Habitats: where each living thing lives
Aprende
All living things need a place to live. That place is their habitat. In its habitat, the living thing finds what it needs: food, water and shelter. In its shelter it hides and raises its young.
The pond is the frog’s habitat Each living thing lives where it has what it needs. The fish lives in the lake. The bat lives in a cave. The cactus lives in the desert. Plants have a habitat too.
Each one in its own habitat A habitat can be huge, like the sea. And it can be very small, like a tree trunk or the soil of a garden. For an earthworm, the damp soil under a stone is a habitat.
Big and small habitats Many living things live together in a habitat, animals and plants. In a pond live frogs, tadpoles, snails and water plants.
A pond with its living things An animal cannot live just anywhere. A fish out of the water cannot live, because it does not have what it needs there. If the pond dries up, the tadpoles cannot go on living there.
Worked examples
Ejemplo 1
Julie finds a frog next to the pond in the park. What is the frog’s habitat?
- There is water for the frog in the pond.
- There are also flies to eat and plants to hide in.
- The frog has everything it needs in the pond.
The frog’s habitat is the pond.
¡Ojo! Many children say that the frog’s habitat is the flies, which are its food.
Ejemplo 2
Ellie carefully lifts a damp stone in her garden. Underneath there is an earthworm. Is that a habitat?
- Under the stone there is damp soil and food for the earthworm.
- The stone is its shelter.
- A habitat can be very small. Afterwards, Ellie puts the stone back as it was.
Yes: the damp soil under the stone is the earthworm’s habitat.
¡Ojo! Many children think that a habitat always has to be big, like the sea.
Ejemplo 3
In a very hot summer, the pond in the park dries up. What happens to the tadpoles?
- Tadpoles need water to live.
- There is no water left in the dry pond.
- Without what they need, they cannot go on living there.
Tadpoles cannot live in a dry pond.
¡Ojo! Many children think that animals can live anywhere.
Un reto para pensar
Look at a garden, a park or a plant pot with an adult. Find a small living thing, such as an ant or a snail, and draw its habitat. Write down what it finds there: food, water and shelter. Watch it without touching it and leave it where it is.
Practica
Rondas de 10 preguntas. Elige el nivel:
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