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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Nocturnal vs. Diurnal Animals Interactive Task Cards
Identify nocturnal and diurnal animals with an engaging, interactive task card game.
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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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Informational Penguin Booklet (F-1)
Chill out with a good book and build decoding and comprehension skills with a printable informational penguin booklet for Year 1.
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Rainforest Animal Printables — Adaptation Trading Cards
Discover rainforest animal adaptations and display your learning with miniature rainforest animal report templates.
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Marine Animal Profile Worksheets
Research and record information about marine animas with one of four ocean animal worksheets.
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Monarch Butterfly Migration Map
Use a Monarch Butterfly Migration map to introduce your students to a natural phenomenon of migratory animal behaviour.
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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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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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Sorting Animals Worksheet Pack - External Features
Observe and classify animals based on their external features with a Sorting Animals Worksheet Pack.
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Movement of Animals Worksheets - Cut and Paste
Cut and sort to show how different animals move with our Movement of Animals Worksheets.
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Compare and Contrast Animals Worksheet Pack - Movement
Use our Compare and Contrast Animals Worksheet Pack to help your students practise scientific classification and explore ways that animals move.
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How Do Animals Move Worksheet Pack
Colour, sort, and categorise how animals get around with a set of ‘How Animals Do Animals Move’ Worksheet Pack
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Interactive Animal Movement Game
Explore animals and how they move with an interactive Animal Movement Game.
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Animal Features and Functions Matching Activity
Explore animal features and their functions with an engaging Animal Features Matching Game.
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Identifying Invertebrates Poster
Help your students differentiate between insects, arachnids and other invertebrates, with a printable Invertebrate Identification chart.
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Species Survival Prediction Task Cards
Explore how to save endangered species with this set of 16 species survival scenario cards.
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Animal Classification Chart Worksheet
Help your little learners identify members of mammals, birds, fish, and more animal classes using a handy animal characteristics worksheet.
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Monster Mashup - Inherited Traits Activity
Introduce your students to inherited traits and learned behaviours through an exciting Monster Mashup Inherited Traits Activity!
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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.
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Inherited vs. Acquired Traits Bingo Game
Understand the difference between inherited and acquired traits by playing a few rounds of Inherited vs. Acquired Traits Bingo!
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Winter Animal Adaptations - Peg Cards
Discover which behavioural adaptations animals use to survive the winter with a set of Animals in Winter Clip Cards.
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Nocturnal Animals Activity Pack
Introduce your students to the creatures of the night with five nocturnal animal activities for kids!
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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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Design the Perfect Dog Breed - Inherited Traits Activity
Investigate inherited traits that parents pass to their offspring with a Create-a-Puppy selective dog breeding project.
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Inherited and Acquired Characteristics -Worksheet Pack
Determine if animal features and characteristics are inherited or acquired traits with an engaging Animal Traits Cut and Paste Worksheet Pack.
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Acquired or Inherited? Trait Sort
Identify the differences between acquired and inherited traits with an engaging picture sort for years 5 and 6.
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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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Animals in Winter - Hibernation Mini Book
Read and learn about animals that hibernate with a printable hibernation book for kids.
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Animals in Winter Activity Book
Show what you know about hibernation and migration with a printable Animals in Winter Activity book.
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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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Animals and Hibernation Worksheet Pack
Help your students learn about animals that hibernate with a printable pack of worksheets about animals and hibernation.
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Worksheets
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Posters
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Teaching Presentations
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Games
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Foundation Year
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 1
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 2
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 3
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 4
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 5
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 6