Biology

1 Life Processes Look at these animals.

In this module you will:

●● l earn how we can reproduce
sort living things into
groups
Word animal
Cloud grow
chimpanzee rat gorilla mouse
f ind out how humans feed group
●●
sort
and animals stay alive Compare the animals. Talk about what is similar and what is different.
move senses
●● u
nderstand the Think about what they look like, where they live, what they eat, how they
difference between move, etc. These are the animals’ features.
living and non-living
things
●● k now how to keep
plants alive.

Life Processes
Think about...
4 Would sorting the animals 5
These dolphins are one type of animal. The dolphins Amazing fact into groups help us?
are alive and healthy because they are able to eat, There are at least six million
drink, move, grow and reproduce. These are the life kinds of animal in the world
processes that stop animals from dying. making up the animal kingdom!
 What group does this animal belong to?
Learn how we can sort living things into groups.
Look at the animals on page 6. Vertebrates
are the group we
Can you sort the animals into two
The Big Idea groups? Write the names of the
belong to. Only
10 per cent of the
animals in the table.
animals that live on Earth
We can put animals that are like each other There are five animals, so the are vertebrates.
into groups. groups will not be equal.
That means that
90 per cent of the
Scientists have sorted animals into groups to Group 1 Group 2 animals that live on Earth
make it easier to learn about them. To do this, the are animals with a skeleton outside their
scientists look at the features of the animals, like you parrot bodies or with no skeleton at all. These
did when you compared the mouse, animals are called invertebrates.
rat, chimpanzee and gorilla.
Can you sort the animals in the
word bank into vertebrates and
rabbit Explain why you put the animals invertebrates? Write them in the table.
eagle
into these groups. Is there a feature
that one animal has that another Vertebrates Invertebrates
does not have? Do some animals
have the same feature?

Life Processes
One way that scientists group animals Word Bank
is to look at the animal’s bone structure. camel butterfly worm rabbit
Some animals, like hippos, have a spider horse bird snail
skeleton inside their bodies. Other
animals, like crabs, have a skeleton
6 7
(shell) outside their bodies and some, Think about...
like jellyfish, have no skeleton at all. How can we sort a group of
The animals with backbones inside animals, like the vertebrates,
them are called vertebrates. into smaller groups?
camel chicken
 What group does this animal belong to?
Learn how we can sort living things into groups.
Sort the animals in the word bank into the correct spaces on
the diagram. One has been done for you.
The Big Idea
Word Bank
We can sort animals that are like each other into goat trout camel snake shark lizard toad sparrow ostrich frog
smaller groups.
Look at the diagram on page 8 again and complete the sentences.

Only 10 per cent of the animals on Earth are vertebrates, but they are still F and young amphibians have g .
a very large group of animals to study. So it is useful for scientists to divide f b e
Reptiles, , and amphibians lay  .
vertebrates into smaller groups.
Fish and r have s skin.
The diagram shows how we can sort vertebrates into five smaller groups:
mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles and fish. Look at the photos of vertebrates. Underneath
Young
Lungs for born live
each photo write which group (mammal, reptile, Think about...
breathing and milk fed amphibian, bird or fish) it belongs to and why it Which group does a
Gills for breathing Mammals Lungs for belongs to that group. whale belong to?
breathing
Lay eggs
Feathers
Fur Birds
Live in Fish
water Wings
shark

Scaly skin Lay eggs

1 2 3

Life Processes
Vertebrates Young live in
Lungs for water and have
breathing gills for breathing

Dry skin

Reptiles Adults breathe with Amphibians

lungs or through the skin Smooth
8 skin 9

Lay eggs Adults live on Lay eggs

land and in water in water
Scaly skin
 What group does this animal belong to?
I live in the sea for half my life and can dive half a
Learn how we can sort living kilometre under the sea, but I do not have gills to breathe.
3 Name two features that mammals
things into groups. have, but other vertebrates do not have. I have lungs so I must come to the surface to breathe. I
lay eggs and have feathers. Which group do I belong to?

