Animal groups
I can name and group a wide variety of common animals, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Animal groups
I can name and group a wide variety of common animals, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Different animals have different characteristics and these can be used to group them into broad categories
- Some common animal groups are fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
- Animals can be identified and grouped using classification skills
Keywords
Mammal - A mammal is a warm-blooded animal that gives birth to live young and has hair or fur.
Fish - A fish is a cold-blooded animal that has fins and a tail and uses gills to breathe underwater.
Bird - A bird is a warm-blooded animal that lays eggs and has feathers, wings and a beak.
Reptile - A reptile is a cold-blooded animal that lays eggs and has dry, scaly skin.
Amphibian - An amphibian is a cold-blooded animal that has moist skin, lays eggs and can live on land and in water.
Common misconception
Pupils may think that all sea-dwelling animals are fish or that only birds can fly.
Explain, with examples from the lesson, that animals are classified based on their physical features, not where they live or how they move.
To help you plan your year 5 science lesson on: Animal groups, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 science lesson on: Animal groups, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 science lessons from the Reproduction and life cycles: animals unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
able to keep their body temperature stable themselves
need heat from their surroundings to keep their body warm
fur
feathers
scales
dry, scaly skin
moist skin
Exit quiz
6 Questions
warm-blooded, gives birth to live young, has hair or fur
cold-blooded, most lay eggs, has scales
cold-blooded, dry, scaly skin, lays eggs
cold-blooded, moist skin, lays eggs
warm-blooded, has feathers, lays eggs, has wings and a beak
