Chapter 2 of 8

All 8 chapters
  1. 1Living and non-living, readunderstood
  2. 2Grouping animals, readunderstood
  3. 3Habitats, readunderstood
  4. 4Exploring a small habitat, readunderstood
  5. 5Fit for the habitat, readunderstood
  6. 6Plant eaters, meat eaters and both, readunderstood
  7. 7Food chains, readunderstood
  8. 8Changes to habitats, readunderstood

S2.2.2 Chapter 2

Grouping animals

Is a whale a fish?

Your guess

Pick one before you read on. It is fine to be wrong.

Your guess

  • You picked A. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked B. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked C. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

By the end you can

  • Group animals into mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians
  • Tell an insect from a spider by counting legs and body parts

There are millions of kinds of animals. We sort them into groups. Animals in one group share signs. Here are five groups.

A mammal has hair or fur. Mothers feed their young on milk. Most mammals give birth to live young. A goat, a bat and a whale are mammals. So are you.

A bird has feathers and a beak. It lays eggs with hard shells. A hen, an owl and a penguin are birds.

A fish lives in water and breathes with gills. It has fins. Most fish have scales.

A reptile has dry skin with scales. Most reptiles lay eggs on land. Snakes, lizards, crocodiles and tortoises are reptiles.

An amphibian has damp skin with no scales. Its young live in water and breathe with gills. Frogs and toads are amphibians. A young frog is a tadpole. Adults often live on land.

Five rows, each with an animal and two words. A goat is labelled mammal and hair or fur. A hen is labelled bird and feathers. A fish is labelled fish and wet scales. A snake is labelled reptile and dry scales. A frog is labelled amphibian and damp skin.mammalhair or furbirdfeathersfishwet scalesreptiledry scalesamphibiandamp skin
One animal from each group, and what covers its body.

See it three ways

As a picture

A table of five animal groups. The head row says Group and Covering. The rows say mammal: hair or fur, bird: feathers, fish: wet scales, reptile: dry scales, amphibian: damp skin. Labels: Group, Covering, mammal, hair or fur, bird, feathers, fish, wet scales, reptile, dry scales, amphibian, damp skin.GroupCoveringmammalhair or furbirdfeathersfishwet scalesreptiledry scalesamphibiandamp skin

In words

Each group has its own kind of covering. Look at the covering first. Then ask how it breathes and how it has young.

Some animals fool us. A bat flies, but it has fur and feeds its young milk. So a bat is a mammal. A penguin cannot fly, but it has feathers and lays eggs. So a penguin is a bird.

A bat with its wings spread and a small bird, side by side. A dashed line from the word fur points to the body of the bat. A dashed line from the word feathers points to the bird. Under them are bat: mammal and sparrow: bird.furfeathersbat: mammalsparrow: bird
Both fly. The bat has fur. The bird has feathers.

A wrong idea many people have

A whale lives in the sea, so it is a fish.

Why it feels right: A whale swims, lives in water and looks like a fish.

The test that breaks it: Ask two questions about any animal. Does it breathe air? Does it feed its young milk? A whale does both. It comes up to breathe, and its calf drinks milk. A fish breathes with gills, and no fish makes milk.

What is true: A whale is a mammal. So is a dolphin. Living in the sea does not make an animal a fish.

A whale and a fish side by side. A zigzag water line runs across the back of the whale. A dashed line from the word blowhole points to the spout above the water, where the whale breathes air. A dashed line from the word gills points to the fish. Under the whale are the words whale, breathes air and feeds milk. Under the fish are the words fish and no milk.blowholegillswhalebreathes airfeeds milkfishno milk
A whale breathes air and feeds its calf milk. A fish has gills.

Small animals have groups too. An insect has six legs. Its body has three parts. They are the head, middle and back. Most insects have feelers on the head. Many have wings. Ants, flies and beetles are insects.