The Big Idea

Some animals are more
difficult to sort. Some animals might look as if they I have wings. I can fly very fast to catch insects, but
belong to one group but, watch out, look I have fur. My young are born live and I feed them
closely and you will have to think again! milk. Which group do I belong to?
Think back to the last unit and
answer the questions.
1 What are the five groups of vertebrates?
Think about...
I live in the sea all my life but I do not Can you think of ways of making
have gills to breathe. I have lungs so I even smaller groups of animals?
must come to the surface of the sea to
Which groups do these animals belong to?
breathe. I feed my young milk. Which
group do I belong to?
2 Which group do humans belong to?
Answer the questions about how animals are grouped together.
1 
What are the two main groups of the animal kingdom?

Life Processes
2 
In the vertebrate group there are five groups. Humans belong to a
group called mammals. What are the other four groups called?

3 Which animal group does the ostrich belong to? Why?

10 11

Now turn to page 26 to review and reflect on what you have learned.
 Staying alive
Find out how humans and
This person is running. Is he running Draw a line to match each animal with the food it eats.
animals stay alive.
to catch food? He might be running
to the supermarket to buy food! eggs grass fish
The Big Idea
Animals need to stay
alive. How do they do it?

Why are penguins birds? Why are

whales mammals? Think of two
reasons for each animal.

Like humans, all animals need to be In the box below each animal write one word to describe of how it moves.
able to breathe and have food to eat
and water to drink to stay alive. These
are the essential life processes.
This lion is chasing antelope. Is it
doing this for fun or for its dinner?

Amazing fact

Life Processes
The cheetah is the fastest land
mammal. It can run at speeds of about Look at the photo of a market. How many
100 km per hour but only for short foods can you see? Write the names of the
lengths of time. The cheetah prefers foods in your Investigation notebook.
to creep up on its prey then at Think about...
To get food and drink animals need the last minute run very fast. It Investigation: Fruit and vegetables Why do cats hunt
to be able to move. Eating food and can go from standing to 96 km at night?
12 Next time you go food shopping with your 13
drinking makes them grow and per hour in 3 seconds so its prey
does not have much chance parents count all the different types of fruit
mature, so they can reproduce and
to escape. and vegetables. Try to find out out where they
have young. Moving, growing and
came from.
reproducing are also life processes.
 Staying alive
Find out how humans and animals stay alive.
Amazing fact
A cat uses its senses to protect itself and to hunt.
The Big Idea Eyes taste
●●  cat’s eyes can see much better than our eyes
A
and cats do not need to blink as often as humans.
Animals use their senses to stay alive. ●● A cat’s nose has a sense of smell 14 times stronger than our noses.
Ears smell
●●  cat’s ears can hear sounds much better than our ears. Cats can
A
We use our senses to stay alive. Most swivel their ears to find the direction of the sound.
animals have much better senses than Nose
touch
we have. That is because they need their
senses to hunt or to help them escape
Hands
when they are being hunted. see
Investigation: Where did the sound come from?
Draw a line from the body part to
Tongue/ 1 Sit in a circle with your group.
the correct sense. One has been done hear
mouth
for you. 2 Take it in turns to sit in the middle of the circle blindfolded.
3 One person in the circle drops a marble onto a metal tray.
4 Ask the blindfolded student to point in the direction of
the sound.
5 Give the tray and the marble to a different student.
Repeat the activity five times.

A cat is right every time. How about you?

