Background information:

Although nobody really knows for sure, it is estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of animal on Earth. 6.5 million of those are on the land and around 2.2 million live in the sea. As for the total number of animals living on the Earth…well that would be countless billions! There are simply too many to count.

The reason there are so many animals is that animals have evolved to inhabit almost every different natural environment available on Earth (with the exception of places like erupting volcanoes). Animals have developed adaptations that allow them to live in all sorts of strange and difficult environments. These adaptations have evolved over thousands of years and have usually occurred alongside other animals, meaning that these animals have formed relationships that are critical to their survival. Furthermore, many animals have evolved alongside plant species and the climate, meaning that their survival is also dependent upon all the factors in their local environment.

In order to adapt to their particular environments animals have had to evolve different features. For example, animals that live in cold climates have heavy fur coats to keep them warm. Whales live in cold water don’t have fur coats that would weigh them down but instead have blubber that keeps them warm. And monkeys have evolved tails that help them navigate life in the trees.

All animals have developed particular adaptations to suit the environment they have evolved in. What adaptations do the animals in your area have?

Definitions:

Adaptation - Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby an organism becomes better able to live in its habitat or habitats.

Activity: Animal adaptations

Ages - 0 to 2

What to do

Preparation: For this activity you can use one of two options –

Figures/toys – gather together a range of toy animals. Try to choose animals with relatively different features. Ensure you have one toy for each child.
Images – collect a series of animal images, trying to choose animals with relatively different features.

Using the images or toy animals you have collected, introduce each animal to children and ask children to think about:

What the animal is;
What noise it makes;
Where it lives;
What features it has (e.g. does it have eyes and ears, does it have wings, does it have arms and legs, does it have hair)

Finally, use the Animal ears template to initiate an animal role-play activity.

Provocations

I wonder what animal this is? I wonder what it is called?
I wonder what noise it makes?
I wonder where it lives?
I wonder what it likes to eat and drink?
I wonder what features it has?

Possible lines of development

Use the animal ear templates to initiate an animal role-play activity.
Other animal noises.
Looking after animals – care and handling.
Animals in the garden/yard – what can you see? Remember to look for both the big ones – like the birds – and the little ones – like the ants.
Arrange for an animal demonstration visit to come to your centre (e.g. petting zoo, mobile farm, native animals).

Ages - 2 to 3

What to do

Preparation: Collect a range of animal toys or animal images (from books etc) to demonstrate the range of body parts that animals have.

Using the images or toys you have collected, ask children to identify features of the animals that are the same as features of people. For example, which animals have legs like people? Which animals have eyes like people?

Ask children to find an example of a paw, claw, fin, gill, scale, feather, whiskers etc.

Using the Animal ears template to help children to make the ears for some of the animals that you may have looked at. As children make their masks, engage them in discussions around what features their animal has.

Provocations

I wonder what animals have feathers?
I wonder what animals have scales?
I wonder what animals have long hair and others have short hair?
I wonder what animals have gills?
I wonder what animals can fly?
I wonder why animals have different features?
I wonder which animals have legs or arms or hands or eyes or mouths like people?

Possible line of development

What types of animals live in your backyard/garden?
Pets – what types of animals can we have as pets?
Looking after animals – how we can help animals at home and in the wild (at home – water, food, shelter, entertainment; in the wild – no littering, no damaging nests, no cutting down trees, planting more trees… see Wildlife fact sheet).
Biggest and smallest animals/weirdest looking animals.
Arrange for an animal demonstration visit to come to your centre (e.g. petting zoo, mobile farm, native animals).
Animal role play using the Animal ears template.
Build a bug house instruction sheet
Build a nesting box: Nesting box construction guide, How to make a nesting box, Nesting box size guide.

Ages - 3 to 5

Content information for this activity -

Lizard: Lizards have short legs so that their stomachs can rest on the ground helping them to stay warm, and so they can get into small holes in the ground. Scales help to defend against predators.

Bird: Birds have wings to fly so they can live in trees. Other animals often eat birds that live on the ground while living in trees makes it harder for them to be caught. Birds have feathers…

Fish: Fish have gills do they can breathe underwater. They have scales to allow them to move from side to side whilst also protecting their bodies. They have fins to help them swim.

Kangaroo: Kangaroos use their long, strong tails for balance and bouncing. They use their pouches for carrying their young. They have fur to keep them warm in winter and cool in summer.

Lion: The lion’s mane makes the lion look larger and scarier. It has claws for catching prey, but its paws are soft so it can move quietly. Lions have big teeth to eat the food they catch.

Elephant: An elephant uses its trunk for smelling its food but also for picking things up, such as food or people. Elephants don’t need fur because they live in hot places where there is no need to keep warm. They do have a little bit of hair, just enough to help keep them cool but not enough to make them hot.

Crab: Crabs have big claws to catch their prey. They have a hard shell to protect them from predators.

Bee: Bees have wings so they can fly from flower to flower to get their food. They have a strong ‘shell’ (called an exoskeleton) to protect their bodies.

Snail: A snail lives in its shell. They can hide in their shells when there are predators close by. Snails make a slimy trail to help them slide along the ground and to stick to the ground when they climb up high.

What to do

Preparation: Collect a range of animal toys or animal images (from books etc) to demonstrate the range of body parts that animals have. In your range of animals, try to include at least one of the following: a fish, a reptile, a bird, a mammal, a crustacean (such as a crab, yabbie or lobster), a snail and an insect.

Begin by asking children if they think animals and people are the same: how are we the same and how are we different? Do animals have arms, legs, eyes, noses, mouths, and ears?

Show children the range of animals that you have (you could either show each animal to the group as a whole or give one animal to each child, asking children to take turns in talking about their animal). Ask children to study each animal looking for characteristics that the animal shares with humans and ones that are different.

Why do you think the animal has certain characteristics? How do these characteristics help this animal? Why don’t humans have those characteristics?

You can allow children to speculate on the reasons for certain animal characteristics for themselves; however we have provided some explanations below if you want to use them (see content information for this activity).

Ask children to imagine which of the animal characteristics they think would be most useful to people and ask them to create it using cardboard and sticky tape. Children should be able to cut out this characteristic and wear it (e.g. an elephants trunk for carrying more things than your hands can carry, or webbed feet for swimming). Ask children to participate in a role-play activity around the characteristic they made, showing how this characteristic would help people.

Provocations

I wonder what the difference is between people and animals?
I wonder how animals and people are the same?
I wonder how animals and people are different?
I wonder what things humans have that animals don’t have?
I wonder what things animals have that humans don’t have?

Possible lines of development

Evaluation

Complete an analysis of learning listing evidence about:

Belonging	Finding something of interest
Communication	Expressing an idea or feeling
Exploration	Engaging with challenge and persisting when difficulty arises
Well being	Being involved

Embedding into daily practice

Create a natural habitat in your preschool using native plants. This will provide local animals with food and shelter.
Build a nesting box for birds and animals in your garden. Also, consider putting out bowls of water for animals at hot times (place a small stick or piece of wood in the water so that smaller animals can climb out if they fall in).
Grow flowers containing nectar for those birds, invertebrates and mammals that need nectar for food.
Provide hollows, rocks and logs, which are used by many animals for nesting and shelter.

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Animal Adventures: Exploring Features and Sounds

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