ACARA v9 CONTENT DESCRIPTION “identify the basic needs of plants and animals, including air, water, food or shelter, and describe how the places they live meet those needs”
Builds on noticing that plants and animals are alive and grow. Here we name what every living thing must have to stay alive: air, water, food and shelter, and we see how the place it lives gives it those things.
Every living thing has basic needs
Plants and animals are living things, and living things all need the same few things to stay alive. They need air to breathe, water to drink, food for energy, and shelter to keep safe. You need these too. When a living thing has all of its needs, it can grow and stay well.
Match a living thing to a need
Pick a living thing. Then tap a need to draw a line to it. Every living thing needs all four.
Tap a need above. You will see that the same living thing needs every one of the four.
The four basic needs
The four basic needs are air, water, food and shelter. Air and water keep the body working. Food gives the living thing energy to move and grow. Shelter is a safe place to rest and hide from cold, heat and danger. A living thing needs every one of them.
Find the four needs
This backyard has every need an animal must have. Tap each need to find it in the scene.
You have found 0 of the 4 needs. Keep tapping to find the rest.
The place where it lives meets its needs
The place a living thing lives is its home, or habitat. A good home gives the living thing all of its needs. A pond gives a frog water to swim in, bugs to eat and reeds to hide in. A burrow keeps a rabbit warm and safe with grass to eat close by. The home and the living thing fit together.
How a place meets a need
Pick a place where an animal lives. Step through the four needs to see how that place gives each one.
The frog comes up to gulp air at the top of the pond.
Plants and animals share most needs
Plants and animals both need air, water and food. The big difference is food: an animal must find and eat its food, while a plant makes its own food using sunlight. So light matters most to plants. Even with that difference, most of their needs are the same.
Plant needs and animal needs
Plants and animals share most needs. Tap a need to see how each one gets it.
Both a plant and an animal need air. They just get it in their own way.
What happens when a need is missing
A living thing needs all of its needs at once. If even one is missing, it cannot stay well. A plant with no water droops and dries out. An animal with no food grows weak. This is why a good home must give every need, not just some of them.
What if a need is missing?
This plant has all four needs switched on. Turn one off and watch what happens.
All four needs are on, so the plant stands tall and healthy. A living thing needs every one of its needs.
Why this matters
Knowing what living things need helps us care for them. We give a pet water and food and a warm bed. We water a plant and put it in the light. We look after the ponds, trees and gardens that are home to many animals, so they can keep getting everything they need.
Quick self-check
1. Which of these is a basic need for living things?
2. A rabbit lives in a burrow under the ground. What need does the burrow give it?
3. How does a plant get its food?
4. A pond gives a frog water, food and a place to hide. What does this show?
5. What happens to a plant if it gets no water for a long time?