Draw it first

Draw an insect and a spider

  1. An insect and a spider seen from above. The insect has three round body parts in a line, two feelers and six legs, three on each side. It is labelled insect, 3 parts and 6 legs. The spider has two round body parts and eight legs, four on each side. It is labelled spider, 2 parts and 8 legs.insect3 parts

    1 Draw three round parts in a line and two feelers. Write insect and 3 parts.

  2. An insect and a spider seen from above. The insect has three round body parts in a line, two feelers and six legs, three on each side. It is labelled insect, 3 parts and 6 legs. The spider has two round body parts and eight legs, four on each side. It is labelled spider, 2 parts and 8 legs.insect3 parts6 legs

    2 Draw six legs on the middle part. Write 6 legs.

  3. An insect and a spider seen from above. The insect has three round body parts in a line, two feelers and six legs, three on each side. It is labelled insect, 3 parts and 6 legs. The spider has two round body parts and eight legs, four on each side. It is labelled spider, 2 parts and 8 legs.insect3 parts6 legsspider2 parts8 legs

    3 Draw a spider with two parts and eight legs. Write spider, 2 parts and 8 legs.

A spider is not an insect. It has eight legs and two body parts. It has no feelers and no wings.

Two circles that overlap. The left circle is labelled Insect. It holds 6 legs, 3 parts and feelers. The right circle is labelled Spider. It holds 8 legs and 2 parts. The part where they overlap holds the word legs.InsectSpider6 legs3 partsfeelerslegs8 legs2 parts
Insects and spiders both have legs. Count them.
A tadpole and a frog, with an arrow from the tadpole to the frog. Above the tadpole are the words in water. Above the frog are the words often on land. The tadpole is labelled tadpole and the frog is labelled frog.in wateroften on landtadpolefrog
A young frog is a tadpole. It grows into a frog.

Try it

Sort animals into five boxes

You need: paper and a pencil, or a stick and bare ground, pictures of animals in a book, or animals you know.

Be safe: Look at wild animals from far away. Never touch them. Wash your hands after you touch any animal.

  1. Draw five boxes. Write mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian.
  2. Choose ten animals. Pick ones you know, or ones in a book.
  3. For each one, ask: what covers its body? How does it breathe?
  4. Write its name in the right box.
  5. Which animals were hard to place? Ask the two questions again.

What you will see: Each animal goes in one box. A bat goes with the mammals. A penguin goes with the birds. A whale goes with the mammals.

If you cannot try it, this is what happens.
A table with two columns, Group and Animals. mammal: goat, bat, whale. bird: hen, penguin. fish: carp, trout. reptile: snake, tortoise. amphibian: frog, toad. Labels: Group, Animals, mammal, goat, bat, whale, bird, hen, penguin, fish, carp, trout, reptile, snake, tortoise, amphibian, frog, toad.GroupAnimalsmammalgoat, bat, whalebirdhen, penguinfishcarp, troutreptilesnake, tortoiseamphibianfrog, toad

Key words

mammal
an animal with hair or fur that feeds its young on milk.
reptile
an animal with dry, scaly skin that mostly lays eggs on land.
amphibian
an animal with damp skin whose young live in water.
insect
an animal with six legs and three body parts.

Back to your guess

The answer is B: No, a whale is a mammal.

A whale is a mammal. It breathes air and feeds its young on milk. A fish breathes with gills, and no fish makes milk.

Check yourself

Try each one before you look. A wrong answer tells you where to go next.

  1. Which of these animals is a mammal?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. An owl has feathers and lays eggs. It is a bird. A bat also flies, but it has fur and milk. Try another.

    2. Not this one. A frog has smooth, damp skin. Its young live in water. It is an amphibian. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. A bat has fur and feeds its young on milk. It is a mammal, not a bird.

    See the answer

    A bat

    A bat has fur and feeds its young on milk. It is a mammal, not a bird.

    • If you chose A: An owl has feathers and lays eggs. It is a bird. A bat also flies, but it has fur and milk.
    • If you chose B: A frog has smooth, damp skin. Its young live in water. It is an amphibian.

  2. A dolphin lives in the sea. Which group is it in?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A dolphin breathes air and feeds its young milk. A fish breathes with gills and makes no milk. Try another.

    2. Not this one. An amphibian has damp skin and its young breathe with gills. A dolphin does not. Try another.

    3. Not this one. A reptile has dry scales. A dolphin has smooth skin and feeds its young milk. Try another.

    4. Yes, that is right. A dolphin breathes air and feeds its young milk. So it is a mammal.

    See the answer

    Mammal

    A dolphin breathes air and feeds its young milk. So it is a mammal.

    • If you chose A: A dolphin breathes air and feeds its young milk. A fish breathes with gills and makes no milk.
    • If you chose B: An amphibian has damp skin and its young breathe with gills. A dolphin does not.
    • If you chose C: A reptile has dry scales. A dolphin has smooth skin and feeds its young milk.

