Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Information

Mammals

What makes an animal a mammal?

Mammals are a particular class of animal. What makes an animal a mammal are several things. First, they must have glands that
give milk. This is to feed their babies. Second, they are warm-blooded. Third, all mammals have fur or hair. Humans are
mammals and so are dogs, whales, elephants, and horses. Most mammals have teeth with the exception of the ant eater which
doesn't have any teeth.

Where do they live?

Mammals live in all sorts of environments including the ocean, underground, and on land. Some mammals, bats for example,
can even fly.

Fun Facts About Mammals:

 A giraffe's tongue is 20 inches long. They use it to clean their own ears.
 A hard working mole can dig a hole up to 300 feet deep over night.

 A whale's heart beats very slowly. As slow as once every 6 seconds.

 Beavers can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes.

 Drivers actually kill more deer than hunters do.

 There are over 4,200 species of mammals.

 Even though it has a hump, a camel's spine is straight.

 Cheetahs can run as fast as 70 miles per hour.

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Birds

What is it that makes an animal a bird?

The main characteristic of a bird is feathers. No other animal has feathers. Other important features for birds are wings and
hollow bones. Birds also lay eggs, like reptiles, however they are warm-blooded, like mammals.

Not All Birds Fly

Although an important characteristic of most birds is flying, not all birds fly. Some birds that don't fly are penguins, kiwis, and
ostriches. Penguins actually spend a good portion of time in the water where they are prolific swimmers. Ostriches on the other
hand are very fast runners. An ostrich can outrun a horse!

Fun Facts About Birds:

 An ostrich can run as fast as 43 miles per hour and grow as tall as 9 feet.
 Blue birds can't see the color blue.

 The hummingbird can fly backwards, but it can't walk.

 Condor shells are so thick, it can take a chick a week to break out from its shell.

 The egg of a kiwi can weigh as much as 20% of the mother's body weight.
  A pelican's bill can hold up to three gallons of water.

 Sometimes vultures eat so much they can't fly.

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Reptiles

What is a reptile?

Reptiles are animals that are cold-blooded. Most reptiles lay eggs and their skin is covered with hard, dry scales.

What does cold-blooded mean?

Animals that are cold-blooded don't automatically maintain a constant body temperature. They have to lay out in the sun to keep
their body heat up. This also means that reptiles don't burn as much energy keeping their body warm and, as a result, they don't
have to eat nearly as much food as a similar sized mammal or other warm-blooded animal.

Types of Reptiles

There are many types of reptiles. The main categories are snakes, crocodiles and alligators, turtles, and lizards. Reptiles can be
found on every continent except for Antarctica.
 Alligators and crocodiles look slow, but can move very quickly when attacking.
 Snakes are legless reptiles. They move along the ground by flexing their body and can move very quickly despite not
having legs. Only a small percentage of snakes are poisonous. Many snakes are constrictors, meaning that they
squeeze their prey with their bodies until the animal is dead or immobile. Then they swallow it whole. If the meal is
large enough, a snake can go weeks or even months without needing to eat again.

 Lizards are similar to snakes, but with legs.

 Turtles are reptiles with a big shell to protect them. Some Turtles can live for more than 100 years.

Fun Facts About Reptiles

 Crocodiles have been known to swallow rocks so they can dive deeper into the water.
 A frog (which is an amphibian) can not only breathe through its lungs, but also through its skin.

 Some snakes have over 300 pairs of ribs.

 The shell of a turtle is made up of a bunch of bones (around 60) all connected together.

 Turtles have no ears to hear with, but they are thought to have excellent eye sight and sense of smell. They can also
feel vibrations from loud sounds.

 Lizards and snakes smell with their tongues.

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What's the difference between reptiles and amphibians?

There are a few major differences that separate reptiles and amphibians. Amphibians go through a larval stage, like the tadpole
which turns into a frog. Reptiles don't do this. Also, their skin is different where reptiles have scales for skin, but amphibians have
moist, glandular skin.

Some types of amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and toads.

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Amphibians

What are amphibians?

Amphibians are a class of animals. They live the first part of their lives in the water and the last part on the land. When they
hatch from their eggs, amphibians have gills so they can breathe in the water. They also have fins to help them swim, just like
fish. Later, their bodies change, growing legs and lungs enabling them to live on the land. The word "amphibian" means two-
lives, one in the water and one on land.

Amphibians are Cold-blooded

Like fish and reptiles, amphibians and cold-blooded. This means their bodies don't automatically regulate their temperature. They
must cool off and warm up by using their surroundings.

Growing up from Egg to Adult

Most amphibians hatch from eggs. After they hatch, their bodies are still in the larvae stage. In this stage they are very fish like.
They have gills to breath under water and fins to swim with. As they grow older, their bodies undergo changes called
metamorphosis. They can grow lungs to breathe air and limbs for walking on the ground. The transformation isn't the same in all
amphibians, but they all go through some sort of metamorphosis.

Types of Amphibians
 Frogs - Frogs are amphibians of the order anura. They generally have a short body, webbed fingers and toes, bulging
eyes, and no tail. Frogs are good jumpers with long powerful legs. Toads are a type of frog. Two species of frogs are
the American bullfrog and the poison dart frog.
 Salamanders - Salamanders look a bit like lizards. They have skinny bodies, short legs, and long tails. Salamanders
can re-grow lost limbs and other body parts. They like wet, moist areas like wetlands. A newt is a type of salamander.

 Caecilians - Caecilians are amphibians that don't have legs or arms. They look a lot like snakes or worms. Some of
them can be long and reach lengths of over 4 feet. They have a strong skull and a pointed nose to help them burrow
through dirt and mud.

Where do they live?

Amphibians have adapted to live in a number of different habitats including streams, forests, meadows, bogs, swamps, ponds,
rainforests, and lakes. Most of them like to live in or near water and in damp areas.

