Science: Habitats Forest Desert Ocean and Pond
Exploring where plants and animals live
Science: Habitats Forest Desert Ocean and Pond
Exploring where plants and animals live
Science - Grade 2-3
- 1
A habitat is the place where a plant or animal lives. Name one thing a habitat must provide for animals.
Think about what an animal needs to stay alive.
A habitat must provide things animals need, such as food, water, shelter, and space. - 2
Look at a forest habitat. Name two living things you might find there.
In a forest habitat, you might find living things such as trees, deer, birds, squirrels, insects, or mushrooms. - 3
Which habitat is usually very dry and has plants like cactus: forest, desert, ocean, or pond?
This habitat gets very little rain.
The desert is usually very dry and has plants like cactus. - 4
Explain one way a cactus is adapted to live in the desert.
Think about how a cactus saves water.
A cactus is adapted to live in the desert because it can store water in its thick stem, and its spines help protect it from animals. - 5
Name two animals that could live in an ocean habitat.
Animals that could live in an ocean habitat include fish, whales, dolphins, sea turtles, crabs, sharks, and jellyfish. - 6
Why do fish have gills?
Gills help fish get what they need from water.
Fish have gills so they can take oxygen from the water and breathe underwater. - 7
A frog, a dragonfly, cattails, and algae are found near still water. Which habitat is this most likely: forest, desert, ocean, or pond?
This is most likely a pond habitat because frogs, dragonflies, cattails, and algae often live in or near ponds. - 8
How is an ocean different from a pond?
Think about size and whether the water is salty or fresh.
An ocean is much larger than a pond and has salty water. A pond is smaller and usually has fresh water. - 9
Draw a line in your mind from each animal to its best habitat: camel, squirrel, clownfish, frog. Write the habitat for each animal.
A camel best matches the desert, a squirrel best matches the forest, a clownfish best matches the ocean, and a frog best matches the pond. - 10
A forest has many trees. How do trees help animals in a forest habitat?
Think about birds, squirrels, and insects.
Trees help forest animals by giving them food, places to hide, shade, and places to build homes or nests. - 11
Some desert animals sleep during the day and come out at night. Why might this help them survive?
Think about the desert temperature during the day.
Coming out at night helps desert animals survive because nights are cooler, so they can avoid the hottest part of the day. - 12
Which habitat has salty water and very large areas for plants and animals to live?
The ocean has salty water and very large areas for plants and animals to live. - 13
Choose one pond plant or animal and explain how it uses the pond habitat.
You may choose a frog, fish, duck, cattail, lily pad, or dragonfly.
A frog uses a pond habitat for water, food, and shelter. It may lay eggs in the water and catch insects near the pond. - 14
Sort these items into living and nonliving parts of a habitat: rock, tree, water, rabbit, sand, fish.
Living things grow and need food, water, or air.
The living parts are tree, rabbit, and fish. The nonliving parts are rock, water, and sand. - 15
Pick one habitat: forest, desert, ocean, or pond. Write one sentence telling what it is like and one sentence naming an animal that lives there.
One correct answer is: A forest has many trees and shaded places. A squirrel can live in a forest.