LSS.1.1.2
Analyze and interpret data to compare how the needs of plants and animals can be met in different environments.
Embedded Files
District Recommended Resources for 1st Grade Science
Plants & Animals Activity Pack
Needs of Plants
What's in Your Environment
Different Environments
Activity Packs available for purchase. Full kit rental options are also available. See your administrator.
Science Phenomena Resources
Next Generation Science Standards YouTube Channel
Step 1: Lesson Standards & Learning Goals
Dimension 1:
Science and Engineering Practice:
Analyze and Interpret Data: Use observations (first-hand or from media) to describe patterns and/or relationships between organisms and the environment in order to answer scientific questions (NSTA SEP Matrix).
Dimension 2:
Crosscutting Concepts:
Cause and Effect, Systems and System Models
Dimension 3:
Disciplinary Core Ideas:
LS4.C Living things can survive only where their needs are met. If some places are too hot or too cold or have too little water or food, plants and animals may not be able to live there.
LS4.D There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water (A Framework for K-12 Science Education).
Sample Essential Questions
Sample Essential Questions
How can I compare how the needs of plants and animals can be met in different environments?
How can I use observations and analyze data to compare how the needs of plants and animals can be met in different environments?
How can I compare how different environments meet various needs of plants and animals?
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
ecosystem
environment
temperature
observations
similarities (same)
differences (different)
living
nonliving
habitat
Students will be able to...
Students will be able to...
Explain how a variety of environments provide for the needs of the plants and animals that live within that ecosystem.
Compare similarities and differences between ecosystems.
Describe how environments meet the needs of plants and animals.
Analyzing and Interpreting Data - Record information from observations (first-hand or from media) on how one environment can meet many plants and animals needs.
Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information - Read grade-appropriate texts and/or use media to obtain information about a variety of plants and animals that live in different environments.
Students will know...
Students will know...
Living things can survive only where their needs are met. If some places are too hot or too cold or have too little water or food, plants and animals may not be able to live there.
There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.
Step 2: Assessment
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessments
Writing Prompts
What do you predict would happen if a _______ (plant/animal) was placed in ________ (a different environment)? (e.g. a whale was placed in a lake, a polar bear moved to North Carolina, or a pine tree was planted in a desert; they would not survive because their needs would not be met).
Could a ______ live in a ______? (Yes/No) Why? (e.g. snake in a very cold environment, no, it is not the right temperature, it would be too cold).
How can a small change to an ecosystem have a big effect on plants and animals?
Describe how living things and nonliving things in an environment meet _______ (animal or plant) needs.
Write a narrative pretending to be a plant or animal. Describe a day in your life and what you needed to get through the day. How was your environment important to you?
Mini Projects and Investigations
Inner Peace a poem by Amy Wolsteholme: Guide students in reading and comprehending the poem about different animals describing “how to live”. Do a shared writing with sentence stems inspired by the poem (ex: I ask the _______ how to live and it tells me _______.). Have students try their hand at writing a poem in the same style.
NCDPI Formative Assessment Examples
Culminating Activity
Have students read a book about a certain environment. Have students answer the question: What kinds of living things live in this environment? How does this environment meet their needs?
Ex: Students will likely be familiar with forests. Have students read, or read together with students, A Forest Habitat in getepic.com. Students demonstrate their understanding of how environments meet the needs of various plants and animals on this recording sheet.
Step 3: Lesson Instructions
Possible Activating Strategies
Possible Activating Strategies
LS.1.1.2 Venn Diagram.pdfGraphic Organizer
Compare two similar animals that live in different environments.
Video Clip
Home Sweet Habitat: View this video to learn more about why certain animals live in certain environments. Ex: Polar bears live in the arctic because they thrive in cold temperatures and eat animals in the arctic, such as seals.
Other activating strategies:
Would You Live Here? 🌍🦜🌵
Show pictures of different environments (desert, rainforest, ocean, forest) and ask students:
“What animals or plants live here? Why?” Have them make predictions.Mystery Habitat Box 🎁
Put objects related to different habitats in a box (e.g., sand for the desert, leaves for the forest). Let students reach in, feel the objects, and guess which environment they belong to.Animal and Plant Match-Up 🦁🌱
Display pictures of animals and plants and have students match them to the correct environment.Interactive Read-Aloud 📖
Read books such as Over and Under the Snow (Kate Messner) or What if You Had Animal Feet? (Sandra Markle). Discuss how animals survive in different habitats.Walk & Observe 👀🏞️
Take students outside to observe local plants and animals. Ask:
"How does our environment help them get what they need?"
Additional Literacy Connections
Mazer, A. (1994). The salamander room.
Fredericks, A. (2001). Under one rock: Bugs, slugs and other ughs.
EX: Read Animals in the Ground and Animals of the Ice and Snow. Compare and contrast animals in different environments and how these environments support the needs of the animals in them.
Scholastic News: Two Cats’ Habitats
Please visit your Media Center to see what new books and resources are available!
Teacher Resources
Teacher Resources
Science A-Z: Plants and Animals
EBSCO - Steps to access materials: NCEdcloud, EBSCO, New Publication Finder Interface, Type “Scholastic” or “StoryWorks” and click Primary Search, Search any topic and download the PDF.
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