Establish the core idea: every living thing depends on its environment to meet its needs, and the place where it lives and gets those needs met is its habitat.
Model the four basic survival needs shared by most animals, listing them on the board and giving a local example for each:
Take one familiar local animal and think aloud about how its habitat supplies each need: "A magpie needs food — it finds insects in the grass. It needs water — from puddles and birdbaths. Shelter — it nests in tall trees. Space — a territory it defends."
Introduce adaptation lightly: living things often have features that suit their habitat (a duck's webbed feet, a cactus storing water). Keep this as a hook, not the focus.
Hand each group a set of plant/animal picture cards and a habitat sorting mat. Together, work through the first card as a class, then let groups sort the rest.
For each living thing, groups decide: What does it need? Where does it get each need in its habitat? Prompt them to record one need-to-habitat link per card.
Play a short habitat video clip, then ask the guiding question: "What would happen to this animal if one of its needs disappeared from its habitat?" Take answers and steer toward cause and effect — remove the water and the animal must move, struggle, or not survive.
Each student chooses one animal and draws a quick labelled sketch of it in its habitat. They label:
- where it gets food;
- where it gets water;
- where it finds shelter;
- one feature that helps it survive there (an adaptation).
Then they write one sentence: "My animal survives in its habitat because..."
Think-pair-share to close: students swap sketches and tell a partner what would happen to their animal if its shelter were removed.