Download SP4-Unit A-C03-v3

apter 3
Ch
Seasonal Weather Affects
Living Things
Before you read this
section, fill in the
“Know” column of a
Know-Wonder-Learned
chart about how
weather affects plants
and animals.
What do you do when it rains? How do you dress for the
snow? How do you protect yourself from the Sun? Like you,
all living things must be able to deal with changes in the
weather. If they can’t, they may not survive.
Animal needs include food, shelter, and warmth. Plant
needs include water, nutrients from the soil, and sunlight
to make their own food. Plants usually do not grow in
temperatures below 0 °C.
The seasons bring many changes to the weather in British
Columbia, and living things adapt to seasonal weather in
many different ways. Adapt is just another word for change.
How Animals Adapt
to the Seasons
Some animals migrate to a warmer place to stay for the winter.
Many birds, such as Canada geese and rufous hummingbirds,
migrate. Migrating birds travel thousands of kilometres each
year as they fly south for the winter and then return to British
Columbia for the summer.
왖 The winters in the Lower Mainland are so mild that geese stay
all year. But in most parts of British Columbia, geese fly south for
the winter.
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NEL
Some animals hibernate through the winter. Hibernating
is like sleeping. Before they begin to hibernate, the animals
eat lots of food, which is stored as fat. As they hibernate,
their bodies use this fat as a food source. When the animals
come out of hibernation in the spring, they are very hungry!
The ground squirrel and the hoary marmot are two animals
that hibernate during the winter.
왖 A hibernating ground squirrel
Not all animals migrate or hibernate during the winter.
Animals that stay active during the winter must find food
and shelter. They must also stay warm. Animals that have fur
often grow a thicker coat for the winter to help them stay
warm. If you have a pet dog or cat, you may have noticed
this. In the spring, these animals do not need the extra fur
so they shed it. Other animals put on more fat, which helps
to keep them warm. The fat is also a food source, which
their bodies use during the winter.
NEL
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왖 Some animals, like these mountain goats, grow extra fur to keep
warm in the winter, then shed it in spring.
Some animals change the colour of their fur during the
seasons. Some rabbits will grow brown fur in the summer and
white fur in the winter. Rabbits with white fur are harder to
see in the snow. Rabbits with brown fur are harder to see in
dry grass and shrubs. This makes it harder for other animals
to catch the rabbits, and easier for the rabbits to survive.
왖 Rabbits with white fur are hard to see in the snow. Rabbits with
brown fur are hard to see in grass and shrubs.
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NEL
How Plants Adapt to the Seasons
Plants also adapt to seasonal changes in the weather. Some
plants live for only one growing season. During the growing
season, they grow from seeds, and produce flowers with seeds
for the next year. They die when the winter comes. The next
spring, the seeds sprout to produce new plants.
Other plants grow for more than one year, but many are
dormant in the winter. Dormant means they do not grow.
Trees that lose their leaves in the fall are dormant during
the winter. When the spring comes, they produce new leaves
and begin to grow again.
Spring
Winter
왖 This lilac bush grows in the spring, but it is dormant in the winter.
1. How does the weather affect the activities that you do in each
season?
2. What are some activities that you can do no matter what the
weather is like?
3. Name four different ways that animals adapt to seasonal
changes in the weather.
4. What happens to animals that cannot adapt to changing
seasonal weather conditions?
5. Name two ways that plants adapt to seasonal changes in the
weather.
NEL
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