Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
Sc 2: Life Processes
4 Plants & Animals
4.2 Variation and Food Chains
P.O.S.
Key Stage 1 Sc 2: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 5c
Key Stage 2 Sc 2: 4a, 4b, 4c, 5d, 5e
Key Stage 3 Sc 2: 4b, 5b, 5c, 5e
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
LEARNING OBJECTIVES










To be able to sort plants and animals according to features.
To be able to name plants and animals found locally.
To know that there are different environments affecting species found there.
To use keys to identify local plants and animals.
To be able to identify some features that plants and animals have that help them live in a particular habitat.
To be able to draw food chains for familiar plants and animals.
To be able to draw simple food webs
To be able to classify plants and animals into main taxonomic groups
To know that plants and animals in specific habitats are interdependent.
To know that some animals adapt to daily and seasonal changes in their habitats
ICT



Use of data loggers and sensors to
collect environmental data.
Use of suitable software to construct
keys.
Use of graphics package to record
results of environmental data.
LINKS
VOCABULARY
Geography
Art
Leaf, tails, wings, beak and other animal parts,
similar, different, feature, minibeasts, names of
particular plants and animals, camouflage, extinct,
animal, plant, insect, animal features, plant features
(bark, stem, leaf thorn etc), key, environment,
temperature, light, conditions, carnivore, herbivore,
predator, prey, consumer, food chain, producer,
adapted.
ACTIVITIES








Sort pictures of plants and animals– either criteria given by teacher or their own criteria.
Collect minibeasts (from leaf litter, ponds?). Sort into sets.
Sort leaves according to shape? colour?
Look at plants around school – identify similarities and differences.
Discuss features of different animals e.g. wings, tails, shells etc.
Make a collection of animals (include fish, birds, insects)
Pass a picture of an animal round and ask each child to make a comment about it. Then
pass 2 pictures round and get them to identify a similarity or difference.
Make “What am I?” cards to get children to identify animal e.g. I have two legs, two wings,
a beak, feathers, webbed feet etc.
RESOURCES







Pictures/photos of
plants/animals
Containers for minibeasts,
nets
Selection of leaves
Photographs/pictures of
plants and animals.
“What am I?” cards
Nets, containers
Sheet, paintbrush,
books/sheets to name
plants and animals
POINTS TO NOTE


Wash hands
after using
plants and
animals.
See “Be Safe”
(SAFETY
SYMBOL)
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
ACTIVITIES (cont)


























Survey the school grounds/park and record what is found there.
Look at pictures of farm, park, field etc and talk about what is found there.
Draw pictures of what they would expect in a pond, under a log, on a tree? etc.
Shake branches onto a white sheet. Use a paintbrush to collect minibeasts.
Go on a scavenger hunt to find for example – something soft, crunchy, prickly, shiny?
Set up mini-environment in the classroom e.g. wormery, brine shrimps
Make a collage of all the different places plants live.
Blindfold children to make friends with a tree – using sense of touch.
Study two contrasting environments – look at the plants and animals found there.
Look at different types of birds’ feet/beaks – link to lifestyle.
Look at camouflage.
Give a series of clues to guess the plant or animal e.g. animal has smooth skin, lives in a
pond and lives on land, jumps etc.
Hang different coloured wool, pieces of material outside which the children have to find.
Discuss which were the easiest to find.
Match a description to a particular plant or animal.
Play ‘the odd one out’ – child picks 3 plant/animal pictures and others have to say why it is
the odd one out.
Find out how many legs minibeasts have.
Use simple keys with pictures and animals in simple groups e.g. no legs, with wings,
without wings, so that children can pick on an obvious characteristic.
Use pictures of minibeasts and group in different ways.
Use simple computer programmes e.g. “Pond Life”
Go pond dipping and identify “beasties”.
Go on a flower hunt or leaf hunt e.g. find a tree flower, grass flower, pink flower, flower on
ground etc.
Use keys devised by children the year before.
Play “What am I?” – give information but no picture and use a simple key to name.
Play ‘animal opposites’ – name an animal that is very different to the one give – include a
wide range of animals on the list.
Play ‘plant opposites’ – use trees, vegetables, ferns, mosses, bushes, water plants, wild
and garden plants.
Give children plants and animals to sort according to named groups e.g. 4
legs, 2 legs, no legs or a type of group
RESOURCES (cont)



















Prepare tick sheets for
own locality.Brine
shrimps available from
Homerton College.
Sheets/books to help
identification.
Pictures of bird feet
and beaks.
Videos, books
Set of prepared “clues”.
Research books.
Wool and materials in a
variety of colours
Plant/animal cards.
Description cards
Minibeast pictures –
wood lice, worms,
caterpillars, centipedes,
spiders, mites, flies,
beetles, bugs, slug, snail
etc
List for flower or leaf
hunt.
Keys from previous
year.
Animal list.
Plant list.
Soil key
Cards of plants and
animals. Different
habitat cards.
Keys for plants and
animals
Land & pond plant.
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
ACTIVITIES (cont)






















