What Animals Need to Survive

Background Information for Teachers

Every pet owner should know that certain responsibilities come with owning an animal, such as caring for the pet and keeping it alive, happy, and healthy. There are many things you can do to keep a pet happy, but when it comes down to the essentials, there are actually only a handful of things that an animal (including humans, which are part of the animal kingdom), be it in captivity or in the wild, really needs to survive. These basic needs are food to eat, water to drink, shelter for protection, and air to breathe (Figure 1).

Image Credit: Svenja Lohner, Science Buddies / Science Buddies
Figure 1. Animals' four basic needs for survival are water, shelter, air (oxygen), and food.

Food is the energy source for every living organism. All animals need to eat regularly to fuel their bodies. Different types of animals eat different types of food. Some animals (carnivores) hunt and eat other animals. Some animals (herbivores) only eat plants like leaves, fruits, or nuts. Other animals (omnivores) eat both meat and plants. Each animal live where they can find the food they need to survive.

Water, or other liquids such as a mother's milk, are of major importance to all living things. Human bodies consist of up to 60% of water. In other organisms, up to 90% of their body weight comes from water. Animals constantly lose water when sweating or exhaling. In order to replenish their water supplies, most animals have to drink on a regular basis. Some animals that live in the desert where water is scarce get most of their water from the food they eat.

Air, or more specifically, the oxygen in the air, is also essential for all animals. The oxygen is important to many processes that happen inside animals' bodies. For example, oxygen is needed to process the food we eat and to convert it into energy that our bodies can use to move and grow. Even animals that live in the ocean and do not have lungs (like fish) still need oxygen, which is why they have gills to help them absorb oxygen from the water. Recently, scientist have discovered one animal species deep down at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, called loricifera, that seems to be able to survive without oxygen. This is, however, a rare exception in the animal kingdom.

Shelter, or a protected place to live, is crucial for animals. Each animal species can only thrive in a certain temperature range. Being exposed to extreme weather conditions such as heat, wind, or rain can become deadly if there is no place to take shelter. Their shelter will help them keep in the temperature range they can tolerate. In addition, a shelter provides a place where wild animals can raise their young and keep them protected from dangers such as predators. The type of shelter, or home, an animal builds or chooses for themselves can vary. Some animals build underground borrows, some build a nest in a tree, and others prefer to live in a cave.

The basic needs for pets or other animals in captivity are the same as those for animals in the wild. No matter where they live, an animal that lacks one of these four components will not be able to survive.

In this lesson plan, your class will discover that while there are many things that can help make an animal happy, only some of them are necessary for their survival. Students will pretend to adopt an animal and shop items for their pet. By comparing the needs for different types of animals, they will be able to conclude that only some of the items are essential to all animals.

Additional Background Links

• The Basic Needs Of Living Things, eschooltoday
• The Needs of an Animal (song for kids), Harry Kindergarten Music

Prep Work (15 minutes)

• Print and cut out the Pet Animal Cards.
• Print one set of Animal Basic Needs Cards for each group. Cut out the cards and place one set on each group's table.

Engage (15 minutes)

1. Tell your class that in this lesson they will find out about what animals need to survive.
2. Ask your students if they ever had a pet or know someone who has a pet.

   Do you have a pet or know someone that has a pet? What kind of pet is it?

   Collect student's answers and make a list of all the different pets that they mention. Then let them think of other types of pets that one could have and add them to the list.

3. Next, ask if they have ever helped take care of their pet or another animal. Have them describe what tasks they performed and how they made sure the animal was healthy and happy.

   Was there anything specific that you needed to do to make sure the animal was happy and healthy?

   Listen to all student's answers. Elicit responses that mention how they had to feed the animal, give it water, make sure it was not too hot or too cold, etc.

4. Show your students all the pet animal cards from the Pet Animal Card Set. Have them name all of the animals. Then ask,

   If you had one of these animals as a pet, what do you think it would need to survive?

   Listen to student's answers and then transition into the exploration.

Explore (20 minutes)

1. Let each group chose one of the Pet Animal Cards as their pet.
2. Provide each group with a set of the Animal Basic Needs Cards. Explain to your students that they just got their new pet (the animal they picked) and now have to go shopping to get everything their pet needs to survive and be happy. The cards represent items that they can buy at the pet store. They can buy as many items as they like.
   Note: At this point students should not differentiate between items that the animals need for their survival (such as food, water, shelter, or air) and items that they need to be happy (such as toys and entertainment). They will make this distinction later in the lesson.
3. Let each group go through all of the items and decide what they need to buy. Once they have selected an item, have them explain why they chose this specific item. Have children discuss within their groups.

