Transcript
Animals inherit characteristics from their parents. These special features and behaviors help them survive.
An Adaptation is a physical feature or behavior
that helps an animal get food, protect itself, move,
or reproduce.
A trait is a physical feature.
Sometimes there are not enough resources to go
around.
Animals with excellent adaptations have a better
chance of getting the resources they need.
Feathers are an important adaptation.
Without feathers, birds couldn’t fly, no matter
how light there bodies are.
The shape of its beak helps a bird get food.
See some examples of a bird’s beak.
Other animals have adaptations that help them. Click on the picture to see the adaptation.
Some animals have adaptations that help them avoid being eaten by predators. (See some examples)
Bright colors may warn predators that the animal is poisonous. (See some examples)
Some animals are protected by stingers, quills, bitter tasting flesh, or smelly sprays. (See some examples)
Some animals have hard shells or spiny skins. (See some examples)
Animals have different ways of moving. The faster they are, the more easily they can
escape from their predators.Birds' wings allow them to fly away from
predators that cannot fly.
Fins enable fish to swim away from their enemies.
Other animals can run at top speed longer than their enemies can.
Instincts help animals meet their needs.Instincts are behaviors that are inherited.Ducklings, for example, are born with the
instinct to follow their mother.By staying close to her, they get the
protection and food they need.
In places where winters are cold, many animals face a shortage of food for part of the year.
Some animals deal with this food shortage by migrating.
Migration is traveling in search of food or a place to reproduce.
During the spring and summer, Canada geese live in Canada and the upper United States and migrate as far south as Mexico in the winter.
Hibernation is a state of in activity that occurs in some animals when outside temperatures are cold.
Some hibernating animals conserve energy by slowing down their body functions.
They spend most of the time sleeping. They move only occasionally to raise their body temperature or to eat.
Other hibernating animals remain totally inactive. They get their energy from stored body fat.
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