Nature Detectives

A living thing is anything that grows and changes. To stay alive, every living thing has $4$ big needs: food, water, air, and space. Think about a flower in a pot. It needs water from a watering can and light from the sun to make its food. A small puppy needs to eat kibble and drink from a bowl to grow into a big dog. If a living thing doesn't get these $4$ things, it cannot stay healthy. Non-living things, like a rock or a toy car, do not need food or water because they do not grow.

Nature detectives look for clues to see how animals eat and drink. Animals find their food in different ways. A herbivore eats only plants, like a rabbit munching on clover. A carnivore eats other animals, like a spider catching a fly in its web. For water, animals might visit a pond, a puddle after a rainstorm, or even drink dew drops off a leaf. Plants are special because they 'drink' water through their roots hidden under the ground.

Every animal needs a shelter. A shelter is a place that keeps an animal safe from the weather and from other animals that might want to hurt it. A bird might build a nest out of twigs high in a tree. A honeybee lives in a hive with thousands of friends. Even a tiny bug might use a heavy rock as a roof to stay dry. When you are a nature detective, you look for these 'homes' in trees, under bushes, or even in the cracks of a sidewalk.

Real detectives write down what they see! You can use a nature journal. When you find a living thing, draw a picture of it. Next to your drawing, use simple words to describe its needs. For example, if you see a bee on a flower, you could draw the bee and write 'Food: Flower.' This helps you remember what you learned and share it with others. Scientists call these observations.