Habitats Click screen to continue

Learning Objectives: Do I understand the terms ‘habitats’ and ‘organisms’? Do I understand the interdependence of living things and how the environment and living things need to be protected?

Habitats ‘Organism’ is a general term for all living things – plants and animals. Animals are suited to the environment in which they are found. If conditions change, they move, learn to adapt or perish. Habitats are homes for plants or animals and they provide animals with conditions for life, in particular 1.Food 2.Shelter They are safe places to reproduce and are ideally protected.

A chick in its habitat – the garden A Garden Habitat A chick needs food to eat, water to drink and shade and sunlight. It needs to be protected from the weather and from animals that may be harmful to it. A chick depends on plants or other animals which eat plants for food.

Chickens can only live where their food source is available and where conditions e.g. shade and amount of sunlight are suitable. Chickens love to eat grasses and grains, insects, bugs and pests, which may be found in your garden. They consider many of the plants we call weeds to be delicacies. Fruit fallen from the trees is quickly consumed. We all like a little bit of a change now and again, so too do our chicks. What other things do you think the chicks would like to eat? chick starter worms (very small) fruit lettuce toast greens seeds food scraps What do chickens eat?

Lots of food, such as worms, in abundance Water Plenty of places, such as grass and dirt to scratch and forage for food Shaded areas Sunlight Protection from predators What do chicks need to thrive?

What the word ‘habitat’ means? What ‘organisms’ are? Where we might find chicks? If chicks eat both plants and animals? What chicks like to eat and where they get their food? What type of environment would suit a chick? What other organisms you would find in a garden? Do you know…

Discuss What conditions chicks need to survive e.g. light, soil, temperature How we can protect chicks What people should do to ensure that an animal, out of its natural environment, stays healthy How you would make a chicken feel at home in an artificial environment such as a zoo What effect would changing conditions in a garden have e.g. snow falling, cutting down trees, weeding the garden.

Key Words habitat conditions organisms predators prey survival environment forage protection abundance interdependence natural artificial harmful