   What does your pet need to survive?

   Why do you think your pet needs a specific item?

4. Once each group has finished their shopping tour, have them review their items and think about additional things that they would need but could not find in the store. Have children draw or write these additional things on the empty card templates provided in the Animal Basic Needs Card Set.

   What other things does your pet need that you could not find in the store?

Reflect (25 minutes)

1. Bring all groups together and have groups compare what they bought for their pets.

   What items did you buy for your pet?

   Have children describe their individual items. Tape each of the animal cards and their corresponding items on a board for everyone to see (Figure 2).

   Image Credit: Svenja Lohner, Science Buddies / Science Buddies
   Figure 2. On the board, the animal's needs cards are grouped around the respective animal.
   
   
2. Review the cards on the board with your students. Start a group discussion.

   What do you notice about all the items for each animal? Are they very different or similar?

   Do you see any kind of pattern in the types of things each of the animal's needs?

   What are things that all animals need? What are things that only some animals need?

3. Guide your students to conclude that all animals need food, water, and some kind of shelter. Have children discuss how the specific needs, such as the type of food or shelter, differ between animals.
4. Then group the listed items with the help of your students based on these three categories (food, shelter, water). Rearrange the cards on the board so that you have a food group, a water group, a shelter group and an "other" group for items such as toys, etc.
5. Continue the discussion.

   What other things does your pet need, but you could not find in the store?

   Based on children's answers, point out to children that other things such as air, space (a certain habitat), light, or the right temperature conditions are also very important for an animal to survive. Note: It might be difficult for students to realize that air is one important basic need. Prompt students to think about air by asking them questions such as "could animals also survive under water?," etc.

6. Write or draw these additional needs on empty card templates and tape them next to the animals on the board.
7. Next, have students use their student worksheet to sort their remaining cards from their Animal Basic Needs Card Set into the right basic need category. They should glue or tape each of the cards onto the right paper.
8. For each pet, challenge the class to choose the four most important items displayed on the board that they would need to survive. Have them explain why they selected the items they chose. Call these items (food, water, shelter, air) the basic needs of animals. Then discuss,

   What would happen to your pet if it did not get enough food, water, air, or did not have a place to take shelter?

   Listen to student's answers. Most likely, they will realize that any animal (including humans) who lacks one of their basic needs such as water, air, food, or shelter will not be able to survive for long. It doesn't matter if this animal is living as a pet in a home or in nature.

9. Remind students that what they have identified as the basic needs for their pets is also valid for all the other animals on the planet, including humans. The type of foods, shelter, or habitat might vary from animal to animal, but every single one needs all of these things to survive, be it in captivity or in the wild.

   What do animals in the wild do to meet their basic needs?

   How does the type of food or shelter vary between animals that we have as pets compared to animals in the wild?

   Animals in the wild have to look for their own food, water, and shelter, whereas a pet usually gets food, water, and a home provided by their owner. The types of food and shelter vary depending on if the animal is a pet or lives in the wild. A pet bird for example usually lives in a cage, whereas in the wild they would build a nest. Have students come up with other examples.

10. Finally, have your students summarize what they did and what they learned about their pets and animals in general.

Make Career Connections

Discussing or reading about these careers can help students make important connections between the in-class lesson and STEM job opportunities in the real world.

Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist

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Career Profile

Zoologists and wildlife biologists study every aspect of animals to find out how they behave, where they live, or what they eat. They understand each animal's specific needs best from their research, and for example can help make sure animals in a zoo have everything they need. Read more

Veterinarian

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Career Profile

Veterinarians use their skills to treat sick animals and make them feel better. For example, they can work with small animals such as dogs and cats, or big animals such as horses or cows. Just like you go to the doctor's office for a check-up or when you are sick, pets need regular care from a veterinarian to stay healthy. Read more

Lesson Plan Variations

• Provide video materials that allow your students to observe animals as they eat, drink, or take shelter. Then discuss how the animal behave in the wild (or captivity) to meet their basic needs.
• If possible, temporarily (or permanently) get a classroom pet and allow students to care for the pet. Have them divide chores to make sure that the basic needs (and additional ones) of the pet are met.
• Encourage students to think about how easy or difficult it is for animals in the wild to meet their basic needs. Discuss possibilities of how the needs of some animals might be threatened and what could be done to help.