  3. How many legs and body parts does an insect have?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. An insect has six legs and a body in three parts.

    2. Not this one. That is a spider. A spider is not an insect. Try another.

    3. Not this one. An insect has 3 body parts. Count the head, the middle and the back part. Try another.

    See the answer

    6 legs and 3 parts

    An insect has six legs and a body in three parts.

    • If you chose B: That is a spider. A spider is not an insect.
    • If you chose C: An insect has 3 body parts. Count the head, the middle and the back part.

  4. Kofi finds 3 ants and 1 spider on a wall. How many legs are there in all?

    See the answer

    26

    Each ant has 6 legs, so 3 ants have 18 legs. The spider has 8 legs. 18 and 8 make 26.

  5. From an earlier chapter

    A dead leaf is on the ground. Which group is it in?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A dead leaf is not alive now. It came from a plant that was alive. Go to S2.2.1. Try another.

    2. Yes, that is right. A dead leaf is not alive now. It came from a living plant.

    3. Not this one. A leaf came from a plant that was alive. So it was not never alive. Go to S2.2.1. Try another.

    See the answer

    Once living

    A dead leaf is not alive now. It came from a living plant.

    • If you chose A: A dead leaf is not alive now. It came from a plant that was alive. Go to S2.2.1.
    • If you chose C: A leaf came from a plant that was alive. So it was not never alive. Go to S2.2.1.

  6. Sort these animals: crocodile, hen, trout, frog, goat. Write the group of each.

    See the answer

    Crocodile: reptile. Hen: bird. Trout: fish. Frog: amphibian. Goat: mammal.

    A crocodile has dry scales. A hen has feathers. A trout has gills and fins. A frog has damp skin. A goat has hair.

  7. A tortoise has dry skin and a hard shell. It lays eggs on land. Which group is it in?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. An amphibian has damp skin, and its young live in water. A tortoise has dry skin. Try another.

    2. Yes, that is right. A reptile has dry, scaly skin. It mostly lays eggs on land. A tortoise does both.

    3. Not this one. Birds lay eggs too. But a bird has feathers. A tortoise has none. It has dry, scaly skin. Try another.

    See the answer

    Reptile

    A reptile has dry, scaly skin. It mostly lays eggs on land. A tortoise does both.

    • If you chose A: An amphibian has damp skin, and its young live in water. A tortoise has dry skin.
    • If you chose C: Birds lay eggs too. But a bird has feathers. A tortoise has none. It has dry, scaly skin.

  8. A penguin cannot fly. Which group is it in?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. A penguin has feathers and lays eggs. Some birds cannot fly, and it is one of them.

    2. Not this one. A penguin swims, but it has feathers and breathes air. A fish has gills and fins. Try another.

    3. Not this one. Not flying does not make a mammal. A mammal has fur and milk. A penguin has feathers. Try another.

    See the answer

    Bird

    A penguin has feathers and lays eggs. Some birds cannot fly, and it is one of them.

    • If you chose B: A penguin swims, but it has feathers and breathes air. A fish has gills and fins.
    • If you chose C: Not flying does not make a mammal. A mammal has fur and milk. A penguin has feathers.

  9. Hana thinks a spider is an insect, because it is small. What should she check?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. Small animals can be spiders, snails or woodlice. Size does not make an insect. Try another.

    2. Not this one. Many spiders hunt without a web. Count its legs and body parts instead. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. A spider has 8 legs and 2 body parts. An insect has 6 legs and 3 body parts.

    See the answer

    Its legs and body parts.

    A spider has 8 legs and 2 body parts. An insect has 6 legs and 3 body parts.

    • If you chose A: Small animals can be spiders, snails or woodlice. Size does not make an insect.
    • If you chose B: Many spiders hunt without a web. Count its legs and body parts instead.

Keep it

Copy this into your exercise book.

Mammals have fur and feed milk to young. Birds have feathers. Fish have gills and fins. Reptiles have dry scales. Amphibians have damp skin. An insect has 6 legs and 3 parts. A spider has 8 legs and 2 parts.

Draw: Draw an insect with three parts and six legs. Draw a spider with two parts and eight legs. Label each.

Reading with a child? A short page for the adult: what this chapter teaches and three questions to ask.

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