Food, Water, Air, Shelter: What Animals Need to Survive

About This Resource

A free Grade 2 science worksheet on the basic needs of animals: food, water, air and shelter. Children match animals with their shelters, explain why each need matters, compare a pet's needs with a wild animal's needs, sort needs and wants and design a safe home for a pet. Includes a timed lesson plan, a six-activity worksheet, an editable Word version and answer key.

Overview

All animals need four things to survive: food for energy, water to drink, air to breathe and shelter to stay safe and protected from the weather. Wild animals find these things in their habitat: a bird builds a nest, a rabbit digs a burrow and a fish gets oxygen from the water through its gills. Pets need people to give them these things. Children match animals with their shelters, explain why each need is important, sort needs and wants, compare a pet and a wild animal and design a safe home for a pet that gives it everything it needs.

Resource Details

Subject: Science
Topic: What Animals Need to Survive
Category: Living Things
File Type: PDF
File Size: 244.8 KB
Published: 13 Nov 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 2 science (ages 7–8) 40 minutes Life science comparing sorting explaining

Student Task

Ask: "What do you need every day to stay alive?" Then ask: "What does a dog need?"
Teach the four needs with pictures, then do activities 1 and 2 together.
Children complete activities 3 to 6. Answers are in the answer key.

Classroom Use

Needs or wants? Children sort cards such as water, a toy ball, food, a collar and a shelter.
Habitat hunt: children find pictures of animals in their habitats and point to the food, water and shelter.
Pet care plan: children plan a week of care for a class pet.

Differentiation

Support: use picture cards for the four needs. Challenge: children explain what happens to animals when their habitat loses one need, such as water in a drought.

Answer Key & Assessment

Activities 1 to 5 check animal needs (answer key included). Activity 6 shows whether children can apply the needs to a pet's home.

Learning Objectives

Name the four basic needs of animals.
Explain how wild animals meet their needs in their habitats.
Describe how people care for the needs of pets.

Teacher Tips

Some children may think fish do not need air. Explain that fish take oxygen from the water with their gills. Not every child has a pet, so let children choose any animal they know.

What's Included

6-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (6 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (6 activities)
Editable Word version of the worksheet
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)