When Environments Change
- Biology
- Ages 8–11 · Grades 3–5
What you’ll find out
- Environments change, slowly or suddenly, through droughts, floods and human activity.
- When a habitat changes, some living things survive, some move away and some die.
- People can help wildlife cope by replanting, building crossings and protecting habitats.
No sign-up and no real names. In the lesson you check your understanding as you read, and practise until it sticks.
Survive, move or die out
Environments do not always stay the same. A long drought can dry up a pond, a flood can cover a meadow, and people may cut down a forest to build a town. When a habitat changes, some living things survive, some move somewhere else, and some die. If a pond dries up, the fish cannot escape, but frogs can hop to another pond and birds can simply fly away.
Helping wildlife cope
When a change is too big or happens too fast, a whole kind of plant or animal may die out for ever, which is called extinction. People can help wildlife cope. We can plant trees where forests were cleared, build green bridges over busy roads so animals can cross safely, and protect special places as nature reserves. Scientists watch for changes so that we can act before it is too late.
Curriculum links: NGSS 3-LS4-4 · England KS2: Living things and their habitats · Cambridge Primary Stages 4–6: Biology · NCERT Environmental Studies, Classes 3–5