This comprehensive pack combines our popular Nature Journal with hands-on investigations that bring the fascinating world of habitats and living things to life for Key Stage 1 learners. Perfect for Year 2 children, this resource encourages outdoor exploration, scientific observation, and understanding of how animals and plants live in their environments.
Included Resources +
This pack includes seven activity sheets with accompanying lesson plans and a Nature Journal for recording habitat observations, sketches, and scientific discoveries across a full living things and habitats unit.
• Nature Journal — interactive notebook for recording habitat observations, sketches, and scientific discoveries
• Dead Or Alive — explore the characteristics of living things and classify objects
• Observing Habitats In The UK — investigate different habitats found across the United Kingdom
• Exploring Microhabitats — discover the tiny worlds under logs, stones, and in leaf litter
• Build A Bug House — create a habitat to attract and observe minibeasts
• Butterfly Life Cycles — learn about metamorphosis and the stages of a butterfly's life
• Food Chains In The UK — understand how living things depend on each other for food
Key Details +
• Year Group: Year 2 (ages 6–7)
• Key Stage: KS1
• Subject: Science
• Resource Type: Activity Sheets + Lesson Plans + Nature Journal
• Format: Instant PDF Download
• Number of Activities: 7
Curriculum Alignment +
Aligned to the Year 2 Science National Curriculum. Covers living things and their habitats — exploring and comparing the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive, identifying that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited, describing how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and identifying and naming a variety of plants and animals in their habitats including microhabitats. Also covers food chains — identifying and naming what animals eat and constructing simple food chains. Cross-curricular links to Geography (habitats across the UK) and outdoor learning.
Teaching Tips +
Exploring Microhabitats is best done outdoors with magnifying glasses and bug pots — a shaded corner of the school grounds with logs or stones is ideal. Build A Bug House works brilliantly as an end-of-unit making project using natural materials collected on a school walk — leave it in the school garden and revisit it across the year to observe visitors. Dead Or Alive is a great lesson opener using a collection of objects (pebble, leaf, twig, flower, plastic toy) to spark discussion and misconceptions. Butterfly Life Cycles pairs naturally with keeping live caterpillars in the classroom if your school has access to a butterfly kit — the Nature Journal becomes a real scientific record of the metamorphosis process.
