Take your Upper KS2 class on a high-altitude adventure with this exciting Mountain Habitats science scheme of work. Through five engaging and fully resourced lessons, children will explore the unique plants and animals that live in some of the world’s most extreme environments. From the icy slopes of Mount Everest to the rugged terrain of Ben Nevis, pupils will develop their understanding of food chains, classification, adaptation and life cycles; all through the lens of mountainous ecosystems.

Each lesson is carefully designed to build scientific knowledge and vocabulary while encouraging enquiry, observation and discussion. Children will learn how energy flows through food webs, classify animals using branching databases, and discover the fascinating adaptations that help wildlife survive the cold, wind and high altitudes. They'll go on to explore how mountain environments affect animal life cycles and end the unit by identifying creatures specially suited to living on the highest peaks on Earth.

With detailed planning, differentiated activities, slides, worksheets, and optional 'Fancy Something Different…?' challenges, this pack provides everything you need to deliver a rich, cross-curricular topic that connects science and geography. Whether used as a standalone unit or part of a wider study on habitats or adaptation, Mountain Habitats will inspire curiosity and wonder in even your most reluctant learners.

You might be interested in our Mountains Topic Bundle - perfect for a cross-curricular approach to teaching!

Mountain Meals

This lesson looks at what food chains and food webs are, using vocabulary such as producer, consumer, carnivore and herbivore, before giving your class the opportunity to order mountain plants and animals into food chains and food webs.

This lesson challenges your children to construct their own food chains or webs using the printable resources provided. The lesson also comes with a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activity ideas as well as PDF lesson slides. You'll have all you need to teach your upper KS2 class about who eats whom!

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Comparing Mountain Creatures

In this lesson, identify similarities and differences between the animals on Mount Everest and Ben Nevis, then challenge children to classify them into different groups.

The lesson recaps the definitions of mammal, bird, amphibian and insect before challenging the children to group the animals into Carroll diagrams or their own classification branching diagram.

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Animal Adaptations

Discuss what conditions you might face in a mountain environment and how, as humans, we might dress or behave to help us survive in these conditions. Use this concept to spark discussions about how animals adapt to an environment.

Find out how mountain animals have adapted to their unique environment as your class learn what physical adaptations are and how they help animals to survive in the harsh mountain environments.

This individual lesson comes with a detailed lesson plan outlining three-way differentiation for the independent activity as well as an alternative activity. The download also includes a set of PDF lesson slides and the printable resources you'll need to support your class.

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Mountain Life Cycles

In this lesson your class will investigate how the mountain environment has affected the life cycles of different types of animals. They will look at different factors such as the air, temperature and terrain and how animals have had to adapt to reproduce and keep their offspring safe.

Children identify these environmental effects in their independent activity, or alternatively they compare a lowland animal to a similar mountain animal to see what similarities and differences they can find in their life cycles.

With a detailed lesson plan, differentiated activity ideas and accompanying printable resources, download everything you need to teach this individual lesson.

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Everest Animals

Identify animals typically found on the highest peak in the world in this lesson, as children learn about snow leopards, red pandas, langur monkeys and many other mountain creatures.

This lesson aims to consolidate the learning that they've done during this unit and create their own descriptions about animals in a mountain habitat.

With a detailed lesson plan, differentiated activity ideas and accompanying printable resources, download everything you need to teach this individual lesson.

View Lesson 5

This Year 5/6 Science Knowledge Organiser has been created to complement this scheme of work. It is designed to support your children’s understanding of key topical and scientific vocabulary linked to this scheme of work. Enquiry questions have been included to encourage your children to develop their 'working scientifically' skills within this topic.

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