Plants and Animals

All living things need air, water, food and space. All living things depend on each other and on the environment.

Plants are able to make their own food using energy of sunlight (photosynthesis). Animals are unable to make their own food.

Plants are unable to move from one place to another.

Animals can move from one place to another. They use their senses to guide their movement.

Plants and animals each go through their own unique life cycles.

Characteristics of Plants

Plants are green from a chemical called chlorophyll

Chlorophyll helps plants turn energy from the sun into food.

Plants are called producers because the make, or produce, their own food.

Plants have stiff cell walls that help them stand but prevents them from moving from place to place.

How Plants Meet Their Needs

Plants have three parts Roots Stems Leaves

Leaves

Leaves make food through a process called photosynthesis

Pores in the bottom of the leaves absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen

In the leaves, sunlight is mixed with carbon dioxide to produce glucose, a type of sugar.

Photosynthesis also gives off water and oxygen.

Stems

Stems are the main body of the plant

Stems support the plants’ leaves and flowers.

Stems move water and minerals to the leaves, and food from the leaves to the roots.

Roots

Roots are the part of the plant usually found below the surface.

Roots hold the plant in place. Roots absorb the water and

minerals form the soil.

Life Cycle of Plants

The process all living things go through

Begin life, grow, age, and eventually die.

As living things age, they often go through changes.

Life Cycle of Plants

A seed lands on the ground In good conditions, the seed germinates

and roots push into the soil. The seed sprouts and becomes a

seedling. The seedling begins to grow into a plant. The plant develops flowers and produces

pollen. A new seed develops in the plant if it was

pollinated.

Spreading Seeds

Seeds need to be spread away from their parent plant so that they don’t compete for food.

Ways that seeds are spread: Blown by the wind Moved by animals Apply what you learned on page 56

How Animals Meet their Needs

Animals cannot make their own food.

In order to obtain energy, they must eat other plants or animals.

Animals are called consumers because they depend on eating, or consuming, other living things in order to survive.

Saltwater Environment

Fish use gills to filter water and get oxygen

Some fish have teeth and eat smaller fish for food

Many fish have flat bodies to allow them to rest on the seafloor

Some saltwater animals scrape the seafloor for something to eat.

These traits are called adaptations.

Freshwater Environment

Only 3% of Earth’s water is freshwater. Only 1% is found in lakes, rivers, and

wetlands. The reminder is stored as ice or groundwater.

The plants and animals found in freshwater eat other plants or animals.

Fish use gills to absorb oxygen just like other fish, but they cannot survive in saltwater.

Land Animals

Many types of land environments Deserts Tropical rain forests Grasslands Very cold places Animals have special characteristics,

or adaptations, to help them meet their needs

Land Animals

All land animals breathe oxygen form the air around them

Drink water Move from place to place to find

food Usually have limbs to help them

move. Apply what you learned on page 57

Life Cycle of Animals

Reptiles and birds are born from eggs

Mammals have live births Some animals go through special

stages and change from one form to a completely different form, such as frogs.

Metamorphosis

A process in which an animal changes its physical form

Egg Larva or caterpillar Pupa or cocoon Adult Apply what you learned on page 59