Life Processes
Draw an imaginary animal that is good at
Look at the photo. Which three senses are the lion and antelope staying alive in the wild.
using the most in this chase to stay alive? Draw your animal in your Investigation
notebook. How does the animal move?
What senses does it need? For example,
14 15
does it need very big ears?
To find food and water you need to see or smell where it is.
Show your drawing and talk about why Think about...
To make sure you are not eaten you need to see and hear your your animal will survive well in the wild. Why is it important that
attacker before they get close to you. animals have young?
 Staying alive
Find out how humans and animals stay alive.
What is your height?
If possible, measure the heights of a baby, a toddler, a child, a teenager
The Big Idea 3 and an adult. Record their heights on the bar chart. Record your height
too. What do you notice?
Animals grow up, mature and reproduce.
180
Having enough food to eat allows our bodies to 160
grow and mature. This baby will grow up and
140
may have babies of its own one day.
120

Height (cm)
1 2
100
80
60
40
20

0
baby toddler child teenager adult your height
six months old
Humans grow up to become adults. Adults are able to reproduce and have
4 5 families of their own. All animals grow and reproduce.
Growing and reproducing are very important life processes.

Life Processes
If animals did not give birth to babies they would
eventually die out or become extinct.
Amazing fact
Arabian oryx
The Arabian oryx became
extinct in the wild in 1972 in the
16 Middle East. In 1982, thanks to the 17
efforts of many people, including
These photos show the same person, as he grows from a baby into King Khalid Abdul Aziz, it was
an adult. Estimate the person’s age in each photo and then write re-introduced to the wild. Now
the ages on an ‘age line’, from 0 years old to 40 years old. there are over 1000 Arabian oryx.
 Staying alive
Find out how humans and animals stay alive.
The following types of animals produce different numbers of eggs.

The Big Idea Animal group Name of animal Number of eggs

Birds Robin 4–6
Animals look after their young in
different ways. Reptiles Crocodile 20–100

Amphibians Frog 500–1000

Fish Herring 20 000–40 000

1 Which animal lays the fewest eggs? Can you explain what the robin can
do that the herring cannot do?

2 Which animal lays the most eggs? Complete the sentences using the
words in the word bank.

All animals stay alive by

3 Describe what is happening to the breathing and
numbers of eggs in the last column.
food and water.

Animals use their eyes and ears

Animals grow up and reproduce. They to danger. They
have offspring so that their species does quickly to escape.

Life Processes
not die out.
How many adults and how many Young animals to
children are there in your family? become adults and live for one reason:
that reason is to  .
Some animals, like humans, produce only Amazing fact
a few offspring. These animals care for T welve rabbits were introduced
18 Word Bank 19
their offspring while they are growing up. into Australia in 1859. In less
Other animals, like fish, produce lots than 100 years there were over reproduce sense breathing
of offspring. These animals leave their 6 000 000 (six million)! move drinking grow eating
offspring to grow up on their own.
Now turn to page 26 to review and reflect on what you have learned.
 Is this living or non-living?
Understand the difference between living and non-living things.
Movement is an important life process. Complete the table. Use the words
All living things move. Some non-living in the word bank. You can use each
The Big Idea things move but they cannot do this on word more than once.
their own. A car has to have an engine
to move and a person has to start that
There are living and non-living things. engine.
Group Movements

Look at these animals. Mammals

Think about what animals need to do so that they can stay alive.
Birds fly, walk, run, swim
Write three examples.
Reptiles
Amphibians

Animals are living things because they breathe, eat, move, grow Fish
and reproduce.
Plants are living things because they grow, move and reproduce. They do not Word Bank
need to move to get food because they make food using energy from the Sun.
run walk jump swim crawl
However, they do move by turning towards the light.
slide fly
When plants and animals die they are no longer living but they once lived.
A car moves but has never breathed, eaten, grown or reproduced Animals move in different ways on land,
so it is non-living. in water and in the air.
Which of the things in the word bank are living and which are non-living? Why do animals move in different
Write them in the table. One has been done for you. ways?

