Needs of Living Things
What do we really need?
Needs of Living Things
Can you remember the
things that we really
need to survive?
Needs of Living Things
That’s right, we need:
•Food
•Shelter
•Water and
•Air (Oxygen)
Needs of Living Things
We have looked at the different
types of food that animals require,
and their different homes. Now we
are going to look at the different
hands and feet that allow animals to
live in those places.
Needs of Living Things
Have a look at your hand.
A human hand has four (4) fingers
and one (1) opposing thumb.
Needs of Living Things
What do you use your hands for?
Talk with your class about all the
things we use our hands to do.
Get your teacher to write some of
these on the board.
Needs of Living Things
There are lots of different types of
hands and feet.
Some are for climbing, others are for
digging. Each animal uses it’s hands
and feet in different ways to help it
survive
Needs of Living Things
Here is a
photo of a
koala’s
hand.
Needs of Living Things
Did you notice anything
strange or different?
Needs of Living Things
A koala has two thumbs!
Needs of Living Things
The movement of the first finger around to
create a second thumb is an adaptation. It
makes the koala a much better climber than us.
Needs of Living Things
A koala’s foot also has special
adaptations. A koala has a thumb
rather than a big toe. Two of it’s
other toes are fused together with the
claws making a comb which it uses
for grooming.
The thumb on the foot is the only digit
The movement
of not
the first
finger
aroundcurved
to
that does
have
a sharp
create
a second
thumb
is anthumbs!
adaptation. It
A
koala
has
two
claw. The claws help the koala grip
makes the koala a much better climber than us.
onto the trunk and branches of trees.
Needs of Living Things
A bandicoot uses it’s front
feet, with their sharp claws,
to dig and scratch for
insects and worms. It’s
back feet have very long
toes. These long toes
allow the bandicoot to
move very fast.
Needs of Living Things
A rainbow Lorikeet uses it’s
back legs and feet to hang
onto branches.
It’s front arms and hands have
adapted into wings.
Each foot has four toes, two
facing each direction to
provide the strongest grip on
the branch.
Needs of Living Things
The claws on the front foot of the
echidna are like upside down shovels.
Needs of Living Things
They are ideal for digging
into anthills. The claws on
it’s hind feet are long and
curved. These are used to
push the excess dirt, dug up
by the front feet, out of the
way.
Needs of Living Things
BOOKWORK TIME
Can you cut out the different types of hands
and feet and match them to each animal?
Glue each one to the animal’s page, but be
very careful with your glue, you don’t want to
stick the pages of your book together.
When you have finished that task, you can
draw a picture of your hands and feet on the
back page.