☰ Year plan · Science

Can we care for our environment?

Week 5 · Unit 1 · 1.5 · 3 lessons
3

Counting animals to see change

Workbook 2: Topic 1.5, pp. 15–18
GoalRead a table or bar chart of animal counts, say whether the number goes up or down and why, and suggest ways to protect animals.
New words
fewer · a smaller number of thingsprotect · to keep safe from harmchange · to become different
Explanation

Scientists count animals again and again to see if a habitat is changing. If a pond is drained or a hedge is cut down, the animals lose their food and shelter. Some move away and some die, so the count goes down. When people help, the count can go up again. A school planted a flower bed in March. The children counted the butterflies on it once a month. Look at the table. The number went up each month, because the flowers gave the butterflies food.

MonthMarAprMayJun
butterflies on the flower bed381217
Worked examples
05101520MarAprMayJunbutterflies
The bar chart shows the same counts. The bars get taller each month, which means more butterflies came.
0510152025springsummerautumnsparrows
In another street a long hedge was cut down. Children counted the sparrows there: 24 in spring, 15 in summer and 7 in autumn. The number went down, because the birds lost their nesting places.
hedge cutnew hedgebirds come back
To help the sparrows come back, people can plant a new hedge, put up bird boxes and leave a wild corner.
Class activity

Count and predict (with an adult): choose a small place such as a garden. Every day for a week, count how many birds, insects or snails you see in five minutes. Write the numbers in a table and draw a bar chart. Which day had the most? Predict how many you will see tomorrow and say why.

Practice
1
Look at the table. How many butterflies were on the flower bed in May?
MonthMarAprMayJun
butterflies381217
2
Is the number of butterflies going up or going down? Why?
3
Why did the number of sparrows go down after the hedge was cut?
sparrows?why?
4
Give one way to protect the animals in a park.