On the Move: Amazing Animal Migrations

About This Resource

A free Grade 4 science worksheet on animal migration. Students learn why animals migrate (food, warmer weather, safe places to have young), read about record-breaking journeys by the Arctic tern, monarch butterfly, wildebeest and salmon, and find out how animals navigate using the sun, stars, smell and Earth's magnetic field. Includes a timed lesson plan, an editable Word version and an answer key.

Overview

Migration is a long journey that animals make, often at the same time each year, to find food, escape cold weather or reach a safe place to raise their young. Some journeys are astonishing: Arctic terns fly from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year, monarch butterflies travel thousands of kilometers, and salmon swim back to the river where they hatched. Students read short animal profiles, explain reasons for migration, compare journeys and learn how animals find their way.

Resource Details

Subject: Science
Topic: Animal Migration
Category: Animals
File Type: PDF
File Size: 238.5 KB
Published: 14 Nov 2026
Downloads: 0

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Grade 4 (ages 9–10) 45 minutes Reading for information explaining comparing

Student Task

Ask: "Why might a bird leave its home every autumn?" Collect ideas.
Read the animal profiles together, then do activities 1 and 2.
Students complete activities 3 to 5. Answers are in the answer key.

Classroom Use

Map the journey: students trace a migration route on a world map.
Migration game: students move between food and nesting stations in the playground as the teacher calls the seasons.
Fact cards: each group makes a fact card about a different migrating animal.

Differentiation

Support: give a reasons-for-migration word bank (food, warmth, young). Challenge: students research another migrating animal and add it to the comparison.

Answer Key & Assessment

Activities 1 to 4 check understanding (answer key included). Activity 5 shows whether students can explain migration in their own words.

Learning Objectives

Explain what migration is and why animals migrate.
Describe the journeys of several migrating animals.
Name ways animals navigate on long journeys.

Teacher Tips

Point out that not all animals migrate; some hibernate and others adapt to stay. Distances in the profiles are approximate, so encourage students to say about or up to when comparing.

What's Included

6-page printable PDF lesson pack: teacher lesson plan with timings, materials and differentiation
Key vocabulary list (5 words with meanings and examples)
Student worksheet (5 activities)
Editable Word version of the worksheet
Complete answer key (also as a separate PDF)

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