Word and knowledge bank
Organism – any individual living thing, such as a plant, animal, algae, bacteria or fungus.
Growth – the increase in a living thing’s size over time.
Environment – the surroundings and conditions in which a living thing lives.
Habitat – the natural environment where an organism normally lives.
Resources – all the things available in an environment which a living thing can use to survive.
Needs of survival
- Individual animals need air, water, food and shelter.
- Individual plants need air, water, nutrients and light.
Reproduction – the process by which living things produce young or offspring.
Structure – a physical part of an organism.
Examples include the light-sensitive spots on an earthworm, oil in a eucalyptus leaf or the slime on a jellyfish.
Behaviour – an action an organism makes in order to function and survive.
Examples include lizards basking in the sun, animals moving their ears to locate sounds and insects mocing their antennae.
Function – the purpose of a body part or structure.
Examples include snail shells for protection of their soft bodies and prickly leaves to deter hungry herbivores.
Structural – an adjective used to describe how different structures in an organism work together.
For example, 'A bird’s bones, muscles and feathers are structural features that together enable it to fly.'.