大象传媒 Teach > Primary > KS1 Science > Animals
Child VO:What is an animal?
Maddie Moate:Hi everyone. Right who likes animals?
Children:We do!
Maddie Moate:Animals are a really important part of all our lives. Some live athome with us as pets, but some animals provide us with food, andall animals are part of a healthy, thriving environment. Animalscan be many different shapes and sizes, from teeny tiny ants tohuge elephants. And humans - like you and me - are animals too!Animals can be sorted into different groups.
Child VO:Mammals鈥 Birds鈥 Fish鈥 Amphibians鈥 Reptiles鈥
Lennox:and invertebrates - they're all the different kinds of minibeasts -my favourite!
Maddie Moate:Let's look at mammals first. Mammals have babies that drinkmilk when they are born. All mammals have hair or fur at somepoint in their lives. Some have a lot. While others, like whalesand dolphins, appear to have little or none. Mammals can all lookvery different. Mice, blue whales and humans are all mammals!
Enya:I've found a mammal mammal here on the farm.
Maddie Moate:So you have!
Lennox:Hey!
Omolara:Me too, a very hairy one!
Maddie Moate:Aw, that's true, and he's very cute! Ok, what's our next type ofanimal?
Children:Birds!
Maddie Moate:Birds lay hard-shelled eggs and baby birds hatch out of thoseeggs. All birds have feathers and wings, which most can use tofly. But not every bird can fly, for example, penguins and emuscan't fly. So they get around in other ways - penguins are greatswimmers and emus can run very fast!
Enya:These peacocks have beautiful blue and green feathers. Only themales are called peacocks the females are called peahens.
Maddie Moate:That is a gorgeous bird! Now let's find out more about reptiles.Reptiles are a group of animals with scaly skin. Unlike usmammals, reptiles are are cold-blooded, which means they don'tmake heat inside their bodies. So, many reptiles live in warmplaces where the sunlight helps to keep their bodies warm. Mostreptiles hatch from eggs. Snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and turtlesare all reptiles.
Lennox:This reptile is called a bearded dragon.
Omolara:Its skin is scaly and soft, and it's warmer than I thought it wouldbe.
Enya:She stays under a big heat lamp so then she doesn't get cold.
Maddie Moate:Let's find out more about our cold-blooded friends the reptilesfrom our expert.
Yussef:Hi, I'm Yussef and I'm an animal expert. And this right here isCookie, and he's a crested gecko. Crested geckos come all theway from the other side of the world, on a small island calledNew Caledonia, near Australia. But did you know we have six ofour very own reptile species right here in the UK? And just likesnakes and some other types of geckos, you may notice thatcrested geckos don't actually have any eyelids, so that meansthey can't blink. But they still need to keep their eyes nice andclean and moist, so what they do instead is they lick their owneyeballs. And just like other reptiles, crested geckos are coldblooded, but it's not just reptiles, there are some other coldblooded animals too, just like fish.
Maddie Moate:Fish live in water. They have scales on their bodies and fins tohelp them swim. Fish are able to breathe underwater using theirgills. There are lots of different types of fish. There are fish withno eyes, fish with long faces and even fish that crawl onto landand hop about! Amphibians are born in water. When they areborn, they breathe through gills like fish. But when they grow up,they develop lungs and can live on land. Frogs and newts areboth types of amphibians. Our last group is the minibeasts orinvertebrates - these are animals like insects and spiders. Theydon't have a a back-bone, so lots of them have a a hard-shelllayer around their body to give them support and protect them.Some minibeasts have no legs - like worms, and some minibeastshave lots and lots of legs like centipedes!
Maddie Moate:Oh that looks like fun! You're creating soundscapes for thedifferent animal groups. What do you think a mammal walkingsounds like? What about a spider running? Or a frog hopping?What soundscapes could you make for all the different types ofanimals?
Video summary
In this video, a group of children go on a journey to find out all about animals.
With narration from presenter Maddie Moate and expert advice from zoologist Yussef Rafik, they learn how to identify and name a variety of common animals from different groups including mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.
The video compares the structure and lifestyles of a variety of animals and why they need the habitats they are found in.
Teacher notes
Discussion points:
1. Animal families:
- What makes the groups of animals similar?
- Dicuss common features of the varying animal groups - can children think why they are grouped as they are?
- What do different animal families need to live successfully? What are their needs?
2. Humans:
- Discuss whether humans are animals and why.
- Why are humans classed as mammals?
- What do other mammals and humans have in common?
3. Reptiles:
- Discuss what the most important things are for reptiles to live well.
- Why are warmer temperatures so important to reptiles?
- Discuss in which kinds of countries you find more reptiles and why.
4. Amphibians:
- What is an amphibian?
- What is special about where amphibians are born and where they then live?
- Discuss the life cycle of a frog.
5. Birds:
- What makes a bird a bird? Discuss that not all birds can fly.
- How are new birds brought into the world? What is the life cycle of a bird?
- Can you think of a bird which lives in a very cold environment and how do you think they adapt to these cold environments?
6. Invertebrates:
- What mini beasts have you seen recently?
- How are they similar and how are they different?
- Discuss whether all mini beasts have legs, if not, how do they move?
Suggested activities:
1. Animal sorting activity:
- Provide a selection of pictures of different animals for children to view and discuss.
- Can children sort these into the animal families and give reasons for their choices?
2. Seasonal calendar activity:
- Create a simple calendar for the year and have children label each season with its corresponding months.
- Discuss the activities and changes they associate with each season.
3. Animal presentation:
- Give the children time to think of their favourite animal and what makes this special.
- After giving further time to research into this animal, children can present their findings to their peers.
4. Animal soundscapes:
- After finding out about the different families of animals, can pupils work together to create a musical response to each group.
- After performing, can other children work out which animal family the group were representing.
Curriculum notes:
This video aligns with Science in the National Curriculum in England, Northern Ireland, and 1st Level in Scotland. It also supports the Science and Technology Area of Learning and Experience within the Curriculum for Wales.
How do animals grow? video
This video helps children to understand the phases of an animals life in more detail and shows visually how their appearance changes.
What do animals need to survive? video
Explore the needs of all living things and learn about the names for different animals based on what they eat 鈥 herbivores, carnivores and omnivores.
