Needs of Plants and Animals

Start with something students can look at or think about: a photo, a short video, a jar on the windowsill, or a question like "what do you already know about needs of plants and animals?" Then let them work through the worksheet on their own or with a partner, keeping a word bank or anchor chart in view so the vocabulary stays available. When you review, ask students how they knew, and let them point to the part of the diagram or reading that told them. These needs of plants and animals worksheets work well as a lead in before an investigation, as a way to capture what students noticed afterward, or as review before an assessment.

These needs of plants and animals worksheets for Kindergarten give students a clear, visual way to work through one of the big ideas in plants and animals. Students label diagrams, sort and classify examples, read short explanations, and answer questions that ask them to say why, not just what. Each page keeps the science vocabulary front and center so students leave with the words they need to talk about needs of plants and animals accurately. Working through needs of plants and animals on paper gives Kindergarten students something concrete to hold onto before, during, or after the hands on part of a lesson.

"Needs of Plants and Animals" is written for Kindergarten (Ages 3-6), and it covers NGSS K-LS1-1. If your little one is a year younger but already steady on plants and animals, the page still works. You may just need to read the instructions out loud. And if they are older and needs of plants and animals never quite stuck, this is a short review rather than busywork.

Yes, both. We made it for Kindergarten plants and animals, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with needs of plants and animals. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Both plants and animals together, in four fill-in-the-blank sentences about sunlight, water, air and food.

Those two worksheets each focus on one group and use picture-matching. This one combines plants and animals into a single sheet with written sentences instead.

The two single-topic worksheets are the simpler starting point. This combined sheet works well as a review once each group's needs are secure separately.

These worksheets help kindergartners identify and compare what plants and animals need to survive. Children learn that both need water and sunlight, while animals also need food and shelter. Understanding shared needs builds empathy for living things and a foundation for ecology.

Basic needs of living things are a core part of kindergarten science standards and are typically introduced early in the life science unit. The concept ties directly into lessons on plants, animals, and habitats.

Try connecting the worksheet to real life by asking your child what your family pet or houseplant needs each day. Caring for a plant together and discussing its needs, water, light, soil, reinforces the concept in a meaningful, hands-on way.