Fun Facts about Amphibians

 Most amphibians have thin, moist skin that helps them to breathe.
 Amphibians are considered vertebrates as they have a backbone.

 Frogs swallow their food whole. The size of what they can eat is determined by the size of their mouths and their
stomach.

 Frogs cannot live in salt water.

 All amphibians have gills, some only as larvae and others for their entire lives.

 It is a myth that you can get warts from touching a frog or toad.

 A group of frogs is called an army.

 An Amphibian's skin absorbs air and water. This makes them very sensitive to air and water pollution.

 The world amphibian population is in decline.

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Insects

There are more types of insects than any other type of animal on the planet. The main categories of insects are butterflies,
moths, beetles, centipedes, flies, grasshoppers, and social insects. Insects tend to be small, but can vary in size from nearly
invisible to over 7 inches long.

What makes an insect and insect?

  Insects all have a hard external covering made of something called chitin.
 Their bodies are made up of three sections called the head, the thorax, and abdomen.

 All insects will have a pair of antennae on their head.

 They all have six legs connected to the thorax (arachnids will have eight legs).

 Some insects have wings connected to the thorax and can fly.

Insects are born from eggs. Young insects are called nymphs. As insects grow, they get a new hard outer covering by getting rid
of the old covering and growing a new one. This process is called molting.

Social insects live in large groups and work together to survive and build their homes. Some examples are bees, ants, wasps,
and termites.

The study of insects is called entomology.

Fun Facts About Insects:

 In a typical 1 square mile of forest or jungle, there are more insects than there are people on the entire planet.
 If you totaled the weight of all the ants in the world, they would weigh more than all the humans in the world combined.

 Mosquitoes are attracted to blondes more than brunettes and children more than adults.

 Snails can sleep for 3 years without eating.

 Some anteaters will eat up to 30,000 ants a day.

 The average life span of a house fly is about 14 days.

 There are more types of beetles than any other type of animal.

 Bees sometimes fly up to 60 miles in one day.

 Ants can carry up to 50 times their own weight. That means if you were an ant and you weighed 100 pounds, you
would be able to carry a good size car around on your back!

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Fish

What makes a fish a fish?

All fish are cold-blooded animals that live in the water. They have backbones, fins, and gills.

Types of Fish

Fish come in more varieties than any other group of vertebrate animals. There are 32,000 different species of fish.
There are three major types or classes of fish including jawless, cartilaginous, and bony fish. An example of a
jawless fish is the lamprey eel. Sharks are cartilaginous fish and the blue marlin is a bony fish.

Fish vary in all sorts of colors and sizes. Fish can be as large 40 ft long to 1/2 inch long. There are some animals that
live in the water and we may think of as fish, but really aren't classified by scientists as fish. These include whales,
dolphins, octopus, and jellyfish.

They Breath Water

All fish have gills that allow them to breathe water. Just like we use our lungs to exchange oxygen for carbon
dioxide from the air, the gills of a fish perform a similar function from water. So fish still need oxygen to live, they
just get it from the water instead of the air.

Where do they live?

Fish live in nearly every large body of water in the world including streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans. Some
fish live on the surface of the water and some live in the very depths of the ocean. There are fish that live in fresh
water and others that live in salt water.

Groups of fish

A group of fish is called a school. Some fish gather in schools so they are harder to catch. A predator will get
confused when attacking a school and sometimes can't catch any fish at all. A loose grouping of fish is called a
shoal.

Fun Facts About Fish

 A jellyfish isn't really a fish.

 A few fish, like the spotted climbing perch, are able to breathe oxygen from the air.

 Many fish have an internal air bladder that helps them to float. Those that don't, like sharks, must swim or
they will sink.

 Baby sharks are called pups.

 An electric eel can produce a powerful jolt of electricity of up to 600 volts.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Fill in the blank with the help of the word bank.

WORD BANK

birds reptiles mammals

amphibians fish insects

1. Animals that have hair or fur are called: _____________________________________________.

2. Animals called ______________________________________________________ have feathers.

3. The group of animals with dry skin and scales is called _________________________________.

4. An animal that lives on land and in water is a(n) ______________________________________.

5. Animals that have fins and live only in water are ______________________________________.

6. Ants, bees and butterflies are animals called _________________________________________.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle the best answer for each question.

1. Is a warm-blooded animal that is born alive, with fur, and drinks its mother’s milk is called_________.

fish reptile mammal

2. An _________ is a cold-blooded animal that is born with gills and later develops lungs.

insect amphibian fish

3. An _________ is an animal with an exoskeleton, six legs, and three body parts.

amphibian bird insect

4. A _________ is a cold-blooded animal that breathes with lungs and has scaly skin.

fish mammal reptile

5. A _________ is a warm-blooded animal that breathes with lungs, has feathers, and lays eggs.

amphibian bird insect

6. _________ have antennae and some have wings.

Insects Birds Mammals

7. All _________ have wings, but not all can fly.

reptiles fish birds

8.Most _________ lay eggs and none have legs.

fish mammals reptiles

9. _________ breathe air with their lungs.

Insects Mammals Fish

10. Frogs, toads, newts and salamanders are _________.

amphibians birds insects

11. A _________ is a cold-blooded animal that breathes with gills and lives in the water.

reptile fish mammal

12. Most _________ lay eggs and have four legs, but not all.

mammals reptiles fish

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Draw a line from the picture to the word that names each animal’s group.

mammal

amphibian

fish

bird

reptile

insect
Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the reptiles that you can see.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the fish.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the birds.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the insects.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the amphibians.

Name:________________________________________________________________________________

Theme: All Kinds of Animals - Classification First Grade - Science

Circle all the mammals that you can see.