Needs of Living Things

What do we really need?

Needs of Living Things

Can you remember the things that we really

need to survive?

Needs of Living Things

That’s right, we need:

•Food

•Shelter

•Water and

•Air (Oxygen)

Needs of Living Things

We have looked at the different types of food that animals require, and their different homes. Now we are going to look at the different hands and feet that allow animals to live in those places.

Needs of Living Things

Have a look at your hand.

A human hand has four (4) fingers

and one (1) opposing thumb.

Needs of Living Things

What do you use your hands for?

Talk with your class about all the things we use our hands to do.

Get your teacher to write some of these on the board.

Needs of Living Things

There are lots of different types of hands and feet.

Some are for climbing, others are for digging. Each animal uses it’s hands and feet in different ways to help it

survive

Needs of Living Things

Here is a photo of a

koala’s hand.

Needs of Living Things

Did you notice anything strange or different?

Needs of Living Things

A koala has two thumbs!

1

2

Needs of Living Things

The movement of the first finger around to create a second thumb is an adaptation. It

makes the koala a much better climber than us.

Needs of Living Things

A koala has two thumbs!

The movement of the first finger around to create a second thumb is an adaptation. It

makes the koala a much better climber than us.

A koala’s foot also has special adaptations. A koala has a thumb rather than a big toe. Two of it’s other toes are fused together with the claws making a comb which it uses for grooming.

The thumb on the foot is the only digit that does not have a sharp curved claw. The claws help the koala grip onto the trunk and branches of trees.

Needs of Living Things

A bandicoot uses it’s front feet, with their sharp claws, to dig and scratch for insects and worms. It’s back feet have very long toes. These long toes allow the bandicoot to move very fast.

Needs of Living ThingsA rainbow Lorikeet uses it’s back legs and feet to hang onto branches.

It’s front arms and hands have adapted into wings.

Each foot has four toes, two facing each direction to provide the strongest grip on the branch.

Needs of Living Things

The claws on the front foot of the echidna are like upside down shovels.

Needs of Living Things

They are ideal for digging into anthills. The claws on it’s hind feet are long and curved. These are used to push the excess dirt, dug up by the front feet, out of the way.

Needs of Living ThingsBOOKWORK TIME

Can you cut out the different types of hands and feet and match them to each animal? Glue each one to the animal’s page, but be very careful with your glue, you don’t want to stick the pages of your book together.

When you have finished that task, you can draw a picture of your hands and feet on the back page.