Year 1 Biological Sciences Activities and Worksheets (AC9S1U01)

About This Year 1 Science Topic

Plants and animals are living things that need particular resources and suitable places to survive. These needs include air, water, food and shelter.

In this topic, students identify the places where plants and animals live, including homes, gardens, ponds, zoos, forests and national parks.

Students compare the needs of different plants and animals, including humans, and investigate how habitats provide the resources living things need.

They explore ways people care for pets, plants and local environments and consider why looking after living things is important.

Students also recognise that plants and animals provide people with useful resources, including food and fibre, and explore examples of how First Nations Australians care for living things and Country.

These activities support the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 content descriptor AC9S1U01 and its associated elaborations.

Australian Curriculum Alignment

AC9S1U01

Identify the basic needs of plants and animals, including air, water, food or shelter, and describe how the places they live meet those needs.

AC9S1U01_E1

Identify places where plants and animals live, including homes and local places such as ponds, gardens, zoos and national parks.

AC9S1U01_E2

Identify activities people complete to look after pets and plants at home and group these activities.

AC9S1U01_E3

Identify and compare the needs of a variety of plants and animals, including humans, using familiar experiences.

AC9S1U01_E4

Create a diorama of a place where a plant or animal lives and identify the features that help it meet its needs.

AC9S1U01_E5

Recognise examples of how First Nations Australians care for living things.

AC9S1U01_E6

Explore why caring for plants and animals is important, including their importance as sources of food and fibre.

Learning Intentions

Students will learn to:

identify plants and animals as living things;
identify the basic needs of plants;
identify the basic needs of animals;
recognise that humans have basic needs too;
identify different places where plants and animals live;
describe how habitats provide air, water, food and shelter;
compare the needs of different living things;
describe ways people care for pets and plants;
design a suitable habitat for a plant or animal;
recognise ways First Nations Australians care for living things;
identify products people obtain from plants and animals;
explain why caring for living things is important.

Student Success Criteria

I can identify the basic needs of a plant.

I can identify the basic needs of an animal.

I can name places where plants and animals live.

I can explain how a habitat meets a living thing’s needs.

I can compare the needs of different living things.

I can describe ways to care for a pet.

I can describe ways to care for a plant.

I can design a suitable habitat.

I can describe how First Nations Australians care for living things.

I can identify food and fibre obtained from plants and animals.

I can explain why caring for living things matters.

Key Vocabulary

living thing plant animal human basic need air water food sunlight nutrients shelter habitat environment survive care protect Country food source fibre diorama

Teacher Guide

Recommended Materials

photographs of plants, animals and habitats;
picture cards showing living things and their needs;
animal and plant figurines;
sorting hoops or labelled containers;
magnifying glasses;
small classroom plants;
watering cans or spray bottles;
recycled boxes and craft materials;
natural materials such as leaves, sticks, bark and stones;
habitat and animal information books;
drawing paper and pencils;
tablets or cameras for recording observations;
community-approved First Nations resources.

Suggested Teaching Sequence

Review the difference between living and non-living things.
Introduce the basic needs shared by plants and animals.
Sort examples according to air, water, food and shelter.
Explore different habitats in homes and local environments.
Discuss how each habitat provides for a living thing’s needs.
Compare the needs of plants, animals and humans.
Investigate ways people care for pets and plants.
Design and create a habitat diorama.
Explore appropriate examples of First Nations care for living things.
Investigate food and fibre obtained from plants and animals.
Discuss why responsible care for living things is important.
Assess students through drawings, models and oral explanations.

Teacher Questions

What does this living thing need to survive?
Where does this plant or animal live?
How does its habitat provide water?
Where does it find food?
What provides shelter or protection?
Do all plants and animals need exactly the same things?
How are the needs of humans and animals similar?
How are their needs different?
What should we do to care for this pet or plant?
What might happen if one basic need is missing?
What features should be included in a suitable habitat?
How can people protect living things and their habitats?
What foods come from plants?
What foods or fibres come from animals?

Common Misconceptions

All animals live in houses or constructed shelters

Explain that shelter can include nests, burrows, caves, trees, rocks, water and other natural places that provide safety and protection.

Plants only need water

Reinforce that plants require several resources, including water, air, sunlight, nutrients and a suitable place to grow.

Food is part of every animal’s shelter

Help students distinguish between a food source and a shelter. A habitat may provide both, but they meet different needs.

All living things have identical needs

Explain that plants and animals share some broad needs, but the amounts and types of resources they require can differ.

Caring for a living thing only means feeding it

Discuss the importance of water, safe shelter, cleanliness, space, suitable conditions, protection and regular care.

Habitats are only large natural environments

Explain that habitats can be large or small and may include gardens, ponds, trees, aquariums, homes and school grounds.

Year 1 Biological Sciences Activities

Activity 1: Basic Needs Picture Sort

Provide pictures of air, water, food, sunlight and different forms of shelter.

