Juniors (8-11)
Key Stage 2 educational resources for Junior school children.Adaptation
Where an animal lives is called its habitat. A habitat could be a pond, a forest or any other place that an animal occupies. Animals have features that help them adapt to their habitat so that they can survive.
For example all waterfowl such as ducks, swans and geese have webbed feet. Webbed feet such as the duck's paddle-shaped foot, allow the birds to be excellent swimmers.
Activity
Collect as many mini-beasts as you can find within the local habitat. Ask children to observe & describe the conditions e.g. light, wet etc.
Different groups could investigate different habitats and share results with others.
Please explain to children that collecting animals must be done with care so that animals are not damaged. All animals must be returned to their habitat area.
Work sheets available.
Children should wash their hands after handling the animals.
Feeding relationships
All animals, like humans, need to eat so that they can survive and stay healthy.
In a habitat animals may eat each other or plants as their food.
A food chain shows the feeding relationship between different animals in a habitat. Most food chains start off with a green plant such as grass, which some animals may eat. Other animals then eat these animals.
Here’s an example of a food chain:
Grass — (is eaten by) –> Rabbit – (is eaten by) –> Fox
Classification
Animals can be put into two groups:
* Vertebrates – animals that have a backbone.
* Invertebrates – animals that do not have a backbone.
Vertebrates can be classified into one of 5 groups:
1. You will find various different mammals in the paddocks on your visit to Thorpe Farm including: horses, donkeys, llamas, goats, sheep and deer. They all produce milk for they’re off spring.
2. Reptiles – such as lizards, crocodiles and turtles. Most reptiles are covered in scales.
3. Birds – they have wings and feathers covering their bodies. Thorpe Farm Falconry Centre aviaries contain lots of Birds – such as owls, hawks, falcons and vultures.
4. Down by the lake you may find Amphibians –such as frogs and toads. They live part of their life in water and part of their life on land.
5. Fish – such as goldfish live in water and have cold blood.
Worksheets available.
Activity
How many vertebrates can you see at Thorpe Farm?
Record locations in which they were found using the site map.
Children should wash their hands after handling animals
Life Cycles
Life Cycle of a Bird
Most animals come from eggs. The adult female produces the eggs. Many eggs contain everything needed to form a new animal. Many eggs have a shell or outer covering. The covering keeps the egg from drying out. It also protects the new animal growing inside. Bird eggs have a hard shell. When the animal has grown enough, it breaks out of the egg. This is called hatching.
The new chick quickly grows into an adult. The adult female can then lay eggs and the cycle continues.
