Habitat, Species, Environment | Vocabulary
About this video
On Rottnest Island in Western Australia, David and his cousin Pete teach habitat (the place where a kind of animal lives or plant grows), species (a group of closely related animals or plants that look alike and can have healthy young) and environment (the part of nature in which an animal or plant lives), using the quokka as an example.
You'll be able to
- explain what habitat, species and environment mean.
- give an example of a habitat and a species.
- explain why related animals can still be different species.
Key words
- habitat
- The place where a kind of animal lives or a kind of plant grows.
- species
- A group of animals or plants that are closely related, look alike and can have healthy young.
- environment
- The part of nature in which an animal or a plant lives.
- quokka
- A small Australian animal, related to kangaroos, that lives only on Rottnest Island.
Transcript
- [David] Good day, wordsmiths. I am here in Western Australia with my cousin Peter, to learn about some new words. Say hi, Pete.
- [Pete] Good day, Davo. How you going? - [David] Great. Excited to learn some new words with you.
- [Pete] The three words we are talking about today are habitat.
- [David] Habitat. - [Pete] Species. - [David] Species.
- [Pete] And environment. - [David] Environment.
- [Pete] You've got a funny accent, mate.
- [David] Yeah, I get that a lot. So a habitat is a noun. It means the place where a kind of animal lives or where a kind of plant grows.
- [Pete] Davo, I've taken you here to a very specific habitat. Read that sentence for me, would ya?
- [David] The Australian quokka, one of the cutest animals alive, has a tiny habitat on Rottnest Island in Western Australia. Oh my gosh, are we gonna see a quokka?
- [Pete] Yes, here comes one now. Look at him.
- [David] Oh, sweet mercy, he's adorable. And they only live here on this island?
- [Pete] Yeah, this is the special place where quokkas live. Only here. This is their habitat, about 90 minutes by ferry from Perth, Western Australia.
- [David] So they have a very special habitat?
- [Pete] Rottnest Island is their habitat. Yeah, it's a nature preserve.
- [David] Wow. Let's talk about species next, because a quokka is a species, right?
- [Pete] That's right. Species, a group of animals or plants that are closely related to one another. Members of a species look alike and can have healthy young. Quokkas are related to kangaroos, but they're not the same species. They're different kinds of animal.
- [David] I just read about a species of mushroom that oozes blue goop when you cut it.
- [Pete] Oh yeah, Lactarius indigo. - [David] Gesundheit.
- [Pete] No, that's its scientific name. - [David] Are humans a species?
- [Pete] Yeah, bro. We're related to chimpanzees and gorillas, but we're not the same. They're like our cousins.
- [David] You're my cousin. - [Pete] Yeah, we're more alike than we are different, okay. Last word, environment.
- [David] Environment, the part of nature in which an animal or a plant lives. I keep my fish tank at 76 degrees so that my fish feel like they're in a tropical environment. A tropical environment is a place that's nice and warm, like Florida.
- [Pete] Or Northern Australia. Oh, Davo don't move.
- [David] Oh no, is it a snake? - [Pete] No, the quokka is coming to say hi. Don't scare him off, he won't hurt ya. (David gasping) (quokka grunting)
- [David] Hi, little buddy. (quokka grunting) Yes, yes, we can be friends. Hey wordsmiths, I gotta go. Pete, take a picture. Until next time, you can learn anything. David out. Ooh, he tickles. (quokka grunting)
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