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Habitat

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Key Stage 1

Meaning

A habitat is the place where a creature lives.

Singular Noun: Habitat
Plural Noun: Habitats

About Habitats

There are lots of different habitats. Some important ones to know are:

Arctic
Coast
Desert
Forest
Grassland
Mountain
River
Sea

Each habitat can have micro-habitats where the creature survives best. Like mushrooms that live on a tree in a forest, woodlice that live underneath a rotting log in the forest or meerkats that live underground in grassland.

Examples

PolarBear.png
Seaweed.png
Camel.png
Monkey.png
Polar bears live in an arctic habitat. The habitat for seaweed is the coast. Camels live in a desert habitat. The habitat that monkeys live in is a forest.
Buffalo.png
MountainGoat.png
Trout.png
Octopus.png
One type of animal that lives in a grassland habitat is buffalo. Mountains are an ideal habitat for mountain goats and snow leopards. The best habitat for a trout is a lake or river. An octopus cannot survive long outside its natural habitat; the sea.

Key Stage 2

Meaning

A habitat is the type of place where creatures live.

About Habitats

A habitat might not have the same conditions all the time.
Habitats can change throughout the year.
  • Desert habitats can have a wet season when it rains.
  • Arctic habitats can get warmer in summer and all the ice and snow can melt.
  • Grassland habitats can have a wet season where the flood and a dry season where the animals don't have enough water.
Most habitats change temperature and rainfall in different seasons.
When a habitat changes the creatures that live in that habitat must be able to cope with the change.
If the change is too big or happens to quickly some types of creature in that habitat may die.

Key Stage 3

Meaning

A habitat is the place where an organism is best suited to live.

Key Stage 4

Meaning

A habitat is the physical environment of an ecosystem where a community of organisms live.

About Habitats

Organisms within a habitat are adapted to suit that habitat.
The organisms that are best suited for a habitat are more likely to survive and reproduce. This is called survival of the fittest.
Habitats can be changed by human activity. Global warming is changing the habitats of different organisms faster than they can evolve adaptations to suit the new environment.

References

AQA

Habitat, pages 64-5, 324-5, 362-3, GCSE Biology; Student Book, Collins, AQA
Habitats, page 106, GCSE Biology; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
Habitats, page 255, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Biology, CGP, AQA
Habitats, page 315, GCSE Biology, CGP, AQA
Habitats, page 83, GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA

Edexcel

Habitats, page 124, GCSE Combined Science, Pearson Edexcel
Habitats, page 176, GCSE Biology, Pearson, Edexcel

OCR

Habitats, page 130, Gateway GCSE Biology, Oxford, OCR
Habitats, page 41, Gateway GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, OCR