K-ESS3-1: Modeling Where Living Things Live
Also called NGSS K-ESS3-1 · Topic: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems: Animals, Plants, and Their Environment · Earth and Space Science
The Official Wording
Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
Clarification statement: Examples of relationships could include that deer eat buds and leaves, therefore, they usually live in forested areas; and, grasses need sunlight so they often grow in meadows. Plants, animals, and their surroundings make up a system.
NGSS Lead States, 2013 · Read it on nextgenscience.org · checked October 15, 2026
What K-ESS3-1 Means in Plain English
Kindergartners build a simple model, like a drawing, a floor map or a diorama, to show that living things live where they can get what they need. A frog lives by a pond for water and insects, and grass grows in sunny, open places.
Models stay simple: pictures, cards and paths that link a living thing to its food, water and shelter. Children see plants, animals and the land as one system. This grows into 2-LS4-1, which compares the plants and animals found in different habitats.
K-ESS3-1 I Can Statements
- I can show where an animal lives and why.
- I can match a plant to a place that has what it needs.
- I can use a model to show living things and their home.
K-ESS3-1 Worked Example
A floor-map model a class can build on the rug with picture cards and yarn.
Why do a frog, a deer and a patch of grass each live where they do?
Set It Up: A large paper floor map showing a forest, a meadow and a pond, picture cards of living things and their foods, and pieces of yarn.
- Place each living thing card where you think it lives.Frog by the pond, deer in the forest, grass in the meadow
- Find the food card each animal needs and lay it nearby.Bugs near the frog, leaves and buds near the deer
- Stretch yarn from each living thing to its food, water and shelter.Short pieces of yarn on the map
- Try moving the frog card out to the meadow, far from water.Its yarn stretches all the way back to the pond
- Talk about why each one lives where its yarn is short.Its needs are close by
Each living thing sat in the part of the map where its food, water and shelter were close at hand.
Why it works: Plants and animals live in places that meet their needs, so where something lives tells you a lot about what it needs.
Common Mistakes with K-ESS3-1
Placing animals by looks, not needs
A frog card set in the middle of the dry meadow
Try this: Ask where the animal finds water, food and a safe place to rest, then put it near those things.
Forgetting plants have needs too
“Trees can grow anywhere.”
Try this: Plants need light and water, and most need soil. A shady forest floor and a sunny meadow grow different kinds of plants.
Thinking a model must look real
“I can't draw a deer, so I can't make a model.”
Try this: A model can be simple. A card, a circle or a stick figure works if it shows the right place and need.
Where K-ESS3-1 Fits
Practice K-ESS3-1
Quick Check
- Why does a frog live near a pond?
- Where would grass grow best: a dark forest floor or a sunny field?
- A deer eats leaves and buds. Where would you look for one?