Science

What’s in This Unit?

Earth is inhabited by a staggering variety of animals and plants, with incredible variation in size, shape, color and parts. How does each of these kinds of living things continue to survive? How do their offspring survive? What does their survival have to do with the nearly endless variation we observe among living things? All living things must meet their basic survival needs, including getting food, water, and oxygen, and avoiding being eaten by other animals. The body parts (structures) of animals and plants function in ways that enable living things to meet their survival needs. Understanding how structures help organisms and their offspring meet survival needs serves as a foundation for future learning about adaptations, inheritance, genetics, natural selection, and evolution.