AnimalNeeds
At the first, second and/or third grade level.
By Moira Whitehouse PhD Must download/save to see the
custom animations.

All animals have things they need to survive. If
an animal does not have these things it will die.

Like animals, people have needs. Let’s think
about what you need to survive. Not what you
might like to have, but those things you
absolutely must have.Without these things, you
could no longer live, you would die.

From the following, which things do you need to
survive? Not what you like or enjoy—what you
NEED
A pet
A television

A car
A washing machine

a cell phone video games

A school A bed

None of these are things the you need to
survive. These are things you might like to have
but not having them wouldn’t cause you to die.
Of course you would not die because you
did not have a television, video game, a
washing machine, a bed, and so on.
So let us look at those things that you really
do need to survive.

Try holding your breath.
Can you do it for ever?
Why not?
Yes without
breathing in air,
you would die.

In order to survive, we
humans need a gas
called oxygen.
When we breathe air
into our lungs we get
oxygen, one of the
gases in air.
Oxygen is one of
those things we need
to survive.

On a hot day in summer
when you have been
running around outside,
you really notice another
thing that you need to
survive. What is it?
Yes, water is another
one of your needs.

Around lunchtime, you
might become aware of
another one of your
needs. Your stomach
growls like a cornered
dog.
You might even
feels like this.
What need could
be causing that?

Yes, when you need food you
feel hungry and when you feel
hungry it is hard for you to pay
attention to school work.
We must eat food to have
the energy to do things,
like playing or schoolwork.
People can go days, even
weeks without eating but
in the long run, we must
have food or we die.

What’s the first thing you
think about when you are
outside and get really cold?
Of course, you want to go
inside your house or school
to warm up. Shelter from
the weather is another one
of your needs. If it gets too
cold or too hot for people to
live, they die.

We’ve been talking about the things that
people need to stay alive, now let’s think about
the needs that animals have. Just like we do,
all animals have certain needs that must be
met if they are to survive—to live, not die.
Animals have many of the very same needs
as people.

All animals must be able to move.
A deer
runs or
walks

A monkey swings
through the trees.
A fish swims
through the water.

A lion runs
fast chasing
its prey.
A bird flies
through the
air.

Just like people, animals
also start life very small,
like babies, and grow
bigger.
To move and to grow
animals need energy.
Think about where you
get your energy, then ask
yourself: “Where do
animals get their
energy?”

Yes, animals get energy to move and grow
from the food they eat. Like you,
animals need food to survive.
1. The Need for Food
Animals eat plants or other animals

In addition to food, animals also need
water to survive.
2. The Need for Water

Like people, most animals cannot live very long
without a drink of water.

So, besides food and water what else
do animals need to survive?
Like us, they all need oxygen.
3. The Need for Oxygen
Animals get oxygen in several different
ways.

Like you, most land animals have lungs
and breathe in oxygen directly from the
air.

Fish, however, live in water and use their
gills to take in oxygen that is in the water.
gills

Insects get their
oxygen by breathing
through holes in their
bodies called
spiracles.
Frogs breathe in
oxygen with lungs
and through holes
in their skin.

Although it may not be nearly as nice as
where you stay, animals also need some
type of shelter—a place where they and
their young can be safe from bad weather
and from bigger animals that may want to
eat them.
4. The Need for Shelter

Some animals, such as prairie dogs, dig a
burrow underground. They do this to
escape from the heat or cold or from
other animals that are trying to eat them.

Birds and squirrels build nests.

For fawns, shelter might be a soft
place in grass or leaves in the woods.

Bears find
shelter in
dens—big
holes in
rocks.

People have invented
things such as cars,
trucks and airplanes
that allow them to
move or to carry
things long distances.
Only a few people in
the world still wander
about hunting for their
food, water or shelter.

But since animals don’t drive cars, planes
or trucks, in the wild they meet their
needs in the area where they live.
Food for wild animals does not come on a
plate nor does their water show up in a
glass. Nobody builds them a home. They
have a certain amount of space to find
these things. We call the area where an
animal meets its needs area its habitat.

To mark its space or territory, an animal
like a coyote, fox or wolf urinates around
the boundary. This is like a “keep out”sign
telling other coyotes, foxes and wolves to
stay out of its space.

5. The Need for Space
For most animals finding food, water and
shelter is not easy.
Some animals need a large area or space
in which to find food, water and shelter.
Other animals need only a small amount
of space.

A male grizzly bear needs between 200 to
500 square miles to satisfy its needs for
food, shelter and water.

The city of Fort Worth takes up about
300 square miles of space.

One male grizzly bear would need an
area about the size of Fort Worth in
order to find enough food and water to
stay alive.
Although other animals also live in this
large area, it would take all this space
to meet the needs of one male grizzly.

On theother hand, an earthworm only
needs a very small area in which to
live—maybe a few square centimeters.

Remember the area in which an
animal lives and satisfies its needs
has a name.
This area is called its
habitat.

Now let’s review and see what you
remember.
Animals, including people, have
certain things they have to have to
survive. We call these things their
a. wants b. likes c. needs
Without these things, the animal
will ________.

On these two pages are shown things
that you might like to have and things
that you need. Circle just those things
that you need to survive.
ball
water cell phone
video game boom box oxygen

Now these
food bicycle
television
shelter car
toys

Name the five animal needs.
1. f_ _ _
2. w _ _ _ _
3. o _ yg _ _
4. sh _ _ _ter
5. sp_ _ _
The area in which an animal
satisfies its needs is called its
a. place b. home
c. habitat d. country

Which animal would need a very small
amount of space to meet its needs?
a. a bear b. a wolf
c. a mouse d. A bald eagle
Which animal would need a very large
amount of space to meet its needs?
a. a lady bug b. a wolf
c. a mouse d. a fly

This is a happy hippo.
Do you think her needs are being met?