Adaptations of Plants and Animals — Answers
Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 4 ecosystems & food chains worksheet.
Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 4 · Science · Ecosystems & Food ChainsAdaptations of Plants and Animals — Answers
Part A: Suited to survive
Read the passage. Then circle the best answer.
An adaptation is a feature or behaviour that helps a living thing survive and have young in its habitat (the place where it lives).
Structural adaptations are body parts or features. A duck has webbed feet for paddling. A polar bear has thick fur and a layer of fat to stay warm in the freezing Arctic. A camel has wide feet that stop it sinking into sand, and its hump stores fat.
Adaptations of behaviour are things a living thing does. Many owls hunt at night when their prey is out. Some birds fly long distances (migrate) to find food and warmer weather. Some animals hibernate (go into a deep, sleep-like rest) through the coldest part of the year.
Plants have adaptations too. A cactus has a thick stem that stores water and spines instead of flat leaves, so it loses very little water in the dry desert.
- Aa feature or behaviour that helps a living thing survive in its habitat
- Ba change an animal chooses to make in one day
- Ca place where an animal lives
- Da type of food
Answer: a feature or behaviour that helps a living thing survive in its habitat
An adaptation is a body feature or a behaviour that helps a plant or animal survive and have young in its habitat.
- AIt helps it swim faster in warm water.
- BIt keeps it warm in a very cold habitat.
- CIt helps it climb trees.
- DIt helps it find water in the desert.
Answer: It keeps it warm in a very cold habitat.
Thick fur and fat are insulators. They slow down heat leaving the bear's body in the freezing Arctic.
- Awater
- Bsand
- Cfat
- Dair
Answer: fat
A camel's hump stores fat, not water. The fat is a store of energy the camel can use when food is hard to find.
- Aa structural adaptation
- Ba plant adaptation
- Cnot an adaptation
- Dan adaptation of behaviour
Answer: an adaptation of behaviour
Hunting at night is something the owl does, not a body part, so it is an adaptation of behaviour.
- ASpines lose less water than flat leaves and help protect the plant from animals.
- BSpines help the cactus catch rain.
- CSpines make the cactus grow faster.
- DSpines help the cactus float.
Answer: Spines lose less water than flat leaves and help protect the plant from animals.
Spines are a kind of leaf with very little surface, so the cactus loses less water. They also stop animals eating the juicy stem.
Part B: Body part or behaviour?
- duck
- cactus
- polar bear
- owl
- hunts at night
- thick stem that stores water
- webbed feet for paddling
- thick fur and a layer of fat
Answer: duck → webbed feet for paddling; cactus → thick stem that stores water; polar bear → thick fur and a layer of fat; owl → hunts at night
Answer: behaviour
Answer: habitat
Answer: Structural, because it is a body part (a feature of the duck's body), not something the duck does.
Part C: True or false?
Write True or False.
Answer: False
This is a common mix-up. The hump stores fat, which the camel can use for energy.
Answer: True
Migration is something animals do, not a body part, so it is an adaptation of behaviour.
Answer: False
Adaptations develop in a kind of living thing over many, many generations. An animal cannot grow one because it wants it.
Answer: True
For example, a cactus stores water in its thick stem.
Part D: Working scientifically: beak models
You can try this at home with a grown-up. Record how much each tool moved in a table.
Each kitchen tool is a model beak: tweezers, a clothes peg, a spoon and a pair of chopsticks. Put out three bowls of food: dry rice or seeds, small pasta pieces and water. Give yourself 30 seconds with each tool to move as much of each food as you can into an empty cup.
Answer: Usually the tweezers or the pegs: thin, pointed beaks are good for picking up small seeds.
Answer: The spoon: a wide, scoop-shaped beak (like a pelican's or a duck's) is good for scooping water and food from water.
Answer: Any of: the same amount of food, the same time limit (e.g. 30 seconds), the same person, the same bowl.
Model answer: Different tools were best for different foods. The tweezers picked up seeds best, and the spoon scooped water best. This shows that a bird's beak shape is an adaptation that suits the food it eats: thin, pointed beaks for small seeds and insects, and wide scooping beaks for food in water.
Success criteria:
- Uses results to say which tool suited which food
- Links beak shape to the food a bird eats
- Uses the word adaptation
Marking tips
- Give credit for correct method even when the final answer slips — the working shows where the thinking went right.
- For open-ended tasks, use the success criteria as a checklist rather than looking for one "right" answer.
- Celebrate what went well first, then pick one thing to work on next.
Great work. Here's what to try next: