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 elementary and middle school teachers.
This collection of elementary school science curriculum 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 curriculum-aligned instructional slide decks, 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 behaviors 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
Behavioral Adaptations
One way that an animal can adapt is through a process called behavioral 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.
What Are Some Animal Adaptation Examples for Kids?
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.
- Free Plan
Paired Passage Worksheets-Mammals vs. Reptiles
Compare mammals vs. reptiles and add to your reading instruction with leveled nonfiction, compare and contrast passages and worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Roll to Create an Animal - Adaptations Activity
Roll to choose cool animal adaptations for a mystery animal using a fun dice game and report template.
- Plus Plan
Animal Classification Posters
Display information about birds, mammals, amphibians, fish, and reptiles with this poster pack.
- Plus Plan
Amphibians, Fish, and Reptiles Escape Room
Help your students discover the amazing characteristics of amphibians, fish, and reptiles with an exciting Animal Science Escape Game!
- Plus Plan
Design the Perfect Dog Breed - Animal Traits Project
Investigate inherited traits that parents pass to their offspring with a Create-a-Puppy selective dog breeding project.
- Plus Plan
Plant & Animal Cells and Organelles Worksheet
Learn about the differences between plant cells and animal cells with a printable cells and organelles worksheet.
- Free Plan
Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play a fun Memory-style animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
- Plus Plan
Plant & Animal Adaptations Poster Set
Display these informative posters in your 2nd grade classroom to remind students of the five ways animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes in their environment.
- Plus Plan
All About Insects - Reading Comprehension Worksheet Pack (3-4)
Learn all about insects and their body features with a printable All About Insects Reading Comprehension Worksheet pack.
- Plus Plan
Interactive Plant and Animal Sorting Game - External Features
Observe, sort, and group living things based on external features with an Interactive Plant and Animal Sorting Game.
- Plus Plan
A House for Hermit Crab Activity Pack
Explore how an animal’s habitat meets its needs with an engaging ‘A House for Hermit Crab’ activity pack.
- Free Plan
Human Features Picture Cards
Explore the similarities and differences between humans by using these printable Human Features Picture Cards.
- Plus Plan
Giant Squid Reading Comprehension Worksheets - 5th Grade
Read and learn about the features and adaptations of the giant squid with reading comprehension worksheets for 5th grade.
- Free Plan
Insect Word Wall - Insect Names and Pictures
Use a printable insect word wall to introduce your students to the creepiest, crawliest creatures on the planet.
- Plus Plan
Would You Rather? Animal Adaptations Game
Discuss and debate the best animal adaptations with the Would You Rather? Animal Adaptation game.
- Free Plan
Arctic Fox Adaptations - Free Comprehension Worksheet
Read and learn about Arctic fox adaptations with a set of printable Reading Comprehension Worksheets for 2nd and 3rd grade.
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptations Crossword Puzzle
Use an Animal Adaptations Crossword puzzle to review concepts related to physiological, structural, and behavioral adaptations.
- Plus Plan
Animals that Use Camouflage - Fact File Cards
Discover animals that camouflage to survive using these printable Animal Fact File cards.
- Plus Plan
Naked Mole Rats – Comprehension Worksheet
Read and learn facts about the naked mole rat with a printable reading comprehension worksheet pack for 5th grade.
- Plus Plan
Animal Blubber Experiment - Polar Adaptations Activity
Explores the structural adaptation of blubber with an Arctic Animal Adaptation experiment..
- Plus Plan
Animal Classification Sort
Determine if an animal is an amphibian, reptile, mammal, or bird with this sorting activity.
- Plus Plan
Echolocation Activity Sheets
Explore the benefits of sound on animal survival with a set of printable Echolocation Activity Sheets.
- Plus Plan
Animals Surviving With Sound Research Project
Assign an Animal Sound Research Project to encourage your students to explore how animals use sound to survive in the wild.
- Plus Plan
Bats and Echolocation Worksheets - Comprehension
Read and learn about how bats use echolocation to navigate and find food with a printable Echolocation Worksheet Pack.
- Plus Plan
Animals and Their Young - Spot the Difference Game
Observe and identify the differences between adult and baby animals with an engaging Spot the Difference Game for the classroom.
- Plus Plan
How Animals Move PowerPoint Presentation
Observe, describe and categorise the ways in which living things move with an interactive ‘How Animals Move’ PowerPoint slide deck.
- Plus Plan
Sorting Animals Worksheet Pack - External Features
Observe and classify animals based on their external features with a Sorting Animals Worksheet Pack.
- Plus Plan
Movement of Animals Worksheets - Cut and Paste
Cut and sort to show how different animals move with our Movement of Animals Worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Cut & Compare Animals Worksheet Pack - Ways Animals Move
Use our Cut and Compare Animals Worksheet Pack to help your students practice scientific classification and explore ways that animals move.
- Plus Plan
How Do Animals Move Worksheet Pack
Color, sort, and categorize how animals get around with a set of ‘How Animals Do Animals Move’ Worksheet Pack
- Plus Plan
Interactive Animal Movement Game
Explore animals and how they move with an interactive Animal Movement Game.
- Plus Plan
Animal Features and Functions Matching Activity
Explore animal features and their functions with an engaging Animal Features Matching Game.
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Worksheets
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Games
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Posters
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Kindergarten
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 1st Grade
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 2nd Grade
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 3rd Grade
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 4th Grade
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 5th Grade
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for 6th Grade