Science – Information Booklet
Living Things and Their Habitats
Introduction
What is a home?
A home is a safe place to live. Homes shelter animals from the weather, protect them from
predators or enemies, provide them with a safe place to bear and raise their young, and
sometimes even provide a place to store food. Homes serve these same purposes for
human beings.
An animal's living place is called its habitat.
Different plants and animals require different living conditions to thrive, eg. goldfish need
freshwater while whales, sea water.
Animals and plants are adapted to the conditions of the habitats in which they live. Most
animals are only adapted to live in one or two habitats. A walrus could not live in a desert.
A rattlesnake could not live for very long in the arctic.
Quick Facts:
A habitat is a place where a plant or animal lives (Its address!).
Different animals and plants are found in different habitats.
Habitats can be big - a forest - or small - a leaf.
Quick Fact:
Living things can be grouped according to observable similarities and differences.
Vertebrates
Vertebrates are animals that have a backbone. Vertebrates are divided into five
groups Mammals, Birds, Amphibians and Fish
Amphibians
Animals that spend part of their lives under water (breathing with gills) and the remainder
on land (breathing with lungs).
Reptiles
Reptiles are scaly animals, like snakes, lizards, crocodilians, and turtles.
Fish
Fish live in the water and breathe with gills.
Quick Fact: There are about 5,000 species of living mammals.
Mammals
Mammals are warm-blooded animals, which means they are able to keep their body
temperatures stable whether it is cold or hot outside.
Mammals live both on land and in water.
Some mammals eat meat (carnivores) while others, like shrews and bats, eat insects
(insectivores). Herbivores, like cows and rabbits, feed on vegetation. Omnivores, like bears
and rats, will eat both plants and meat.
Quick Fact:
Unlike other animals, mammals have body hair, have 3 middle ear bones and nourish their
young with milk.
Birds
Birds
Information on birds around the world
Quick Fact:
Birds are animals with feathers, two wings, and a bill.
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. They are cold-blooded and their
body temperature depends on the temperature of their environment.
Invertebrates are divided into seven groups. The biggest group of invertebrates is the
arthropods. This includes insects and spiders.
Invertebrates
Information on a variety of invertebrates
Quick Fact:
There are different kinds of animals and plants in the local environment.
Skeletons of Animals and Birds
Some animals have a backbone. Some do not.
Animals with backbones are called vertebrates - backboned animals.
Backboned animals have a hard body frame inside them - their skeleton.
Quick Fact:
Bones give support and allow animals to move.
Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals have a skeleton.
You are a mammal. You have a bony skeleton. Your skeleton grows with you.
Quick Fact:
Animals that have a skeleton inside their body are called vertebrates. Those that have a
protective layer outside their body and no bones inside are called invertebrates.
Drawing of a bird Skeleton
Birds have lightweight bones, many of which are hollow. For added strength, the hollow
bones are supported by internal struts (much like the struts that support the hollow wings
of planes).If bird bones were solid, like human bones, birds would be too heavy, which
would make flight very difficult.
Environmental Chages
Humans can have an impact on ecosystems and the environment. The penguins of Boulders
Beach, Simons Town, South Africa currently live in harmony with humans but despite this
harmony the penguin populations is declining. The penguins droppings, guano, makes a good
fertiliser and the collection of it by humans was having a negative impact on the penguins
and their nesting habits until regulations were brought in. There is evidence that human
activity is affecting climate change and in turn having an impact on the penguins food source.
Competition with humans and an oil spill in 2000 have also had a negative impact on the
penguin population. However since Boulders beach has become a nature reserve, it has
boosted the local economy through tourism. We can also have a positive effect on the
environment by the actions we take and the way we live - no matter how small.
What are life processes?
Movement is simply the ability to get from one place to another. Reproduction is the ability
to create offspring. Sensitivity refers to the ability to react to the world around them
using the five senses, hearing, sight, smell, touch and taste. Growth means the ability to
grow from birth into adulthood. It is how cells grow and multiply. Respiration, not to be
confused with breathing, is a chemical reaction that takes place in our cells. It is the
creation of energy to keep you active. Excretion refers to the ability to rid the body of
waste. It is how energy is produced from glucose and oxygen and the process of removing
water, carbon dioxide and other substances from your body. Nutrition means eating, which
is important to sustain life. These processes make it easy to determine if something is living,
and a good way to remember them are the names “MRS GREN” or “MRS NERG.”