Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

Experience Engage Enable

Telephone02 9816 1298

Emailfieldofmar-e.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Survival of living things word bank

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.'.

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