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.
- Plus Plan
Animals in Winter Printable Mini Book
Discover the unique adaptations of animals in winter with a printable mini-book.
- Plus Plan
Animals that Hibernate & Migrate Picture Posters
Explore animal hibernation and migration and learn about the animals that use these behavioural adaptations with a printable animal poster pack.
- Plus Plan
Arctic Animals Colouring Page Booklet
Engage your little learners and build vocabulary skills with a printable winter animals colouring book.
- Plus Plan
Animals in the Tundra Adaptations Trading Cards
Discover the adaptations of animals in the tundra with printable animal trading card templates.
- Plus Plan
Instinct vs. Learned Behaviour Sort
Help your students determine the difference between a learned behaviour and an instinct with a thought-provoking sorting activity.
- Plus Plan
What Animals Migrate? Teaching Slide Deck
Discover why animals migrate and which ones make the longest journeys with an interactive teaching slide deck.
- Plus Plan
Hibernation Word Wall - Illustrated
Discover the world of hibernation-related vocabulary with an illustrated hibernating animals word wall display.
- Plus Plan
Inherited versus Learned Behaviours Poster
Explain the difference between inherited and learned behaviours with a set of printable anchor charts.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Plant and Animal Adaptations Unit Plan
This Science unit addresses the concept of plant and animal adaptations.
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptations Research Project - Presenting
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptations Research Project - Researching
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptations Research Project - Introduction
- Plus Plan
Physiological Adaptations
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the physiological adaptations of plants and animals.
- Plus Plan
Behavioural Adaptations
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the behavioural adaptations of plants and animals.
- Plus Plan
Structural Adaptations
A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the structural adaptations of plants and animals.
- Plus Plan
Introduction to Adaptations
- 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