: Using the Food Chains Mini
Concertina Book Template, children draw a four-step food
chain in a mini concertina book format. Children can label
each living thing in the food chain with its name, or, as an
extension, with ‘producer’ or ‘consumer’.

Plenary
As a class, rearrange the animals to make two food chains and
add a final predator to finish them. Which habitats are they
from?