WHAT IS AN ANIMAL?

Different kinds of animals in the animal kingdom.

Look closely at each pair of creatures. Can you tell which one is an animal and which one is a plant? You can't always tell just by looking. Some plants look like animals, and some animals look like plants. 

   

  A sea anemone looks like a flower, but it is not. When a fish swims near it and touches the sea anemone's petals, the fish gets caught. A little mouth opens up in the middle of the "flower" and grabs the fish!

  Plants don't eat food the same way animals do. Most green plants make their own food with help from sunshine, air, and water. But animals can't make their own food. So they eat plants or other animals.

   The sea anemone slides slowly over the sand. Can a plant move around? No, it cannot. Once a plant sprouts up from it seed or roots, it stays in the same place. But most animals can get around by themselves.

                          If a living thing moves about and eats food, it's an animal. 

                              ANIMALS MOVE

Dog running

Animals can move in many ways. They may waddle, swim, swoop or hop. Some slither, others walk or run.

   A clam has only one foot for digging into mud or sand. A penguin walks on two legs. A dog walks or runs on four legs. Ladybugs walk on six legs. Spiders walk on eight legs. Centipedes may have a hundred pairs of legs to walk on, and some millipedes walk on more legs than that! Snakes and worms slither around on no legs at all. Bats and most kinds of birds and insects fly. And fish swim. 

  Some animals move only when they are very young. Barnacles, sponges, and baby oysters swim through the water until they find a good place to stay. Then they fasten themselves down and never move again.

   Animals can move around without help. If a living thing moves by itself, it's an animal.

  KNOW IT ALL?

• The fastest animal in the air is the peregrine falcon--- 320 kph. The slowest is the housefly--- 8 kph.
• The fastest animal in the water is the sailfish--- 105 kph. The slowest is the goldfish--- 8 kph.
• The fastest animal on land is the cheetah--- 112 kph. The slowest is the turtle --- 0.16 kph.
• Compared to some animals, human beings are slowcoaches. The average person can run "only" 32 kph and swim 8 kph, and not for very long!

                             kph = kilometers per hour

                         ANIMALS EAT

A Panda eating Bamboo Leaves.

All plants and all animals need food. Most plants make their own food from light, water, and substances in the ground and air. But animals cannot make their own food. They must eat plants or other animals to live.

   Different kinds of animals eat in different kinds of ways. A chameleon flips out its sticky tongue and catches insects. A lammergeier, a type of vulture, uses its sharp claws and hooked beak to tear its food.

   A butterfly has a part of its mouth like a built-in straw. It's called a proboscis. The butterfly keeps its proboscis rolled up until it gets hungry. Then it unrolls its proboscis, puts it into a flower, and sucks up sweet nectar.

   A ground squirrel has strong teeth for cracking nuts and seeds. It carries food home in its cheeks and "squirrels" it away.

  A baleen whale fills its mouth with seawater. The water is full of tiny plants and animals. The whale lets the water run out of its mouth. Then it swallows the plants and animals that remain.

KNOW IT ALL?
What's for dinner? Animals can be grouped by what they eat. Some animals eat only plants. They are called herbivores. Herbivores include cattle, sheep, and squirrels. Animals that eat only other animals are called carnivores. Carnivores include lions, foxes, and snakes. Animals that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores. Omnivores include bears, raccoons, pigs, and human beings. What do you think animals that eat only insects are called? Right! Insectivores. Anteaters and hedgehogs are insectivores.

                    ANIMALS HAVE BABIES

Tiger and its Cub.

All living creatures make new living things like themselves. They reproduce. Every baby animal comes from a grown-up animal like itself. A baby  penguin comes from a penguin. A baby horse comes from a horse. A baby beetle comes from a beetle.

  Animal babies are born  in different ways. Some baby animals come right out of the mother's body. Horses are born this way. So are cats, monkeys, whales, and some snakes. And so are people. 

   

   Some baby animals hatch out of eggs that come from their mother's body. Penguins are born this way. So are beetles, frogs, and most fish. 

   Many animals do not look after their babies after they are born. For example, some frogs and toads and many kinds of fish lay their eggs and let the babies take care of themselves. 

  Other animals stay with their babies for a long time. Many birds teach their babies to fly. Many mammals teach their young to hunt for food. 

   Some baby animals look just like their parents. Some look very different. But every baby animal grows up to be exactly the same kind of animal as its parents.

ANIMALS GROW UP

The seeds of a tree take root in the ground. The new tree sprouts, grows roots, and produces leaves-- all by itself. Plants can take care of themselves. But, unlike plants, many animal parents must teach their young how to survive on their own.

The baby penguin will grow to look just like its parents. 

  Each baby animal grows up to live the way its parents live. It looks, acts, and sounds like animals of its own kind-- and like no others. 

  A lion cub learns to walk and then run. It learns to eat meat. It growls and it roars. It learns to hunt other animals for food.

  A baby spider grows up and does all the things spiders do. It crawls along and spins a sticky web that will catch insects to eat. 

  A young parrot learns to fly. It knows how to crack nuts and seeds with its bill. It squawks and whistles like other parrots.

  Every animal learns to live like the other animals of its kind. Each animals does what it must do to stay alive. That's the way of the animal world. 

A mother camel watches over her calf until it is ready to take care of itself.

ACTIVITY

1.Can you match each baby animal with it's parent?

1.  KID                            a.  HUMAN BEING
2. CALF                         b. BEAVER OR RABBIT
3. FOAL                          c. KANGAROO
4. JOEY                         d. DUCK
5. CHILD                       e. HORSE
6. CUB                           f.WHALE, DOLPHIN, ELEPHANT,                                                                     OR CATTLE 
7. KIT                              g. GOAT OR ANTELOPE
8. DUCKLING                h. BEAR OR TIGER
9. CYGNET                      i. SWAN

Click Answer  to find the answer to the activity

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