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.
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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.
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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.
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Fascinating Facts About Animals – Comprehension Worksheet
Build reading comprehension skills and learn about amazing animals with a printable 1st grade reading comprehension worksheet pack.
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In the Arctic - Free Decodable Book
Engage your students and inspire them to read and learn about life in the Arctic with a printable book for 2nd grade.
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Features of Insects Mini-Book
Learn about creepy crawly insects with a printable decodable book for first and second-grade readers.
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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
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Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play a fun Memory-style animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
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‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheet
Explore how scientific study and collaboration allowed for understanding more about an animal species using our ‘An Impossible Animal’ Platypus Reading Comprehension Worksheets.
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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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Animal Classification Chart Activity Pack
Classify mammals, reptiles, birds, and other animal groups with a printable pack of animal classification table worksheets.
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Animal Classification Worksheets for Kindergarten
Identify and sort animals according to their characteristics with a printable pack of kindergarten science 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 behavior.
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Animals With Adaptations - Worksheet Pack
Use these animal adaptation worksheets when teaching students about the structural, behavioral, and physiological adaptations of animals.
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Grouping Plants and Animals – Sorting Activity (K-1)
Sort plants and animals using different characteristics with a set of task cards and picture cards.
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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.
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Bats and Echolocation Worksheets - Comprehension
Read and learn about how bats use echolocation to navigate and find food with a printable Echolocation Worksheet Pack.
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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.
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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.
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Animal Classification Chart Activity
Help your little learners identify members of different animal classes using a handy animal characteristics worksheet.
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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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Insect Investigation - Parts of an Insect Activity
Take a peek at the features and characteristics of insects with an engaging Insect Investigation Lab activity.
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Classification of Animals - Teaching Slides
Teach your students about the different classes of animals and their characteristics with an Animal Classification teaching presentation.
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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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Plant & Animal Cells and Organelles Worksheet
Learn about the differences between plant cells and animal cells with a printable cells and organelles worksheet.
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Acquired or Inherited? Trait Sort
Identify the differences between acquired and inherited traits with an engaging picture sort for 5th Grade.
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Forest Animal Adaptations Trading Cards
Discover the adaptations of animals in the forests and woodlands with printable animal trading card templates.
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Animal Classification Posters
Display information about birds, mammals, amphibians, fish, and reptiles with this poster pack.
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Echolocation Activity Sheets
Explore the benefits of sound on animal survival with a set of printable Echolocation Activity Sheets.
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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.
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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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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.
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Interactive Animal Movement Game
Explore animals and how they move with an interactive Animal Movement 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