Animal Adaptations and Traits Teaching Resources
Get ready to teach about animal adaptations and animal traits this school year with printable worksheets, digital activities and more teacher-created resources for primary teachers!
This collection of Australian Science curriculum-aligned resources includes printables and Google Slides templates that have been thoroughly reviewed by our expert teaching team to ensure they're ready for your lesson plans and your students.
Save time on lesson planning with ready-made teacher slides, vocabulary guides and activities that can easily be differentiated to meet your students' individual needs.
New to tackling this topic in the classroom? The expert science teachers on the Teach Starter team have put together the answers to some of teachers' most common questions about animal adaptations and animal traits!
What Are Animal Adaptations? A Kid-Friendly Definition
Let's start with an easy way to explain what adaptation in animals is to your class! Here's a kid-friendly definition from our teacher team:
Adaptation is when animals change their bodies or behaviours to survive better in their environment. Humans may put on a jacket when it's cold outside — that's an example of how we adapt. Animals also have their own special ways of dealing with different environments.
How Do Animals Adapt to Their Environments?
Just as there are countless kinds of animals living around the world, there are many ways that different animals will adapt to their environment. There are two major types of adaptations:
Behavioural Adaptations
One way that an animal can adapt is through a process called behavioural adaptation. This kind of change doesn't require a change in the animal's DNA or its physical features.
Instead, this involves changes in an animal's actions or habits that help them survive in their environment, such as a bear hibernating during the winter.
Structural Adaptations
Another way that animals adapt is through changes to physical features or body parts. These are called structural adaptations, typically occurring over time via evolution, the process of gradual change in species over many generations.
A polar bear's white fur is a good example of a structural adaptation for this tundra animal. The color of the fur helps polar bears blend in with the snowy environment of the Arctic, providing camouflage and making it easier for them to hunt and sneak up on prey.
Animal Adaptation Examples
Looking for more animal adaptation examples that kids love to share with your students? Give these a try!
Desert Animal Adaptations
- Camels have humps that store fat, which they can use as food and water when there's not much available.
- Desert snakes have scales that help them move smoothly on the sand.
- Beetles that live in the desert have a hard outer covering that prevents them from losing water.
Tundra Animal Adaptations
- In addition to the color of their fur, polar bears have thick fur and a layer of blubber (fat) that keep them warm in the freezing cold.
- Arctic foxes can change the color of their fur from brown in the summer to white in the winter to blend in with the snow.
- Caribou have wide hooves that help them walk on the soft tundra and dig through the snow for food.
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Animal Adaptation Examples – Anchor Chart Set
Help your students identify physiological, behavioural, and structural adaptations with printable Examples of Adaptations Anchor Charts.
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Animal Adaptations Vocabulary Display
Introduce animal adaptation and behaviour vocabulary with a word wall featuring photographs and definitions of adaptation-related words.
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Australian Desert Animals Mini Book
Read and learn about plants and animals in the Australian desert with a printable mini book for Year 1.
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Hibernate, Migrate, or Adapt? Year 1 Animal Printables
Cut and sort animals that hibernate, migrate, and adapt with a Year 1 worksheet for science class.
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Types of Insects - Minibeast Fact Cards
Discover facts and features of a variety of insects with a handy set of insect fact cards.
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Survival Spotlight - Physical Adaptations Animal Riddle Worksheets
Shine a spotlight on animal adaptations and solve riddles with printable animal adaptation riddle worksheets.
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Identifying the Parts of a Butterfly Worksheet Pack
Learn about the anatomy of a butterfly with a printable reading passage and butterfly labelling worksheets.
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Australian Animals — Adaptations Worksheets
Research and write about amazing animal adaptations with our Australian Animals Adaptation Worksheets.
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Structural Adaptations Worksheets
Investigate the structural adaptations of animals with various animal adaptation worksheets.
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Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Flipbook
Use this fun flipbook to teach students how the seasons affect plants and animals while allowing them to connect to prior knowledge by answering questions on each page.
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How Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Poster Set
Display these informative posters in your Grade One classroom to remind students of the five ways animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes in their environment.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations - Vocabulary Worksheets
Review key vocabulary associated with plant and animal adaptations with a pair of vocabulary worksheets.
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How Living Things Survive – Teaching Presentation
Use this 13-slide teaching presentation to teach your students about the basic needs and physical characteristics of animals and plants.
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Vertebrates and Invertebrates Posters
Teach your students the basic differences between vertebrates and invertebrates with printable vertebrate vs. invertebrate anchor charts.
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Identifying Insects Poster
Help your students differentiate between insects and arachnids, plus other creepy crawlies, with a printable Insect Identification chart.
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Bird Beak Lab Activity
Discover how birds’ beaks help them find food and survive in the wild with a hands-on Bird Beak Adaptation Lab.
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Human Inherited Traits Activity - Science Experiment
Engage your students in learning about the traits inherited from their parents with an Inherited Traits Lab activity.
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Label the Parts of an Animal - Digital Learning Activity
Identify and label the features of animals with an interactive labelling activity .
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Insect Investigation - Parts of an Insect Activity
Take a peek at the features and characteristics of insects with an engaging Insect Investigation Lab activity.
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Vertebrate or Invertebrate? Game
Have fun classifying vertebrates and invertebrates with an exciting Google Slides Interactive Science Game!
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Animal Body Coverings Mini Book
Read and learn about the characteristics of animals with a printable Animal Body Coverings Mini Book.
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Polar Bear Craft Template
Pair a polar bear craft and informational writing to create a fun winter animals classroom display.
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Animal Body Coverings Poster Set
Discover the different animal body coverings (feathers, fur, scales, skin and shells) with a set of printable posters.
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Classifying Animals Digital Learning Activity
Help students learn how to classify animals based on their characteristics with an engaging ‘Magic Looking Glass’ Interactive activity.
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Rainforest Animal Printables — Adaptation Trading Cards
Discove rainforest animal adaptations and display your learning with miniature rainforest animal report templates.
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Animals in Winter - Hibernation Mini Book
Read and learn about animals that hibernate with a printable hibernation book for kids.
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What Animals Hibernate? Instructional Teaching Slides
Discover which animals hibernate and how they survive the winter with an interactive teaching slide deck.
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Arctic Animal Adaptations- Blubber Me! Experiment
Explore the structural adaptation of blubber with an Arctic Animal Adaptation experiment.
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Plant and Animal Adaptations – Word Wall Vocabulary
Build scientific vocabulary skills with a printable display of words relating to plant and animal adaptations.
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Amphibians vs Reptiles Worksheet Pack
Compare Amphibians vs. Reptiles and their characteristics with our printable animal comparison worksheets.
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Torpor vs Hibernation - Reading Worksheets
Help your students learn the difference between torpor and hibernation with a printable pack of reading comprehension worksheets.
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Winter Survival Adaptations - Sorting Activity
Match the animals with the behavioural adaptation that helps them survive the winter in this printable animal adaptation sorting activity.
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Worksheets
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Posters
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Foundation Year
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 1
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 2
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 3
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 4
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 5
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for For Year 6