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3rd grade · Science · Unit 3 of 6

Adaptations & Habitats

How plants and animals survive where they live

What your child practices

Practices habitats, body and behavior adaptations, camouflage, migration and hibernation, and how plants and animals rely on each other (pollination, seed dispersal, soil nutrients).

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3L.4.2.1.1 · the inside and outside parts that help plants and animals survive

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. An adaptation helps a living thing survive. It can be a body part, like long ears, or a behavior, like hibernation.
  2. Hibernation is a deep winter sleep. Migration is traveling to another place.
  3. Plants and animals help each other: pollination, spreading seeds.

Example: What is pollination? Bees carry pollen from flower to flower. That lets the plant make seeds. Answer: moving pollen so a plant can make seeds

Adaptations & Habitats in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 3 of 6 in 3rd grade Science, after Basic Needs & Life Cycles and before Surviving in a Habitat.

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.

Source: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What is pollination?

    • making honey
    • cutting flowers
    • moving pollen so a plant can make seeds

  2. Question 2

    Why do polar bears have a thick layer of fat?

    • It keeps them warm in cold water and air
    • It helps them fly
    • It helps them climb trees

  3. Question 3

    Which animal's coloring helps it hide on a tree trunk?

    • a pink flamingo
    • a bright red cardinal
    • a brown moth

  4. Question 4

    Which adaptation helps an eagle catch prey?

    • webbed feet
    • sharp talons and strong eyesight
    • thick fur

  5. Question 5

    Why do pine trees have needles instead of wide leaves?

    • Needles make fruit
    • Needles lose less water and shed snow
    • Needles are softer

  6. Question 6

    Which is the best habitat for a polar bear?

    • a warm rainforest
    • sea ice in the Arctic
    • a hot desert

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