Environments and seasonal changes (Climate Change & Sustainability)
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can recognise that environments can change as the seasons change.
Key learning points
- An environment is the surroundings of any living thing.
- Different environments provide the requirements for the life and growth of the living things within them.
- Seasons are a natural pattern of change. Environments can change naturally as the seasons change.
- Seasonal changes to environments can be observed throughout the year.
- Some living things need to make changes in order to survive in changing environments.
Keywords
Environment - The environment is the surroundings of a living thing, including other plants or animals and the conditions they live in.
Seasons - Seasons are periods of similar weather. In the UK there are four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter).
Migrate - When animals migrate, they move from one environment to another in different seasons.
Hibernate - To hibernate, an animal goes into a deep sleep; usually in winter when food is scarce.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that the environment is just another word for nature.
Encourage pupils to become aware of many different environments and refer to the surroundings that an animal or plant lives in.
Teacher tip
Remember that environments need to contain the requirements that plants need to live and grow, as well as animals including humans. Encourage pupils to make their own observations of how the local environment changes across the seasons.
Equipment
Pupils may wish to take photographs of seasonal changes in the local environment throughout the year.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these are seasons of the year?
Q2.Starting with spring, put the seasons in the correct order.
Q3.Match the months of the year to the seasons in the UK.
Q4.Which of these are living things?
Q5.Which of these things are made by nature?
Q6.What does it mean when an animal hibernates?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The surroundings that an animal or plant lives in is called an .
Q2.Which of these are environments?
Q3.Which of these do living things need, or require, for life and growth?
Q4.True or false? Environments can change naturally as the seasons change.
Q5.Match the season with some of the changes you might observe throughout the year.
Q6.Match the living thing to what it needs to do to survive as the seasons change.
To help you plan your 4 science lesson on: Environments and seasonal changes (Climate Change & Sustainability), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 science lesson on: Environments and seasonal changes (Climate Change & Sustainability), download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 science lessons from the Living things and the environment unit, dive into the full primary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.