Characteristics of Animals

Sources: (partial list)

Yahooligans, animalshttp://yahooligans.yahoo.com/content/animals/

Electronic Zoohttp://netvet.wustl.edu/ssi.htm

Our Class Animal: FishGoldfish:

has bones inside

breathes using gills

fins for swimming

eyes to see

mouth to eat

Robyn’s Goldfish Page: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/gfish.htm

Our Class Animal: Snail Snails:

soft bodied, no bones

shell for protection

Breathes through skin or gills (some snails have a simple lung)

mouth scrapes food off of surfaces – tiny plants

“eyes” on tentacles

moves on a flat “foot”

All About Snails: http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Snails/ Song link: http://www.songsforteaching.com/intellitunes/snail.

htm

Snail mouth

Comparing Goldfish and Snails

How are goldfish and snails alike

and different?

Our Class Animal: Earthworm

Earthworm:

long tube body

many body segments

no bones

breathes through skin

simple eyes (light/dark)

mouth to eat

worm mouth

Comparing Worms and Snails

How are worms and snails alike

and different?

Our Class Animal: Gerbil

Gerbil:

• has bones

• ears to hear

• eyes to see

• nose and lungs to breathe

• mouth to eat

• four legs to move

• long tail

• fur coatAmerican Gerbil Society (Gerbil Care):http://agsgerbils.org/Gerbil_Care_Handbook/intro.html#what

Comparing Gerbils and Fish

How are gerbils and fish alike

and different?

What is another animal that is like a gerbil?

How are gerbils and ______ alike and different?

?

What are fish like?

Large Mouth Bass

Great White Shark

Atlantic Salmon

How is a Goldfish the same or different than a Rainbow Trout?

Goldfish: http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/goldfish.jpg

Rainbow Trout: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/field_offices/new_melones/images/activities_rainbow_trout.jpg

What is a fish?

Fishes come in an amazing variety of shapes and colors, but they all have three important things in common.

All fishes live in water, have fins, and use gills to get oxygen from the water.

An animal with bones having fins for moving, gills for breathing, and usually scales.

Do you know what animal this is?

Bullfrog

Toad

Frogs and Toads

Spotted Salamander

How is a salamander the same or different than a frog?

What is an amphibian?

Like fishes, amphibians are vertebrates –- that is, creatures with a backbone and an skeleton (bones) inside.

Amphibians live part of their life in water and part on land. Even those species that lay eggs on land start life in a fluid-filled egg, breathing through gills.

An animal with bones that is smooth-skinned with a land and water form. The land form has lungs for breathing and legs for moving.

What are reptiles like?

Five lined Skink(Lizard) Painted Turtle

Garter Snake

Reptiles: Alligators and Crocodiles

What is a reptile?

Today there are 6,800 reptile species on earth; the major groups are alligators and crocodiles, turtles, lizards, and snakes.

All reptiles are cold-blooded, which is why they warm themselves in the sun, and have bodies covered in dry, horny scales. Some reptiles lay eggs; others give birth to live young.

An animal with bones inside that is covered with scales. It

What are birds like?

American Goldfinch

Some birds are colorful.

Ring-necked Pheasant

Some birds blend into their surroundings.

Northern Cardinal

Some birds eat seeds.

Downy Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

Woodpeckers

Some birds eat insects.

Red-breasted Nuthatch White-breasted Nuthatch

Some birds are the same and different.

Some birds capture and eat animals larger than insects.

Coopers Hawk

talons

Swainsons HawkAmerican Eagle

Snowy Owl

How are these hunters the same?

How are these bird feet the same? How are they different?

Some birds swim on water.

American Coot

Mallard

How are these feet made for swimming?

Are there other birds that you have seen?

What is a bird?

Birds are warm-blooded creatures, like we are, but they lay eggs, like most reptiles.

All birds have feathers and wings, and most birds are able to fly.

Birds are amazingly varied in their shapes, sizes, colors, and behavior patterns. There are more than 9,000 different species of birds in the world.

An animal with bones feathers and wings. Birds have lungs to breathe air.

What are mammals like?

Some mammals spend their time on the ground, some live in

trees.

Deer mouse

Gray Squirrel

Beaver

Some mammals eat plants and spend time in the water.

Eastern Cottontail

Rabbit

Some mammals eat plants and live on land.

Snowshoe Hare

Summer

Winter

Some mammals can change color.

Some mammals have hooves

?What animals do you know

that have hooves?

Little Brown Bat

There is a mammal that flies.

Brown Long-eared Bat

Some mammals eat insects.

Black Bear

Animals that eat other animals are called predators.

Skunk

Mink

What is a mammal?

Mammals live on land, at sea, in the air, and under the ground. All mammals, from bats to whales, share a number of important traits that make them different from other animals.

Mammals are warm-blooded, they have fur or hair, and most mammals give birth to live young (rather than laying eggs).

An animal that feeds its babies with milk from the mother's body and has fur or hair covering it. Mammals have bones (a skeleton) and lungs to breathe air.

Let’s make a list of animal characteristics.

• Animals are living things.• Animals have to “eat” food for energy.• Animals need water.• Animals breath in oxygen from the air.• Animals need a place to live.• Animals give off waste. • Animals react to the world around

them.• Animals create more animals like

themselves.

Are you an animal?