Life Processes
Word Bank
Living Non-living
rabbit bird tree cut flowers Look around and write down all
rabbit plastic flower wooden chair the non-living things you can see.
metal bar concrete brick glass
How does each animal move? Can
you describe it to a partner? You
20 21
can use words like creep, crawl,
Think about... slither or jump.
Most mammals live on the land. Do
you know any that live in water or
live in the air? How do they move?
Now turn to page 27 to review and reflect on what you have learned.
 How can we help plants to grow?
Know how to keep plants alive.

The Big Idea

Plants are living things and
they need to stay healthy
to survive.

Garlic

Look at the picture above. Would Complete the sentences using the
you ever see this happening? words in the word bank.
Plants have similar living processes to All plants have roots which bring up
animals but there are differences.
water from the ground.

Centuria All plants have a

How plants How plants
which holds the plant up and delivers
are similar are different
to animals to animals water to the leaves and flowers.
All plants have

Life Processes
which make food using water and
Sunflower Plants need Plants do not
sunlight.
food and move from place
Write three examples of plants that water. to place. All plants have
you have seen today. Did you see which attract insects and produce
any of the plants in the photos? Did the seeds.
22 the plants you saw look healthy? Plants grow Plants make 23
and produce their own food Word Bank
seeds and from water, air
green leaves stem flowers
Crocus reproduce. and sunlight.
water
 How can we help plants to grow?
Know how to keep plants alive.
Investigation: Plants in nature Investigation: What does a plant Draw how the plants looked in your
need to grow well? Investigation notebook.
1 Look around the local environment.
The Big Idea Look for plants that are growing well. You will need four young potted plants. Label each plant as shown below.

2 Make some cards like the one below A Keep one plant in a warm, sunny
Plants need water Plant A Plant B
to record the information about your place and water it regularly.
and light to healthy plants. Or copy the card in Warm + light + water Sun and water In cold and light
stay healthy. your Investigation notebook.
B Keep one plant in a colder place with
3 Repeat the investigation for plants
Discuss the four light and water it regularly. Plant C Plant D
that are not growing well.
different parts of Cold + light + water No water In dark
Discuss what you found out. What
a plant. What does do plants seem to need to grow well? C Keep one plant in a warm, sunny
each part do? Discuss what you have found
place but do not water it.
You are now going to carry out an with your teacher.
Warm + light – water
investigation to find out what plants
need to grow well. D Keep one plant covered with black
plastic and water it regularly.
Think about...
Name of the plant: Warm – light + water What would happen to us
Picture or photo of the plant
if the Sun stopped shining
1 Watch the plants grow for four weeks.
on the Earth?
Place where it is growing: 2 Record the changes each week. Take
photographs if you can.

Amount of sunlight

Life Processes
Low Medium High Write about where you would put a plant in your house to give it the
Amount of water best chance to stay alive. Explain how you would look after the plant.
Low Medium High
Height of the plant (cm)
24 25

Width of the plant (cm)

Now turn to page 27 to review and reflect on what you have learned.
 What we have learned about
life processes

What group does this Staying alive Is this living or non-living? I know the difference
animal belong to? Imagine you are alone in the Is a piece of limestone a living or between living and
Name one difference between a desert. What do you need to stay non-living thing? Explain why. non-living things.
mammal and a reptile. alive? Circle the correct words.
food clothes soap water books
I know that animals
There is an insect move in different ways.
called a mayfly
which only lives for How can we help plants
Sort the animals in the word bank one or two days. What can a bird do that a rat
into the correct places in the table. What is the one life
to grow?
cannot do?
process it must do Unjumble the letters to find the
Invertebrates Vertebrates before it dies? names of the main parts of a plant.
t s m e

f e l a

I can name the life w e f o r l

processes.
o o r t s

Name two things that plants need

Word Bank I know the five senses. to grow well.
crab deer eagle worm

Life Processes
snail monkey centipede
I understand why
reproduction is so
I know the difference
important for the
between a vertebrate
survival of animals. I know the names of the
and an invertebrate.
26 main parts of a plant. 27

I can name at least three

animal groups.