Needs, homes and adaptations

All living things have basic needs: water, food or a way to make food, air, a suitable temperature, space and shelter. Plants also need light. When a need is hard to meet, the living thing struggles: a plant in the dark grows weak, and an animal without water must travel to find it. Some features come from parents. A kitten grows into a cat of the same kind as its parents, and a rabbit may have the same spots as its mother. These are inherited traits. Other changes come from the environment: a plant that dries out after a very hot week, or a cat with a scar from a fight. A scar is not passed to kittens. An animal does not choose its traits; they are set by its genes, and the environment can change how it grows. Water, light and space also shape how animals behave, for example where a herd goes in a dry season.