GoalRemember what a habitat gives living things, how rocks are different, and how people can harm or help the environment.
New words
habitat · the natural home of a plant or an animalshelter · a safe place to rest and hideenvironment · everything around us: land, water, air, plants and animalsreuse · to use something again, maybe for a new job
Explanation
Let us look back at the year. A habitat is the place where a plant or an animal lives. It gives them food, water, air and shelter. A warm coral reef in the sea is a busy habitat full of fish. A muddy river bank is home to crocodiles and reeds. Rocks are part of our environment too. Some rocks are hard and some are soft, so we use them for different jobs. People can harm a habitat with litter, or help it by planting, reusing and recycling.
Worked examples
A hippo spends hot days in a river. The water keeps its skin cool. At night it walks out onto the bank to eat grass.
Sandstone feels rough and gritty, like grains of sand stuck together. Marble feels smooth and cool. We can tell rocks apart by how they look and feel.
Kamila’s class builds a bug hotel from old sticks, pine cones and broken bricks. Beetles and ladybirds hide inside it in winter.
Class activity
Wall watch (with an adult): find an old wall, fence or tree stump near your home. Look closely for five minutes with a magnifier if you have one. Draw every living thing you see, such as moss, a spider or a snail. Do not pick anything up. Write one sentence: why is this a good habitat for them? Wash your hands when you get home.
Practice
1
Look at the picture. Name this habitat. Why can the goat live here?
A mountain. The goat is good at climbing steep rocks, and it finds grass and leaves to eat.
2
Which rock would you choose for a garden path that people walk on every day: chalk or granite? Say why.
Granite. It is hard and strong. Chalk is soft, so it would wear away.
3
Bekzod counts ladybirds on a rose bush. What happened to the number of ladybirds?
It went up: 2, then 5, then 9. More ladybirds came each month.
4
Match each animal to its habitat: river, desert or polar.
A crocodile: river. B scorpion: desert. C seal: polar.