Look at/research adaptations of animals e.g. birds feet and beaks, arctic and desert
animals.
Look at/research adaptations of plants e.g. in desert, in water.
Discuss camouflage. Design plants and animals to blend in to different backgrounds.
Take a particular plant/animal. Ask children to draw/write what it needs to live and where
those things come from. Discuss
Discuss some different foods animals eat, where the food comes from and if they eat other
things and why.
Is possible use first-hand observation when studying a habitat or look for evidence of
“eating” and discuss with children.
Discuss what would happen if something in a food chain died out for some reason.
Sort animals by skin type; leg type; habitat; size.
Sort plant by leaf type; habitat; size.
Play 20 Questions – to which the answer can only be “Yes” or “No”.
Use commercial keys to identify plants and animals
Make a key to identify the class.
Let children construct simple branching keys – limit the number of specimens until
confident with idea.
Construct simple “Go to” keys from a simple branching key.
Identify plants and animals from different habitats but also record the features of where it
was found. Link features to habitat.
Find out how animals can protect themselves, e.g. camouflage, warning markings, smells,
rolling into a ball, changing coat colour in winter.
Classify animals into vertebrates and invertebrates
Use pictures of plants and animals to devise food chains. Pupils could be labelled and act
out different organisms in a food chain.
Construct simple food web using pupils (labelled as organisms) and lengths of string.
Construct simple food web using pictures and lengths of string.
Discuss the interdependence of plants and animals in food chains and food webs.
Look at how animals adapt to seasonal and daily changes in their environment e.g.
hibernation, migration, nocturnal animals, moulting and colour changes.
RESOURCES (cont)















Books, CD Rom
Card, coloured paper,
paint
Dandelions or daisies
from 2 different habitats.
Picture cards
Magnifying glasses.
Posters
Holly leaves, magnifying
glasses
Identification sheets,
nets, containers
Plant parts on cards or
real specimens
Plant and animal
pictures or specimens
Keys
Quadrats
Books and CD Rom.
Worms, paper,
magnifying glasses
Plant and animal
pictures
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
OWN ACTIVITIES
POSSIBLE INVESTIGATIONS
















What food do snails or woodlice prefer?
Do all insects have 6 legs?
Are all leaves green?
Do all spiders have 8 legs?
Are all wood lice the same?
Do birds prefer brown or white bread?
Are all soils the same e.g. appearance, holding water, texture?
Are all rocks the same e.g. hardness, permeability?
Where are most minibeasts found e.g. on leaves, bark, under stones, in soil
Are the same minibeasts (or plants) found in ponds or streams?
What do woodlice like to eat e.g. wood bark, paper – any particular type, bread, fruit, leaves etc?
Which leaves do caterpillars like?
How much does a caterpillar eat?
Do all snail have rings or bands on their shells? Is there a link to colour of shell, habitat, the way the shell coils etc?
Are all leaves on a bush the same size? Compare top and bottom, north and south facing, inside and outside of bush.
Wash hand after handling plants and animals (SAFETY SYMBOL)
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
Name:
Date Record Began:
Outcomes: NC Level 1  NC Level 4
1
1+
2
2+
3

Can identify some features of living things e.g. wings, claws, tusks

Can identify 3 types of plants and 3 types of animals found locally.

Can identify some obvious differences in the features of plants and animals.



Can identify a plant or animal using a very simple identification sheet.
Can sort plants/animals according to whether they have or don’t have a particular
feature.
Can identify some obvious similarities in the features of plants and animals.

Can use the correct vocabulary for the features some of the time.

Can identify some specimens from pictures.

Can put specimens into named groups e.g. birds, minibeasts, plants, vegetables

Can use a very simple key.

Can identify a range of physical features of plants and animals.

Can identify the plant (plant part) in a food chain.


To be aware that although plants and animals have the same “basic design” there are
many variations in the design.
Can use a simple key with minimal support.

Can group animals into mammals, birds, fish.

Can identify the producer in a food chain and understand what the word means.


Can identify simple differences between insects, spiders and other minibeasts.
Can use a simple branching key to name plants and animals.

Can construct a food chain with 3 stages.
Life Processes 4 Plants & Animals 4.2 Variation and Food Chains
3+
4

Can construct a simple branching key with help.

Can use a simple “go-to” key.

Can identify vertebrates and invertebrates

Can recognise a “bad” key question with help.

Talks about some of the features a plant or animal might use to protect itself.

Knows that a food web is made up of food chains

Can identify predator and prey correctly.

Can construct a food chain with 4 stages.

Can also identify carnivores, herbivores, and consumers.

Can construct a reverse food chain.

Can construct and use a branching key.

Can construct a simple “go-to” key.

Can group vertebrates into mammals/birds/fish/reptiles/amphibians

Can recognise a “bad” key question.

Can explain a food web in own words
Further Comments