2 Discovering animals

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think animals are boring. I love cartoons with animal characters, and animals in video games. But real animals? They’re nothing special. They don’t talk, they don’t wear cool clothes, they hate playing chess or watching films... they don’t even like chocolate!

What do you think?

Do you like the animals in cartoons, films and video games? Do you agree with Pau? Are real animals less interesting than fictional ones? Read the Context. Do you think people need to learn more about real animals?

Context

The Earth is home to more than 7.5 million known species of animals. They’re everywhere!

I love my climbing shoes!

In this unit...

Target in action

Create a poster to compare an animal character you like with the real animal.

Follow the thread!

Animal characteristics

1

What are animals like?

Animal nutrition

2

How do animals perform the nutrition function?

Animal interaction

3

How do animals interact?

I’m going to make a tasty   soup.

Animal reproduction

4

How do animals reproduce?

I’m a great detective. I love to follow clues.

The vital functions in humans

5

How do humans perform the vital functions?

¡Cómo me gusta este libro!

This book is amazing!

Physical and emotional wellbeing

6

Looking after yourself

What are animals like?

Animals are really diverse. Some are simple, like sponges, and others are more complex.

Animal characteristics

Living beings in Kingdom Animalia – including us – have some things in common:

• We have many cells and different types of cells.

• Our bodies have special parts that perform the different vital functions.

• We are heterotrophs. That means we eat other living beings.

• We can move around.

What types of animals are there?

We can classify animals into two big groups, depending on if they have a skeleton or not:

Invertebrates

These animals don’t have an internal skeleton with a vertebral column.

They are oviparous. This means they reproduce by laying eggs.

Vertebrates

These animals have an internal skeleton with a vertebral column.

Their bodies include a head, torso and limbs. The limbs can be fins, legs or wings. Some lay eggs (oviparous) and some give birth to live young (viviparous).

Some invertebrate groups

Sponges

They are aquatic. They don’t move around. They are bag-shaped. They take in water through their pores, filter it and extract microscopic beings to feed on.

Jellyfish

These animals have a jelly-like body. They have poisonous tentacles around their mouth. Some swim freely and others are fixed to the seabed. They are all aquatic animals.

Annelids

They have a long narrow body divided into rings. They can be aquatic or terrestrial.

Molluscs

They have a soft muscular body. Many molluscs have an outer hard shell. Most are aquatic but some are terrestrial.

Arthropods

They have a hard articulated exoskeleton. They can be aquatic or terrestrial.

Echinoderms

Their body is covered with hard plates. Sometimes they have spines. They are all aquatic.

Some vertebrate groups

My job: marine zoologist

Fish

They are aquatic animals. Their body is covered in scales. They have fins for moving through the water. They breathe through gills. Almost all fish are oviparous.

Amphibians

They are terrestrial but they need to live near water. Their body is covered in very thin, damp skin. They have four legs. They breathe with lungs and they are almost all oviparous.

Reptiles

They can be aquatic or terrestrial. Their body is covered in scales. They have four legs, except for snakes. They breathe through lungs. Almost all reptiles are oviparous.

Birds

They are terrestrial. Their body is covered in feathers. They have a beak and no teeth. Their front limbs are wings. They breathe with lungs and they are oviparous.

Mammals

They can be aquatic or terrestrial. Their body is covered in hair and they have four legs. They breathe through lungs. They are viviparous.

Hi! I’m Lucia and I’m a marine zoologist. I love my job, because I get to study animals that live in the aquatic environment. They’re really diverse. In fact, there are marine animals in all the different groups.

Today I’m making a poster about animal diversity in aquatic environments. I found these pictures. Can you help me classify them into the right invertebrate and vertebrate

Animals have special characteristics. These characteristics help us live in our environment.

How do animals perform the nutrition function?

Many animals can’t eat chocolate like we do. But just like us, they need nutrients to survive.

The nutrition process

Animals do different things to perform the nutrition function:

They eat food

Animals are heterotrophs because they feed on other organisms. They digest food to turn it into basic nutrients

They breathe

Animals perform respiration to get oxygen from air or water.

They transport nutrients around their body and use them

Nutrients from food and oxygen get transported all around the body. Animals use them to get energy and to grow and repair their body. That’s why animals can stay active.

They excrete waste

The nutrition process generates waste substances such as carbon dioxide, urine and others. They must be excreted from the body.

Let’s think

Nutrition flow chart

Food

Language Bank

Speaking. Guess what animal your partner is thinking about. (2)

Writing. Write some sentences describing one animal. (1)

Oxygen

Nutrients

Waste (left over from digestion)

The illustration above shows a simplified model of the nutrition function in animals.

1 Read the labels on the right. Then put them in order, one below the other.

2 Which system does each label belong to: excretory system, digestive system, circulatory system, respiratory system?

Transporting

Digesting

Different ways to get food

Mandibles to cut leaves.

Different ways to breathe

Porous body to filter food from water.

Poisonous tentacles to catch prey.

Long tongue  to catch prey.

Piercing device to suck blood.

Sharp teeth to catch and crush prey.

