F-K: 6.9, RMM 4.1
Habitats: A Habitat is a Home
All living things depend on other living things for survival. Plants and animals that live in
a particular place share the same water, air, climate and type of soil, which make up their
physical environment. The plants and animals also share their physical environment with
the other plants and animals living there. This is the biological environment. Both
environments make up the habitat of each plant and animal.
Many plants and animals that use trees and sheltered areas for their homes live in a forest
environment. Their environment is made up of the air, the water, the climate and the type
of soil in the forest as well as the plants and animals living there. Birds, mice, owls,
squirrels, deer and many other living things make their homes in the forest. Each plant
and animal can be found living in a particular place that will supply it with the things it
needs to survive: food, water, space and shelter. The particular place where each animal
lives in the forest is called its habitat. Each plant or animal’s habitat is made up of the
climate, soil, air, water and other plants and animals that share its space.
In the forest there are many habitats. Animals live in tree trunks, among dead leaves, in
holes, in the branches of trees or under rocks. All of these places are habitats. Sometimes
the habitats in the forest overlap. Animals may share the same space but they might make
different use of that space.
Wood lice like to live under rocks or rotting logs where it is moist. The rotting log or
rock is their habitat. They may share space with millipedes, moss and other living things.
Together they all live in a community. They have associations with one another. This
community is only one of many communities of living things in the forest. The living
things, along with non-living things like soil, wind and rain form a very large habitat or
what is called an ecosystem.
The plants and animals in the forest ecosystem affect each other in one way or another.
They may compete with one another for food, eat each other or protect one another in
some way. In a backyard habitat you might find robins, starlings, sparrows, squirrels,
trees, plants, grass and insects among the many things living there. The robin may make
its nest in the maple tree and feed on earthworms. Sparrows may live in the pine tree and
eat insects or seeds from the bird feeder. Short plants may grow under the tall plants and
vines may be growing on the fence. Moss may be growing on the trunks of trees. All
these living things form a large backyard habitat which contains many smaller habitats.
(2013). Habitats Environment Series, Grades 4-6. “A habitat is a home.” p. 25.
Toronto, CN. On the Mark Press.
457 words
Average sentence length: 14.8 words
Reading Maturity scale: Top maturity words: associations, biological, starlings,
survival, community, communities, overlap, physical, space, form