Animals and Habitats Study Guide
Test is on Friday, November 4
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Identify living and non-living things.
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Name the different land habitats (grassland, forest, rainforest, arctic tundra, desert, wetlands)
and water habitats (ocean, pond, river, stream).
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Know that a habitat is a place where there are living and non-living things.
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Animals meet their needs (food, shelter, water, space) in their habitats.
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A shelter is a home for an animal that protects it from weather and predators.
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Shelters can be either living (coral or trees) or nonliving (caves or nests).
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Seasonal changes affect habitats. Examples: Temperate habitats get cold in the winter and
animals cannot find food, trees change with the seasons and lose leaves
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Habitats can change over a long period of time. Fire, rain, pollution, cutting down forests/trees,
and soil erosion can all change a habitat so that animals can no longer meet their needs.
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Plants and animals are interdependent. This means that plants and animals need each other to
survive. Example: Plants are food and shelter for animals. Animals help plants by carrying seeds to
different places.
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Food chains begin with the sun providing food for plants. The bigger animals are at the top of the
food chain. Decomposers are important because they break down dead organisms into the soil.
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Identify different animal adaptations. An adaptation is a change an animal makes to survive.
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Hibernation is when animals sleep through the winter (ex. bears, squirrels, bats). Animals
hibernate because the weather is cold and food is scarce.
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Migration is when animals move to another place when it is colder and food is scarce. (ex. birds,
whales, butterflies)
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Camouflage is a way for animals to hide from predators and blend in with their surroundings. (ex.
chameleons, arctic fox, arctic hare)
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Fossils give scientists information about plants and animals that lived on Earth many years ago.
Virginia’s state fossil is Chesapecten jeffersonius.