Habitats for Plants and Animals by Denise Carroll

What is an environment? • Plants and animals live together in many different environments all around the world. • An environment is all the living and nonliving things in a place. • The environment is the surroundings: air, water, plants, and animals. • Each kind of environment has many different kinds of animal habitats.

What is a habitat? • Every animal has a habitat. • The place where an animal or plant lives and grows is called its habitat. • A habitat is where an animal finds the food, water, and shelter it needs to live. • For example, a toucan’s habitat is the rainforest.

Different Land Habitats Desert Grasslands Tundra Forest Rainforest

Desert Habitats • A desert is a very warm place. The air is very hot and dry. • There is very little rain. The soil is very sandy. • Most animals that live in the desert sleep during the day because it is too hot. They come out at night to eat. They are called nocturnal. • Some desert animals burrow in the ground during the day • Many plants have thick leaves in the desert to retain water. • Most desert animals get their water from the food they eat.

Rain Forest Habitats • A rain forest is an environment where rain falls almost every day. • A rain forest has warm weather year round. • A rain forest has millions of plants and animals. • Many of these plants are used to make medicines to fight diseases and illnesses. • Rain forests are located along the equator.

Tundra Habitats • A tundra is an environment that is very cold and windy. • It is a treeless area. • It is the coldest environment. • The land is covered with snow and ice most of the year. • Much of the land has ground that is permafrost, permanently frozen. • The summers are short.

Forest Habitats • A forest is an environment that gets enough rain and warm temperatures for lots of trees to grow. • When the fall arrives, the leaves will turn red, orange, and yellow. • Once winter comes, the trees lose their leaves.

Freshwater Habitats • • Pond Lake Stream River You might find frogs, ducks, beavers, turtles, dragonflies, and many kinds of fish in a freshwater habitat.

Saltwater Habitats • Oceans Sharks, starfish, whales, dolphins, lobster, and coral are some of the animals found in the ocean.

Think: What would happen if an animal’s habitat were destroyed?

Animal Adaptations • An adaptation is anything about an animal that helps it live or survive in its environment. • Animals are always in danger of being eaten and have developed many ways of protecting themselves from hungry animals. • Animals may find winter shelter in holes in trees or logs, under rocks or leaves, or tunnel underground. • If animals do not adapt to their environment, they die! • Camouflage • Migrate • Body Coverings • Hibernate • Estivate

Camouflage • Camouflage is when the animal blends in with the surrounding environment to help it hide. • Some animals’ fur or skin can change color. This helps to protect them.

Some Animals Migrate • Some animals travel to far away places. This is called migration. • Animals move from one habitat to another to survive. • Animals are looking for warmer weather or searching for food. • Many birds migrate in the fall. Birds can fly very long distances. • Many fish migrate. They may swim south, or move into deeper, warmer water. • Many insects also migrate. • Whales, butterflies, bats, hummingbirds, robins, geese, ducks, salmon are some animals that migrate.

Click the animals that migrate.

Body Coverings • Some animals will grow new, thick fur in the fall to keep warm in the winter. • An armadillo has a covering of hard plates to protect its body. • The porcupine uses its quills for defense. • A turtle can pull its head, feet, and tail inside its shell for protection.

The Coming Winter • As the weather gets colder, people stay inside warm houses and wear heavy coats when they go outside. In the winter we get our food from the grocery store. • What happens to the animals?

Some Animals Hibernate • Hibernation is when an animal goes through the winter into a long, deep sleep. • One way animals can adapt to the changing environment is by hibernating. Some animals hibernate for part or all of the winter. The animal's body temperature drops, and its heartbeat and breathing slow down. It uses very little energy. In the fall, these animals get ready for winter by eating extra food and storing it as body fat. They use this fat for energy while hibernating. Some also store food like nuts or acorns to eat later in the winter. Bears, skunks, chipmunks, and some bats hibernate. Insects look for winter shelter in holes in the ground, under the bark of trees, deep inside rotting logs or in any small crack they can find.

Click the animals that hibernate.

Some Animals Estivate • Estivate is when an animal sleeps during the summer. • What causes an animal to estivate? HEAT • Ground squirrels in the desert will estivate in their burrows to get out of the heat. • Some toads estivate to escape the hot, dry summer. • Many amphibians and reptiles estivate, as do some insects, snails, and fish.

How do plants help animals? • Plants provide food and shelter for many animals. • Plants are used to make medicines to fight disease and illnesses. • Animals use plants for shelter. For example, birds build nests and beavers build dams. • Plants provide oxygen that we need to live. • Plants provide protection for animals hiding. • Plants are used to make clothing, paper, and wood products. • Plants also provide beauty for the Earth.

How do animals help plants? • Animals help spread seeds. • Some animals, like squirrels, bury seeds when they store them and forget to go back to get them. Some of these seeds that are left in the ground will germinate. • Seeds attach to animals that have fur. Later the seeds will fall off the animal and grow in a new place. • Insects and birds help pollinate flowers.

Ecosystem • An ecosystem is how plants, animals, and nonliving things in an environment effect each other.

NEW WORDS TO LEARN Before we discuss what a food chain is, we need to learn these new words. • herbivore • carnivore • omnivore • producers • consumers Let’s Begin. . .

Herbivores Some animals do not eat other animals. They survive on plants and are known as “herbivores”.

Carnivores Some animals, like the kingfisher, eat only other animals. These animals are called “carnivores”.

Omnivores • Some animals, like us, eat both plants and animals. • These animals are called “omnivores”.

Producers • Plants are living organisms. They need nourishment to survive. • But… • Plants do not eat other plants or animals. • Plants are called producers, because they produce their own food using sunlight.

Consumers • “Consume” means “eat”. • Animals are consumers because they “eat” (consume) food provided by plants or other animals.

What is a food chain? • Food chains show each living thing gets its food. • A food chain is the order in which animals eat plants and other animals. • The sun is the primary source of a food chain. Plants get their energy from the sun. Without the sun, we would not have any plants. A food chain always starts with a plant. • Next in the food chain is an animal, because plants cannot eat plants. • A food chain always ends with an animal. plant animal