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 primary teachers!
This collection of Australian Science curriculum-aligned 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 ready-made teacher slides, 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 behaviours 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:
Behavioural Adaptations
One way that an animal can adapt is through a process called behavioural 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.
Animal Adaptation Examples
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.
- Plus Plan
Roll to Create an Animal - Adaptations Game
Roll to create an animal with cool adaptations using a fun dice game and report template.
- Free Plan
Animal Adaptations Crossword Puzzle
Use an Animal Adaptations Crossword puzzle to review physiological, structural, and behavioural adaptation concepts.
- Plus Plan
How Living Things Survive – Teaching Presentation
Use this 13-slide teaching presentation to teach your students about the basic needs and physical characteristics of animals and plants.
- Plus Plan
Insect Investigation - Project
Explore insect life cycles and food chains with this research task.
- Plus Plan
Label the Parts of an Animal - Digital Learning Activity
Identify and label the features of animals with an interactive labelling activity .
- 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 Adaptations Digital Learning Activity
Discover a variety of structural, behavioural, and physiological adaptations with an Animal Adaptations Digital Learning activity.
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptations Vocabulary Display
Introduce animal adaptation and behaviour vocabulary with a word wall featuring photographs and definitions of adaptation-related words.
- Free Plan
Behavioural, Structural and Physiological Adaptations (Classroom Poster Pack)
Print 4 free classroom posters explaining the different types of adaptations in the animal kingdom!
- Free Plan
Plant and Animal Adaptations – Word Wall Vocabulary
Build scientific vocabulary skills with a printable display of words relating to plant and animal adaptations.
- Free Plan
Animals With Scales, Fur, Shells and Feathers Worksheet Pack
Investigate different animal body coverings by sorting and colouring animals with feathers, fur, scales and shells.
- Plus Plan
Adaptive Animals of the Arctic - Adaptations Worksheets
Explore the adaptations of polar animals and discover how they help them survive with a set of cut-and-paste labelling activity sheets.
- Free Plan
Animals in the Arctic - Free Mini Book
Learn about polar animals and build comprehension skills with a Year 2 Arctic animal book.
- Plus Plan
Poison Dart Frog Adaptations – Year 4 Reading Worksheets
Explore the adaptations of a poison dart frog with printable reading comprehension worksheets for Year 4.
- Plus Plan
Animal Body Coverings Mini Book
Read and learn about the characteristics of animals with a printable Animal Body Coverings Mini Book.
- Plus Plan
Rainforest Bird Craft & Writing Template
Pair a fun bird craft and informational writing to create a fun jungle-themed classroom display.
- Plus Plan
What Are Behavioural Adaptations? Digital Interactive Notebook
Discover behavioral adaptations of animals with an independent research-based Behavioural Adaptation Digital Learning Activity.
- Plus Plan
Survival Spotlight - Physical Adaptations Animal Riddle Worksheets
Shine a spotlight on animal adaptations and solve riddles with printable animal adaptation riddle worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Animals that Use Camouflage - Fact File Cards
Discover animals that use camouflage to survive with these printable Animal Fact File cards.
- Free Plan
Animals and Their Babies Memory Game
Play an animal game for kids to learn about animals and their babies.
- Plus Plan
Types of Insects - Minibeast Fact Cards
Discover facts and features of a variety of insects with a handy set of insect fact cards.
- 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.
- Free Plan
Label the Ant Diagram Worksheet Pack
Learn about the anatomy of an ant with a printable reading passage and ant labeling worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Adapting, Migrating, & Hibernating Animals Research Project
Research and report on animals that hibernate, migrate, and adapt with an animal adaptations project.
- 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.
- Plus Plan
Animal Classification Worksheets for Foundation Year
Identify and sort animals according to their characteristics with a printable pack of cut-and-paste animal worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Structural Adaptations Worksheets
Investigate the structural adaptations of animals with various animal adaptation worksheets.
- Plus Plan
How Seasons Affect Plants and Animals Poster Set
Display these informative posters in your Grade One classroom to remind students of the five ways animals and plants adapt to seasonal changes in their environment.
- Free Plan
Plant and Animal Sort – Task Cards
Sort plants and animals based on characteristics with a set of task cards and picture cards.
- Plus Plan
Animal Adaptation Examples – Anchor Chart Set
Help your students identify physiological, behavioural, and structural adaptations with printable Examples of Adaptations Anchor Charts.
- 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
Animal Adaptations Foldables - Shutter Card Templates
Write and draw about the behavioural, structural, and physiological adaptations of animals from around the world with a set of fun printable shutter card templates.
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Worksheets
- Animal Adaptations and Traits Posters
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Foundation Year
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 1
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 2
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 3
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 4
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 5
- Animal Adaptations and Traits for Year 6