Students sort each picture according to whether it meets the needs of plants, animals or both.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01

Activity 2: Where Do Living Things Live?

Display pictures of living things and habitats such as homes, ponds, gardens, zoos, forests and national parks.

Students match each living thing to a suitable habitat and explain their choice.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E1

Activity 3: Local Habitat Walk

Explore the school grounds or a nearby area and look for plants, animals and signs of animal activity.

Students record the living things they observe and identify possible sources of water, food and shelter.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E1

Activity 4: Pet and Plant Care Sort

Give students cards showing actions such as watering, feeding, cleaning, providing sunlight and creating shelter.

Students group the actions according to whether they help care for pets, plants or both.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E2

Activity 5: Compare Living Things

Select a plant, an animal and a human. Students identify and compare what each living thing needs.

Record similarities and differences using a table, picture chart or Venn diagram.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E3

Activity 6: Build a Habitat Diorama

Students choose a plant or animal and construct a model of its habitat using a box and craft or natural materials.

They label the features that provide air, water, food, shelter or other suitable conditions.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E4

Activity 7: Habitat Needs Checklist

Students inspect a completed habitat model or picture and use a checklist to decide whether all basic needs have been included.

They suggest one improvement that would make the habitat more suitable.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E4

Activity 8: Caring for Living Things and Country

Explore a locally appropriate and community-approved example of how First Nations Australians care for living things and Country.

Students draw or describe the action and explain how it supports plants, animals or habitats.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E5

Activity 9: Food and Fibre Match

Provide pictures of products such as fruit, vegetables, grains, milk, eggs, wool, cotton and timber.

Students match each product to the plant or animal from which it comes.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E6

Activity 10: Why Should We Care?

Present examples of healthy and poorly cared-for plants, animals or habitats.

Students identify responsible actions and explain why caring for living things is important.

Curriculum connection: AC9S1U01_E6

Differentiation

Support

use clear photographs and familiar living things;
focus on one basic need at a time;
provide labelled picture cards;
use sorting and matching before written activities;
model complete oral sentences;
provide word banks and sentence starters;
allow students to draw or respond orally;
complete comparisons as a guided group;
provide partially labelled habitat diagrams;
pair students during practical activities.

Extension

compare living things from contrasting habitats;
explain how a habitat changes across seasons;
investigate adaptations that help an animal survive;
research the needs of an unfamiliar plant or animal;
design a habitat with detailed labelled features;
identify possible threats to a habitat;
propose actions people could take to protect living things;
classify products as food, fibre or another useful material;
create an information poster or digital presentation;
compare natural and human-made habitats.

Science Sentence Starters

This living thing is a _____.

It lives in _____.

It needs air because _____.

It gets water from _____.

It finds food by _____.

Its shelter is _____.

This habitat meets its needs because _____.

This plant and animal both need _____.

They have different needs because _____.

We can care for this living thing by _____.

My habitat includes _____.

This feature helps the living thing by _____.

This food comes from _____.

This fibre comes from _____.

Caring for living things is important because _____.

Assessment Ideas

Observe whether the student can:

identify the basic needs of plants and animals;
identify places where plants and animals live;
describe how a habitat meets basic needs;
compare the needs of different living things;
describe suitable ways to care for pets and plants;
group pet-care and plant-care activities;
design a suitable habitat for a living thing;
label important features of a habitat;
recognise examples of First Nations care for living things;
identify products obtained from plants and animals;
explain why caring for living things is important.

Quick Exit Ticket

Choose one plant or animal.
Name the place where it lives.
Identify three things it needs to survive.
Explain how its habitat meets one of those needs.

Printable Teacher and Student Resources

Use the buttons below to open the available AC9S1U01 teaching materials and printable activities in a new browser tab.

Year 1 Science Introduction Biological Sciences Introduction Needs Activities and Worksheets Basic Needs of Plants and Animals Animal and Plant Habitats Where Plants and Animals Live Caring for Pets and Plants Looking After Pets and Plants Comparing the Needs of Living Things Living Things Have Different Needs Build a Habitat Diorama Habitat Diorama Activity First Nations Caring for Living Things First Nations Science: Living Things Plants, Animals, Food and Fibre Why Caring for Plants and Animals Matters Living Things Basic Needs Worksheets

Resources open in a new tab.

Home Learning Ideas

Families can observe plants and animals in gardens, parks, balconies, homes or neighbourhood environments.

Children can help water a plant, refill a pet’s water bowl, observe birds or insects, or draw a habitat for a familiar animal.

Ask questions such as:

What living things can you see?
Where does this plant or animal live?
Where does it get water?
What does it eat?
What provides shelter or protection?
How can we care for it safely?
What might happen if it did not receive water?
How is its habitat different from your home?
What food or useful material comes from this plant or animal?
Why is it important to protect its habitat?