Field Investigation: Basic Needs of Living Things

Students discuss the basic needs that plants and animals must have to survive, analyze the patterns of how all living things (plants and animals) have common basic needs, and then determine if a plant and an animal’s basic needs are met in the schoolyard habitat in their outdoor classroom.    

 
Click on the orange links to access free educational materials: 
 
Lesson Plans  |   ALSDE Standards Taught
 
Activity Page #1: Birds, Trees & Basic Needs (or as Word Doc) 

Activity Page #2: Ants, Plants & You (or as Word Doc) with Answer Page #2
 
Outdoor Activity Materials:  activity pages, clipboards, pencils


 









 
Step 1: Engage through Discussion
     
Engage the students and capture their interests with an Interactive Q&A (or as PDF) that allows you to click through the questions one at a time.  You can gauge your students' understanding of the topic as they answer the questions. Print and use the Q&A Info Sheet (or as Word Doc) to anticipate the next question in the Interactive Q&A and to guide the conversation with the students.  (Note:  For the PowerPoint (PPT), click "Slide Show" & "From Beginning" to display the questions and answers separately.)
 
Use these tools to continue the discussion:
 
 
 
Step 2: Explore with Literature
   
As you read these books, you can further explore the topic and discuss your students' experiences and knowledge around the topic:
 
What Do Living Things Need? by Elizabeth Austen (ISBN: 978-1480745230)

Basic Needs by Jean Feldman (ISBN: 978-1615902132)
Front Cover
 
 
 
Step 3: Explain with an Educational Video
     
Use these educational videos to help explain the topic in more detail:
 
 
 
 
The Needs of Living Things 
(3:03 min.)
@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHjqaOx568o		 The Needs of an Animal 
(1:01 min.)
@  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4UDf3tF_O4		 The Needs of a Plant
(1:02 min.) 
@  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUBIQ1fTRzI 
 
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Step 4: Elaborate with a Field Investigation in the Outdoor Classroom
     
Students apply what they have learned as they investigate the topic in your outdoor classroom and record their real-world observations on their activity page:
 
Version #1: 
Birds, Trees & Basic Needs		 Version #2:
Ants, Plants & You

Activity Tip
 
 
Version #1 - Basic Needs of Living Things: Birds, Trees & Basic Needs
Activity Page:  PDF (as is)  /  Word Doc (editable)

Procedure
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Have students draw a picture of a bird, a tree and themselves in the first column.
  2. Discuss whether or not the bird, the tree and the students need food, water, air, sunlight, and/or shelter to survive.
  3. Use the AWF's Ecosystem Investigation Webpage: Songbirds and Their Habitat as you discuss the basic needs of birds and what they may use as their sources for food, water, air, sunlight and shelter. 
  4. Next discuss what the tree and the students may use as their sources for food, water, air, sunlight, and shelter/space (highlighting the sources included on the activity page).
Outdoor Discovery:
  1. Have students look around your outdoor classroom for the habitat resources that these living things (birds & trees) need to survive.
  2. Next have them look around your outdoor classroom for the resources that the students need to survive.
  3. As they find each resource in their outdoor classroom, they should put a circle around it.  If a resource was not found, then they should not circle it.
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Afterward, review which resources the students were able to find that meet the basic needs of a bird and a tree.
  2. Review the resources that they found to meed the students' basic needs.
  3. Discuss how ALL living things (animals & plants) have the same basic needs for food, water, air, sunlight and shelter/space.
Optional Extension:
 

Version #2 - Basic Needs of Living Things: Ants, Plants & You 
Activity Page:  PDF (as is)  /  Word Doc (editable)

Procedure
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Have students draw a picture of an ant, a plant (or flower), and themselves in the first column.
  2. Discuss whether or not an ant, a plant, and the students need food, water, air, sunlight, and/or shelter to survive.
  3. Use the AWF's Wonders of Wildlife Webpage for the Little Black Ant as you discuss its basic needs and what it may use as its sources for food, water, air, sunlight and shelter. 
  4. Discuss what the plants may use as their sources for food, water, air, sunlight, and shelter/space (highlighting the sources included on the activity page).
  5. Next discuss what the students may use as their sources for food, water, air, sunlight and/or shelter (highlighting the sources included in the activity page).
Outdoor Discovery:
  1. Have students look around your outdoor classroom for the habitat resources that ants and plants need to survive.
  2. Next have them look around your outdoor classroom for the resources that the students need to survive.
  3. As they find each resource in their outdoor classroom, they should put a circle around it.  If a resource was not found, they should not put a circle around it.
Indoor Discussion:
  • ​​​​​Afterward, review which resources the students were able to find that meet the basic needs of an ant and a plant.
  • Review the resources that they found to meet the students' needs.
  • Discuss how ALL living things (animals & plants) have the same basic needs for food, water, air, sunlight and shelter/space.
Optional Extension:
  • Use one of the AWF's Wonders of Wildlife Webpages to review the basic habitat needs of a wildlife species that the students would like to see.  Discuss how you can improve your school's wildife habitat to meet the needs of this wildlife species to attract it to your outdoor classroom.
 
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Step 5: Evaluate with an Assessment Activity
   
Review and assess the students’ observations and answers on their observation pages:
Evaluate the students' understanding of the topic with the following assessment tool:
 
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Questions? Contact us at oc@alabamawildlife.org.
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