Animal Survival

Year 2

Unit Overview

In the Animal Survival project, your child will revisit prior learning about habitats. They will learn about invertebrates and their characteristics. They will learn about microhabitats and go outside to identify and observe living things in various microhabitats. They will identify and research what an observed animal needs to survive and will construct simple food chains, learning the terms ‘producer’ and ‘consumer.' They will explore how humans can harm and help animals’ habitats and visit the school grounds to look at ways habitats are already being supported and potential improvements. Children will learn about the offspring of different animal groups, matching parents to their offspring. They will order the stages in animals’ life cycles and investigate the life cycle of an insect, observing it over time. They will revisit learning about the four seasons and explore how animals’ behaviour changes across the seasons and how this links to their life cycles. Children will plan and make habitat improvements within the school grounds, evaluating the success of their habitat improvements by collecting firsthand data.

❇ MEMORABLE MOMENT

Making a micro-habit such as a bug house

️✏️ WRITING OPPORTUNITIES

The children will write up their findings from investigations.

🌳 LEARNING OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Visiting our local habitats and exploring the micro-habits within it.

Unit Sequence: Learning Intentions

  1. Introducing Invertebrates - Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in a range of habitats and microhabitats

  2. Microhabitats - Identify and name a variety of plants and animals in a range of habitats and microhabitats.

  3. Animal needs - Explain how animals, including humans, need water, food, air and shelter to survive.

  4. Microhabitat food chains - Interpret and construct simple food chains to describe how living things depend on each other as a source of food

Scientific Enquiry: Investigations

  1. Where do snails live?

Children mark the shells of at least 20 snails then release them into the school grounds. Each day, they find the snails again and mark their location on a map to find out which direction and how far they moved.

  1. Let's Investigate

Plan and make habitat improvements within the school grounds, evaluating the success of their habitat improvements by collecting firsthand data.


🏁 BIG FINISH

The children will make micro-habitats which will provide animals with a safe space to survive.

📖 FOCUS TEXT(S)

A range of non-fiction texts from our class library about animals survival.