Have you ever thought about what helps living things to stay alive? Is that the Sun? The air? The food? Or something else? Let's discover it in this lesson!
In this lesson, we will talk about living things, and what they need to stay alive or to survive. We are going to discuss:
⦁ What are the basic needs of living things?
⦁ How each need is important for living things to survive?
Living things are also called living organisms. Humans, animals, and plants are all living organisms. Living things are quite different from each other. We live in our home, plants grow on the ground, birds fly in the sky. Some animals live in water, some on the ground and some inside the ground. The things that living organisms need to stay alive and survive are called BASIC NEEDS. The basic needs are all same for all living things. What is distinct is how much or in what form these needs will be important for them.
The basic needs that all living things need to survive are:
⦁ Sun
⦁ Water
⦁ Air
⦁ Food
⦁ Shelter
Sun is probably the most important for living things. It is the main source of energy for all living things. It is a source of light and heat too.
We need the energy of the sun. We need the light to be able to see around. Sunlight helps us to stay healthy because it provides a very important vitamin when our skin absorbs it. The vitamin is called vitamin D.
Plants need the sun too. It is because the plants make their food, and can do that only with the help of the sun.
Other living things that can not survive without the sun are the animals. Some of them need more sun, like snakes and turtles. It warms them up, and they became active. Some of them hide from the sun. Can you name one? The bats! But even if they hide, they also need the sun. At night they are eating living things that got energy from the sun.
Different living things can survive in different places. It is because of the amount of sunlight and heat.
Fun fact: The sunlight travel from the Sun to the Earth for an average of 8 minutes and 20 seconds.
Challenge for you: Try to find out do snails like the sunlight?
Every living thing needs water to survive. The water we drink helps our body to make very important jobs for us to stay healthy. Without drinking water, our bodies will not be working properly, and we will get sick. That is why we need to drink enough water every day.
Animals also need to drink water to stay alive, just like us. But, for some animals, the water can be a home as well. Sharks, dolphins, fish, starfishes, and crabs are some of them. Can you name more animals that live in the water? Animals need water for something else too. To reproduce. Like the turtles that need the water to lay their eggs and get their babies.
What about plants? Can they survive without water? The answer is no. They need water to make their food together with the sun. Plants take water from the ground and that water is full of nutrients, which are things that plants need to survive. Some of the plants need more water, some don't. There is a plant that can survive without water for months. That plant is called cactus. When it is raining, the cactus absorbs and stores the water, and that is why it can stay for a long period without getting new water.
Fun fact: Do you know that most of our body is made up of water? It is around 60%!
Challenge for you: Try to find out how long can we stay alive without water!
Do you know what is air? It is everywhere around us. It is a mixture of very important gases like oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is the gas that we need from the air to stay alive. We inhale the air inside our body while breathing, with the help of our organs called lungs, and our body is taking the oxygen to perform important jobs.
Plants don't need oxygen like us. They need carbon dioxide from the air. Carbon dioxide is important for them to make their food, together with the sun and water. In the process of making their food, plants give to the air oxygen, the gas that we need. So that is one of the main reasons to have a lot of plants around us. Plants will help us to stay healthy. Also, the moving air is helping plants to reproduce by taking a yellowish powder, named pollen, from one plant to another.
Animals, like humans, need oxygen to stay alive. They are taking oxygen from different places, depending on where they live. Fishes take their oxygen that is dissolved in water. They do that using special organs called gills. Gills are located on both sides of the fish or in its mouth. Other animals use other organs to breathe, but most of them use the lungs, just like humans.
Fun fact: Humans can stay alive without oxygen for around 3 minutes. (Consider that all of us are different this may vary)
Challenge for you: Try to find out which gas do we give back to the air while breathing!
Another thing that living things can not survive without is food or nutrients. Nutrients are substances or ingredient that promotes growth, provides energy, and maintain life. We can not imagine our life without food, right? We can survive only 3 weeks roughly without food. We need food to get energy for activities we do, to grow, to stay healthy and strong. There are so many foods we can eat, like fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, meat. When we eat the food, our body and its organs take what they need from it. We should eat different and various food every day to stay healthy and strong.
Plants need food or nutrients too. But have you ever seen a plant to eat as we do? What is special is that the plants make the food they need, with help from the sun, water, and air. The food they make is sugar, proteins, and fats.
Animals need food to survive as well. Animals are eating plants, insects, or other smaller animals. Animals that hunt other animals for food are called predators. Some examples of predators are snakes, eagles, cats, crocodiles, wolves, killer whales, lobsters, lions, sharks. Animals in nature find their food everywhere around them.
Fun fact: Do you know that elephants may spend 12-18 hours a day feeding?
Challenge for you: Try to find out how is the process of making food in plants called?
Living organisms need shelter. Shelters are what people and animals use to protect themselves from their surroundings. Every living organism needs shelter to feel warm, safe, and protected. The shelter is important for us because it protects us from rain, snow, cold, hot, or wind. It can make us feel good and safe.
Shelter protects animals from bad weather conditions, such as rain, snow, wind, or predators.
Fun fact: Do you know that another way of protection from enemies in animals is the ability to change their color when they are in danger?
Challenge for you: Try to find out which animal can change its color when in danger!
Remember even if all living things are different, all of them have the same basic needs of sun, water, air, food, and shelter. Without them, they can not survive.
Have you already found the answers to the challenges of this lesson? If not, here is some help for you.
Challenge 1: Try to find out do snails like the sunlight.
Answer: Snails are rarely seen out and about in bright sunlight. They prefer places that are dark, or at the very least shady.
Challenge 2: Try to find out how long can we stay alive without water!
Answer: A person can survive without water for about 3 days.
Challenge 3: Try to find out which gas we give back to the air while breathing!
Answer: The gas that we give back to the air while breathing is carbon dioxide.
Challenge 4: Try to find out how is the process of making food in plants called.
Answer: Plants make food by a process known as photosynthesis.
Challenge 5: Try to find out which animal can change its color when in danger!
Answer: One animal that can change its color when in danger is the chameleon.
