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
Animal Classification Word Search Pack - Lower Grades
Introduce your students to the six animal types/classes with a pack of printable animal word search worksheets.
- Free Plan
Animals With Scales, Fur, Shells and Feathers Worksheet Pack
Investigate different animal body coverings by sorting and coloring animals with feathers, fur, scales and shells.
- 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 Features Playdough Mats
Use our Animal Playdough Mats to introduce your kindergarten students to the physical features of animals.
- Plus Plan
Characteristics of Living Things - Science Worksheets
Identify the common characteristics of different animals and animal classes with a pack of printable Animal Class Characteristic Worksheets.
- 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
Animal Classification Worksheets for Kindergarten
Identify and sort animals according to their characteristics with a printable pack of kindergarten science worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Insect Investigation - Parts of an Insect Activity
Take a peek at the features and characteristics of insects with an engaging Insect Investigation Lab activity.
- Plus Plan
Animal Body Coverings Poster Set
Discover the different animal body coverings (feathers, fur, scales, skin and shells) with a set of printable posters.
- Free Plan
Grouping Plants and Animals – Sorting Activity (K-1)
Sort plants and animals using different characteristics with a set of task cards and picture cards.
- Plus Plan
Characteristics of Animal Classes - Cut and Paste Worksheet
Identify the characteristics and features of different animal classifications with a cut-and-paste activity.
- Plus Plan
Animals in Winter - Kindergarten Science Worksheet
Cut and sort animals that hibernate, migrate, and adapt with an ‘Animals in Winter’ sorting activity.
- 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.
- Free Plan
Human Features Picture Cards
Explore the similarities and differences between humans by using these printable Human Features Picture Cards.
- Plus Plan
Invertebrate Classification Chart Pack
Help your students differentiate between insects and arachnids, plus other creepy crawlies with a printable Insect Identification chart.
- Plus Plan
Animal Classification Chart Activity
Help your little learners identify members of different animal classes using a handy animal characteristics worksheet.
- Plus Plan
Identify Nonliving and Living Things - Printables
Download a pack of Living or Nonliving? Printables to help your students differentiate between living and nonliving organisms.
- Plus Plan
Animal Traits and Behaviors Anchor Charts
Help your students differentiate between inherited and acquired traits, instincts, and learned behaviors with a printable science anchor chart and note-taking organizer.
- Plus Plan
Groundhog Day Worksheets - Cut and Sort Activity
Compare and contrast a groundhog and an elephant with a fun Groundhog Day themed compare and contrast sort.
- 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
Humans vs. Animals Venn Diagram Activity
Compare human and animal characteristics with our printable and digital Human vs. Animal Features Venn Diagram activity.
- 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
Which Doesn’t Belong? Vertebrate or Invertebrate Game
Identify examples of vertebrates and invertebrates with an engaging Which Animal Doesn’t Belong? Vertebrate or Invertebrate Game.
- Plus Plan
Vertebrate vs. Invertebrates PowerPoint (K-1)
Explore animals with and without backbones with a Vertebrates vs. Invertebrates PowerPoint for early learners.
- Plus Plan
Poison Dart Frog Adaptations – 4th Grade Reading Worksheets
Explore the adaptations of a poison dart frog with printable reading comprehension worksheets for 4th grade.
- Plus Plan
Forest Animal Adaptations Trading Cards
Discover the adaptations of animals in the forests and woodlands with printable animal trading card templates.
- Plus Plan
Winter Animals Coloring Page Booklet
Engage your little learners and build vocabulary skills with a printable winter animals coloring book.
- Plus Plan
Parts of an Ant - Labeling Activity
Learn about the anatomy of an ant with a printable reading passage and ant labeling worksheets.
- 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.
- 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