Learning Map
ScienceOrganisms & Life Processesusually ages 5–7

What Living Things Need

Understand what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive: water, food, air, and suitable conditions

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

If you ask your child what a pet dog or a garden plant needs to stay alive, can they list the basic things like water, food, and air?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on
Common Plants & Treesages 5–6Knowing plants helps understand what they need
Living Things Vocabularyages 5–7Describing what plants and animals need to survive uses life processes vocabulary: nutrition, growth, sensitivity
Naming Common Animalsages 5–6Knowing animals helps understand what they need
What Living Things Needthis skill · ages 5–7
Unlocks
How Organisms Shape Habitatsages 5–6Must understand what organisms need before explaining how they change environments to meet those needs
Plants and animals in their habitatsages 5–6Must understand organism needs before modelling needs-habitat relationships
Habitats & Basic Needsages 6–8Must know basic needs of organisms before understanding how habitats provide for those needs
Seeds & Plant Growthages 6–7Must know basic plant needs before observing germination and growth
What Plants Need to Growages 6–8Must know basic survival needs before investigating specific plant growth conditions
Animal Nutritionages 7–8Must know basic survival needs before learning about nutrition types and food groups

+ 1 more in Organisms & Life Processes →

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S1U01high confidenceYear 1 · Science understanding

identify the basic needs of plants and animals, including air, water, food or shelter, and describe how the places they live meet those needs

AC9S3U01medium confidenceYear 3 · Science understanding

compare characteristics of living and non-living things and examine the differences between the life cycles of plants and animals

AC9TDE2K03low confidenceYear 1–2 · Knowledge and understanding

explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

STE-SCI-01medium confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Early Stage 1
ST2-PQU-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 2

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S2U02high confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand
VC2TDE2C02low confidenceDesign and Technologies · Foundation to Level 2 · Technologies Contexts strand
VC2S2U03low confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Animal Body Groupsages 5–7 Body Parts & Sensesages 5–6 Common Plants & Treesages 5–6 Herbivores, Carnivores & Omnivoresages 5–6

All Organisms & Life Processes skills →