3rd grade · Science · Unit 8 of 12
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.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 3.12(A); 3.13(A) · migration and hibernation as responses to the seasons, and structures that help animals survive
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Body features help animals survive: thick fur, hard shells, camouflage.
- Behaviors help too: hibernating, migrating, storing food.
- Ask: is it a body part, or something the animal does?
Example: Why do many birds fly south in the fall? Winter brings cold and little food. Flying south finds both. Answer: to find food and warmth
Animal Survival in Texas
In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 8 of 12 in 3rd grade Science, after Food Chains & Webs and before Texas Fossils.
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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)
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
Is it a body part or something an animal does?
Sort into: 🦶 body part · 🏃 something it does
- 💤sleeps all winter
- 🐟fins
- 🦆webbed feet
- 🐇long ears
- 🌰stores nuts
- 🦫builds a dam
🦶 body part: fins, webbed feet, long ears · 🏃 something it does: sleeps all winter, stores nuts, builds a dam
Hint: Body parts are things an animal has, like fur. Other things are what it does, like sleeping.
Question 2
Why does a squirrel hide nuts in the fall?
🐿️- 🛏️to make a bed
- ❄️to eat in winter
- 🐦to give to birds
❄️ to eat in winter
Hint: Food is hard to find in winter, so squirrels save nuts for later.
Question 3
A green frog sits on a green leaf. Why is it hard to see?
🐸- 🍃its color blends in
- 💨it is very fast
- 💤it is asleep
🍃 its color blends in
Hint: Its color matches the leaf. Hiding by blending in is called camouflage.
Question 4
Which one is a behavior (something an animal does)?
- 🦆a duck has webbed feet
- 💤a bear sleeps all winter
- 🐻a bear has thick fur
💤 a bear sleeps all winter
Hint: A behavior is an action. Fur and feet are body parts, but sleeping is something you do.
Question 5
What does a beaver use to cut down trees?
- 🦫its flat tail
- 🦶its webbed feet
- 🦷strong front teeth
🦷 strong front teeth
Hint: A beaver chews through wood with its strong front teeth. They never stop growing!
Question 6
What keeps a turtle safe?
- 🧸its fluffy fur
- 🐢its hard shell
- 👂its long ears
🐢 its hard shell
Hint: A turtle can pull its head and legs inside its hard shell to stay safe.