Lungs to get oxygen from air.

1 Ideas pool Look at the pictures. Give more examples of animals that have: a) teeth. b) poisonous tentacles. c) a piercing device. d) powerful mandibles. e) lungs. f) gills.

Take note!

Real animals feed in lots of different ways.

How do animals interact?

Animals don’t walk or talk like we do, but they can do all sorts of amazing things! Can you imagine being able to fly?!

Animal interaction

Animals have the most developed interaction function of all living beings. They perform the interaction function like this:

They detect changes in the environment

Animals use specialised sense organs to detect sounds, light, smells, tastes, and hot and cold. Animals have many of their sense organs in their head.

They interpret changes in the environment

The nervous system receives signals from the sense organs, interprets them and sends instructions to the locomotor system.

They react to the changes

The locomotor system translates the instructions from the nervous system into movement: running, jumping, chewing, opening eyes, etc.

The sense organs in animals

Cats can turn their to capture sounds better.

Their eyes can see in the dark and can detect movement really well. Cats use touch organs called whiskers or vibrissae to calculate how wide spaces are.

Insects have compound eyes formed by thousands of simple eyes. They see images like a mosaic.

Indy’s ears receive a signal.

...to your owner!

His nervous system interprets the signal and sends instructions: run...

Bats emit sound waves. The waves bounce off objects to create an echo. Their ears capture the echo and use it to calculate the distance to the obstacles. This sense is called echolocation.

Locomotor systems in animals

Legs

Long, extendable hind legs for jumping and swimming.

Legs with pincers for grabbing.

Feet with hooves for walking and running on hard surfaces.

Feet with sticky fingers climbing.

Wings

Wings covered in colourful scales.

Wings formed by membrane between the bones in the fingers.

Pointy legs for walking and climbing.

Fins

Fin-like wings with rigid joints, useful for diving. Rounded fins for swimming gently among sea anemone tentacles.

Pectoral fins for changing direction.

1 Look at the pictures of the dog on the previous page. Write a paragraph about how the dog performs the interaction function. Think about: a) the signal he detects from the environment. c) the information he receives from his nervous system. b) the sense organ he uses. d) how he reacts.

2 Why do animals have the most developed interaction function of all living beings? Explain.

3 Look at the pictures on this page. Compare the zebra’s legs with the frog’s legs and the gecko’s legs. How are they similar? How are they different? Do you think the differences are related to how these animals live? Explain.

Take note!

Animals perceive the environment and we react quickly to changes.

How do animals reproduce?

Animals can reproduce in different ways. For example, some animals lay eggs.

Sexual reproduction

Animals reproduce sexually. There are two different progenitors: one male, and one female. Most animals are unisexual. This means each progenitor has one type of reproductive system:

• The males have a male reproductive system. They make reproductive cells called spermatozoa.

• The females have a female reproductive system . They make reproductive cells called ova.

The reproduction process

It has three stages:

Fertilisation

An ovum and a spermatozoon combine . The result is a called an embryo .

Embryonic development

The embryo is tiny at first. It grows and develops into a new individual. In oviparous animals, the embryo develops outside the mother’s body, inside an egg.

In viviparous animals, the embryo develops inside the female reproductive system.

Birth

When the embryo is fully developed, the young animal emerges. Oviparous young are born – or hatch – from an egg.

Viviparous young come out of the mother’s body during birth.

Embryonic development

Oviparous Viviparous

The embryo develops inside an egg. It gets food and oxygen from the egg. The period inside the egg is called incubation.

The embryo develops inside the mother’s tummy. It gets food and oxygen from the mother’s body. The period inside the mother’s body is called gestation.

Birth and care

Some offspring are different from the adults. For example, baby butterflies and frogs. Some time after birth, they metamorphose into adults.

Some animals look after their offspring and feed them after birth. Birds and mammals usually do this.

Some offspring are independent as soon as they are born. The adults don’t look after them

1 Define embryo, gestation, hatching, incubation and birth. What part of the reproduction process does each word belong to?

2 Say if these animals are viviparous or oviparous. Then say if the progenitors look after their offspring after birth: kangaroo, toad, duck, crocodile, dragonfly.

Take note!

Animals reproduce sexually. That’s why there are female animals and male animals.

How do humans perform the vital functions?

Sometimes the animal characters in stories eat, move and behave like humans.

Just like other living beings, humans also need to perform the three vital functions: nutrition, interaction and reproduction. We use specific organs and systems to perform them.

Human systems for the nutrition function

Digestive system

It performs digestion. In other words, it transforms food into the nutritional substances we need.

Liver Intestines

Heart

Blood vessels

Circulatory system

It transports nutrients and oxygen to all cells in the body. It collects waste from the cells and takes it to the excretory system. It is made up of a network of tubes. The blood flows through these tubes.

Language Bank

Speaking. Ask quick questions about the organs in each system.

Writing. Choose organs in secret and write about them.

Mouth

Oesophagus

Stomach

Kidneys

Excretory system

It performs excretion. This means it takes waste from the circulatory system and removes it from the body. To do this, the kidneys produce urine.

