🌱What Animals Need
Animals are living things, just like plants and people. To stay alive and healthy, every animal needs:
- 🍎 Food — for energy to move and grow.
- 💧 Water — to drink.
- 🌬️ Air — to breathe.
- 🏠 Shelter — a safe home to rest and hide.
From the biggest elephant to the tiniest ant, all animals need these same four things.
🤔 Vidi's Wonder Questions
Do fish breathe air?
Yes — but in a clever way! Fish use parts called gills to take in the air that is mixed inside the water. So they breathe without ever coming up!
Why do animals need shelter?
A shelter keeps animals safe from rain, heat, cold and other animals. It is their cosy, safe home — just like your house keeps you safe.
🤖 Vidi's Key Points
- All animals are living things.
- Every animal needs food, water, air and shelter.
- Big or small, animals share the same basic needs.
🐝Animal Homes
Animals live in many different kinds of homes. Each home keeps that animal safe:
- 🐦 A bird lives in a nest.
- 🐝 Bees live in a hive.
- 🕷️ A spider waits in its web.
- 🐀 Some animals dig a burrow under the ground.
- 🦁 A lion rests in a den.
🤔 Vidi's Wonder Questions
Do all animals build their own homes?
Many do! Birds build nests, bees build hives and spiders spin webs. Some animals, like hermit crabs, borrow an empty shell instead.
Where do pet dogs live?
Pet dogs often live with us in our homes, or in a little house called a kennel. We become their family and keep them safe.
🤖 Vidi's Key Points
- Animals live in homes that keep them safe.
- Bird → nest, bee → hive, spider → web, lion → den.
- Some animals dig a burrow under the ground.
☀️What Animals Eat
Animals do not all eat the same things. We can sort them into groups:
- 🌿 Plant-eaters — like cow, deer and rabbit. They eat grass, leaves and fruit.
- 🍖 Meat-eaters — like lion, tiger and eagle. They eat other animals.
- 🍎🍖 Both — like bears, crows and people! They eat plants and meat.
🤔 Vidi's Wonder Questions
What do we call animals that eat only plants?
We call them herbivores (say: HER-bi-vores). A cow is a herbivore because it eats only grass and plants.
Are humans plant-eaters or meat-eaters?
Most humans eat both! We enjoy fruits and vegetables (plants) and also things like eggs, fish or meat. Animals that eat both are called omnivores.
🤖 Vidi's Key Points
- Some animals eat only plants (plant-eaters).
- Some animals eat other animals (meat-eaters).
- Some, like bears and people, eat both.
💧Animal Babies
Just like you were once a baby, animals have babies too — and many baby animals have special names!
- 🐕 Dog → puppy
- 🐈 Cat → kitten
- 🐄 Cow → calf
- 🐔 Hen → chick
- 🐸 Frog → tadpole
Some babies look just like their parents, only smaller. But a tadpole looks nothing like a frog — it grows legs and changes as it gets bigger!
🤔 Vidi's Wonder Questions
Why does a tadpole look so different from a frog?
A tadpole lives in water and has a tail to swim. As it grows it slowly grows legs, loses its tail, and turns into a frog that can hop on land. Amazing!
Do baby animals drink milk?
Baby mammals — like puppies, kittens and calves — drink milk from their mothers. Baby birds are fed by their parents instead.
🤖 Vidi's Key Points
- Many baby animals have special names.
- Dog→puppy, cat→kitten, cow→calf, hen→chick.
- A frog's baby is a tadpole — it changes a lot as it grows.
🍃How Animals Move
Animals move in many different ways to find food and stay safe:
- 🚶 Walk / run — dog, horse, elephant
- 🦅 Fly — birds, bats, butterflies
- 🐟 Swim — fish, dolphins, ducks
- 🐛 Crawl / slide — snakes, worms, snails
- 🐰 Hop / jump — rabbits, frogs, kangaroos
🤔 Vidi's Wonder Questions
Can any animal move in more than one way?
Yes! A duck can walk on land, swim in water AND fly in the air. A frog can both hop and swim. Clever animals!
How do snakes move without legs?
Snakes have no legs, so they slide along the ground by curving and pushing their bodies. This wiggly movement is called slithering.
🤖 Vidi's Key Points
- Animals move to find food and stay safe.
- Ways to move: walk, fly, swim, crawl/slide, hop.
- Some animals (like ducks) can move in more than one way.
🧪 Try it at Home!
Become an Animal Watcher! Real scientists watch animals carefully to learn about them. 🔎
🧺 You will need
- A small notebook and a pencil
- A window, garden or park
- A little patience!
👣 Steps
- Sit quietly near a window, in a garden or a park.
- Watch for any animal — a bird, ant, squirrel, dog or butterfly.
- Notice: What is it doing? What is it eating? How does it move?
- Draw the animal and write or tell someone one thing it did.
- Watch at a different time of day — do you see different animals?
🎯 Mission Test
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