Kindergarten · Science · Unit 6 of 7
Animal Survival
How animals stay safe and warm
What your child practices
Body features (thick fur, webbed feet, shells, camouflage) and behaviors (hibernating, migrating, storing food) that help animals survive.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: K.L1U1.6; K.L1U1.7 · how plants and animals use their body parts and special structures to survive
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Body parts help animals live: fur keeps warm, wings fly.
- Things animals do help too, like building a nest.
- Some sleep all winter. Some fly south.
Example: Is a sharp beak a body part or something an animal does? A beak is part of the bird's body. Answer: a body part
Animal Survival in Arizona
In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 6 of 7 in Kindergarten Science, after Light & Sound and before Sun & Shade.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- Kindergarten guide for Arizona parents
- Printable Kindergarten Science sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What helps a bird fly?
🐦- 🐟fins
- 🪶wings and feathers
- 🐢a hard shell
🪶 wings and feathers
Hint: Birds flap their wings. Light feathers help them lift into the air.
Question 2
Frogs can't keep warm in winter. What do many of them do?
🐸- 🐻grow thick fur
- 🐦fly south
- 💤rest in mud or leaves until spring
💤 rest in mud or leaves until spring
Hint: Many frogs hide in mud or under leaves and rest all winter. That is hibernating.
Question 3
Why do many animals grow thicker fur in the fall?
- 🌰to hide food
- 🏊to swim faster
- ❄️to stay warm in winter
❄️ to stay warm in winter
Hint: Winter is coming! Thicker fur keeps animals warm when it's cold.
Question 4
What keeps a turtle safe?
- 🐢its hard shell
- 🧸its fluffy fur
- 👂its long ears
🐢 its hard shell
Hint: A turtle can pull its head and legs inside its hard shell to stay safe.
Question 5
Is it a body part or something an animal does?
Sort into: 🦶 body part · 🏃 something it does
- 🦉sharp beak
- 🌙hunts at night
- 💤sleeps all winter
- 🐢hard shell
- 🦫builds a dam
- 🐇long ears
🦶 body part: sharp beak, hard shell, long ears · 🏃 something it does: hunts at night, sleeps all winter, builds a dam
Hint: Body parts are things an animal has, like fur. Other things are what it does, like sleeping.
Question 6
Why do many birds fly south in the fall?
- ❄️to find more snow
- ☀️to find food and warmth
- 💤to sleep in caves
☀️ to find food and warmth
Hint: Winter is cold with little food, so many birds fly to warmer places. That is called migrating.