Nostrils

Lungs

Diaphragm

Respiratory system

It performs respiration by taking oxygen from the air and bringing it to the cells. It also removes carbon dioxide from the cells.

Human organs and systems for the interaction function

Eyes

Olfactory epithelium (for smelling)

Ears (for hearing)

Taste buds (on the tongue)

Skull

Sense organs

We use these to receive information from the environment and from inside our body. The senses are sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.

Humerus

Clavicle

Nervous system

It receives information from the sense organs, interprets it and sends a response the locomotor system. It includes the brain and the nerves.

Brain Nerves

Femur

Human systems for the reproduction function

The female reproductive system produces ova in organs called ovaries.

Uterus

Ovary

Pectoral muscles

Abdominal muscles

Locomotor system

It helps us move, supports our organs and lets us stay in different positions. It includes the skeleton and the muscles.

The male reproductive system produces spermatozoa in organs called testicles.

Penis Testicle

1 Say which sense organ detects these stimuli: the colour orange, music, heat, the taste of chocolate, the smell of wet earth.

2 Say which systems these organs belong to: a) Humerus b) Oesophagus c) Bladder d) Diaphragm e) Heart f) Olfactory epithelium g) Biceps h) Brain i) Bronchi j) Liver

Take note!

Our body has characteristicsspecial that let us live.

Looking after your body

If we want to play, dance, jump, draw and learn, we need to look after ourselves.

Physical wellbeing

Physical wellbeing means our body works properly and lets us do age-appropriate dayto-day activities, without pain or discomfort. Follow this advice to say physically well:

Language Bank

Speaking. Ask your partner about food likes and dislikes.

Writing. Make a visual chart about the food that you like and the food you don’t.

1 Draw a table in your notebook containing the healthy habits from the illustration below. Write YES or NO beside each one to show if you have the habit or not. Reflect on your results. Say how you can look after yourself better.

Follow good personal hygiene

• Keep your body and hair clean.

• Wash your hands properly and frequently.

• Brush your teeth after each meal.

• Clean and disinfect wounds.

Exercise daily and avoid being sedentary

• Do regular physical activity like walking or cycling etc.

• Do age-appropriate sports.

• Don’t spend too much time watching TV or on a tablet or mobile phone.

Rest and sleep

• Sleep at least nine or ten hours every night.

• Try to always go to bed at the same time.

• Avoid screens before bedtime.

Advice for physical wellbeing

Pyramid of advice

The food pyramid shows you how often to eat certain foods.

1 Find out about the pyramid. In your notebook, write how often we should eat the foods in the picture.

2 Now imagine you are the school cook. Can you create a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for the Mediterranean diet?

Follow a healthy diet

• Eat the right amount for your age and activity level.

• Eat fresh foods every day: fruit, vegetables, pulses, etc.

• Follow a varied diet.

• Avoid sugary drinks and processed foods.

Avoid behaviours that can harm your health

• Avoid dangerous activities.

• Wear protective equipment when doing sports: helmet, knee pads, etc.

• Protect yourself from extreme cold or heat.

• Use sunglasses and sunscreen, when needed.

Use medical services

• Respect the vaccination schedule.

• Don’t forget regular check-ups.

Looking after your body

Emotional wellbeing

Humans have two really important tools for regulating our behaviour and for making decisions:

• Thoughts help us relate new information to what we already know and to imagine different situations.

• Emotions are moods that depend on our needs, thoughts and wishes.

Humans have some basic needs. When they are met, it help us feel emotionally well:

• Physical needs (enough food, clean air, freedom to move around, protection from the cold, etc.).

• Feeling listened to and accepted by others.

• Appreciating and accepting ourselves they way we are.

• Listening to our emotions and responding in a suitable way.

• Knowing how to ask for help when we need it.

• Living in a pleasant environment that allows us to grow, make plans, improve ourselves and help others.

To find out more about emotional wellbeing, see ‘Let me tell you’ at anayaeducacion.es.

2 Look at the pictures. Match each one with the best description from the text.

Listen to your emotions

Some emotions like anger, sadness and fear are uncomfortable. That doesn’t mean they are negative emotions. Instead of rejecting these emotions, we can learn to listen and understand them. This helps us react in a healthy way.

I’m fear

My mission is to warn you of danger. Sometimes I make mistakes and make you feel scared when you don’t need to be.

When I appear, ask yourself why. Your brain will send you a rational response and you will know how to act.

1 Look at the pictures of Claudia: a) Do you think Claudia has a reason to feel sad? b) What emotion will help her feel better? c) How can she act to feel better?

2 Look at the pictures of Felix: a) Do you think Felix has a reason to feel angry? b) What emotion will help him feel better? c) How can he act to feel better?

My mission is to help you look after yourself when you need to recover from failure or loss. When you feel sad, put your feelings into words and do activities that make you feel better.

My mission is to help you understand how to express yourself when you think something is unfair. When you feel angry, stop and think about whether you have a good reason to feel that way. If you do, don’t react violently. Express yourself calmly but firmly.

Study the situations

FELIX

Take note!