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What Living Things Need to Survive

Students discover the basic needs shared by all living things — food, water, air, sunlight, and a place to live — and learn how plants and animals meet those needs in their own ways.

Grade 2Life Science40 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name the basic needs of living things.
  • ✓Explain why each need matters.
  • ✓Compare how plants and animals meet needs.
  • ✓Explain what happens without a need.
Essential Question

A goldfish, a sunflower, and you are all very different — but you all need certain things to stay alive. What do all living things need?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Needs Explorer · Interactive

The Needs Explorer

Project this and tap each need. Have students record why it matters and how plants and animals each get it.

🌿 Explore what living things need — tap eachTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

40 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Stay Alive

5 min

A fish, a flower, and you — what do you ALL need?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Compare a fish, a plant, a person.
  • Ask what they all need.
  • Set the goal: basic needs.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Compare the three.
  • List shared needs.
  • Predict the needs.
2

Explore — Explore the Needs

10 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Needs Explorer.
  • Have them record each need.
  • Note plant vs. animal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each need.
  • Record why it matters.
  • Compare plant/animal.
3

Explain — Food, Water, Air

10 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name food, water, air, sunlight, shelter.
  • Show how plants make their own food.
  • Explain what happens without a need.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the needs.
  • Explain plant food.
  • Explain a missing need.
4

Elaborate — Meeting Needs

10 min

Apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Pick an animal; list how it meets needs.
  • Do the same for a plant.
  • Compare the two.

🎒 Student Actions

  • List an animal’s needs.
  • List a plant’s.
  • Compare them.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for the basic needs.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name a need.
  • Explain why.
  • Compare plant/animal.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
K-LS1-1

Observe patterns of what plants and animals need to survive.

NGSS
2-LS2-1

Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.

NGSS
2-LS4-1

Compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

CCSS
RI.2.1

Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Needs picture cards (food/water/air).
  • Sentence frame: “Living things need ___.”
  • Match needs to plants and animals.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Focus on food, water, air first.
  • Use picture cards for each need.
  • Match a need to a living thing.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Explain how a plant makes its own food.
  • Compare a desert and pond animal’s needs.
  • Explain what happens without water.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Needs Explorer
  • 🪴A classroom plant
  • 🖼️Needs picture cards
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

needsomething required to livesurviveto stay alivefoodwhat living things use for energywatera liquid all living things needairthe gases living things needsunlightlight and warmth from the Sunsheltera safe place to livespaceroom to live and grow
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name three things all living things need.
Any three of: food, water, air, sunlight, and shelter/space.
QUESTION 2
How do plants get their food?
They make their own food using sunlight, water, and air.
QUESTION 3
What might happen to a plant that gets no water?
It would wilt and die — all living things need water to survive.

Going deeper? Meet an animal’s needs.

Have students pick an animal and show how it gets each of its needs (food, water, air, shelter) in its habitat. A printable needs-web sheet is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 What Living Things NeedFlip
Card 1
Term
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Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 What Living Things NeedQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ What Living Things NeedPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: air, food, need, shelter, space, sunlight, survive, water
  1. the gases living things need
  2. what living things use for energy
  3. light and warmth from the Sun
  4. a safe place to live
  5. a liquid all living things need
  6. room to live and grow
  7. to stay alive
  8. something required to live

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name three things all living things need.
  2. How do plants get their food?
  3. What might happen to a plant that gets no water?
Answer key — Part A: 1) air · 2) food · 3) sunlight · 4) shelter · 5) water · 6) space · 7) survive · 8) need
Part B: 1) Any three of: food, water, air, sunlight, and shelter/space. 2) They make their own food using sunlight, water, and air. 3) It would wilt and die — all living things need water to survive.