Local Plants & Animals
CONCEPTUALIdentify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats such as under a log or in a pond
Mastery Evidence
- Name at least three animals and plants found in a specific local habitat
- Explain what a microhabitat is (a very small habitat within a larger one)
- Describe conditions in a microhabitat (e.g. 'under a stone is damp and dark, woodlice like that')
Assessment Prompt
“If you turn over a log in the garden with [child], can they name the little creatures they find and explain why they live there?”
Curriculum Standards2 alignments
2-LS4-1Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-5codes onlyY2.Sci.LTH.3The national curriculum in Englandidentify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats
Prerequisites5
- Habitats & Basic NeedshardAges 6—8
- Habitat VocabularyhardAges 6—8
- Rock Pool HabitatssoftAges 5—7
- Rainforest AnimalssoftAges 5—7
- Minibeast HabitatssoftAges 5—7
Show full prerequisite tree
- Habitats & Basic Needs hard
Must understand habitats before identifying specific organisms in habitats and microhabitats
- Where Are the Poles? soft
Polar regions enrich the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Describing how habitats provide for basic needs requires habitat, environment, conditions, shelter vocabulary
- What Is a Rainforest? soft
Rainforest habitat knowledge enriches the curriculum habitats topic (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- What Living Things Need hard
Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
- Living Things Vocabulary soft
Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
- Living, Dead & Never Alive hard
Must distinguish living from non-living before understanding habitats that support living things
- Living Things Vocabulary hard
Comparing living, dead, and never-been-alive things requires the life processes vocabulary to give reasons
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
- Habitat Vocabulary hard
Naming plants and animals in habitats and microhabitats requires those terms
- Rock Pool Habitats soft
Rock pools are a microhabitat; benefits from curriculum naming plants/animals in habitats
- Rainforest Animals soft
Knowing rainforest animals enriches identifying plants and animals in habitats (exploratory age 5 -> curriculum age 6)
- Minibeast Habitats soft
Understanding where minibeasts live enriches curriculum plants-and-animals-in-habitats
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before exploring where each type lives
Unlocks1
- Grouping Living ThingshardAges 8—9