THE AMAZING ANIMAL ATLAS Dr. Nick Crumpto ad Gaia Bordicchia
Teachers Notes: IDEAS FOR LEARNING ABOUT CLASSIFICATION: Y4: LIVING THINGS AND THEIR HABITATS Pupils should be taught to: Recogise that livig thigs ca be grouped i a variety of ways. Explore ad use classificatio keys to help group, idetify ad ame a variety of livig thigs i their local ad wider eviromet. Pupils might work scietifically by: Usig ad makig simple guides or keys to explore ad idetify local plats ad aimals. Makig a guide to local livig thigs. Y6: LIVING THINGS AND THEIR HABITATS Pupils should be taught to: Describe how livig thigs (icludig micro-orgaisms, plats ad aimals) are classified ito broad groups accordig to commo observable characteristics ad based o similarities ad differeces. Give reasos for classifyig plats ad aimals based o specific characteristics. Pupils might work scietifically by: Usig classificatio systems ad keys to idetify some aimals ad plats i the immediate eviromet. Researchig ufamiliar aimals ad plats from a broad rage of other habitats ad decidig where they belog i the classificatio system. the tree of life Our plaet teems with life. There could be aywhere betwee five millio to oe hudred millio species o Earth! So how ca we keep track of them all? We could make a eormous list, but a easier way is to thik about how aimals are related to each other. Here are some of the may braches that make up the tree of life. Chodrichthyes (cartilagious fish) Osteichthyes (boy fish) Sarcopterygii (lobe-fied fish) TETRAPODA Testudies (e.g. turtles) Squamata (lizards ad sakes) Crocodilia (crocodiles ad alligators) Echiodermata (e.g. starfish) Hyperoartia (lampreys) AMNIOTA Amphibia (amphibias) MAMMALIA Aves (birds) Cteophora (comb jellies) VERTEBRATA Mootremata (e.g. platypus ad echidas) Cidaria (jellyfish) Hemichordata (acor worms) AMBULACRARIA CHORDATA Tuicata (sea squirts) Euarchotoglires (e.g. lemurs ad apes) Laurasiatheria (e.g. lios, bats ad whales) Afrotheria (e.g. moles ad elephats) PLACENTALIA Marsupialia (e.g. tree-kagaroos ad wombats) Porifera (spoges) Placozoa (placozoas) PARAZOA RADIATA Xeacoelomorpha (xeacoelomorphs) BILATERIA EUMETAZOA PROTOSTOMIA DEUTEROSTOMIA ECDYSOZOA LOPHOTROCHOZOA Platyhelmithes (flatworms) Tardigrada (water bears) Aelida (aelids) Xearthra (e.g. armadillos ad sloths) Brachiopoda (lamp shells) Myriapoda (millipedes ad cetipedes) Cephalopoda (octopus ad squid) MOLLUSCA HEXAPODA Bivalvia (bivalves) Etogatha (sprigtails) Gastropoda (e.g. sails ad sea slugs) ORIGIN OF ANIMALS Nematoda (ematodes) Oychophora (velvet worms) ARTHROPODA Chelicerata (scorpios ad spiders) Crustacea (crustaceas) Isecta (isects) 8 9
IDEAS FOR LEARNING ABOUT CLASSIFICATION, PAGES 8-9: These pages make a excellet startig poit for lookig at classificatio systems. Havig discussed the reasos for eedig a classificatio system, childre could research some of the creatures idetified o the tree i the book ad the place creatures of their ow choosig ito differet categories. They could make simple guides or keys to explore aimals i their locality, those see o a school trip/visit or those which live i a coutry or regio beig studied. A class display could be made as a result of the childre s fidigs, ad they could preset their fidigs to a audiece. Spoke laguage Y1-6: participate i discussios, presetatios... ad other poits. aimal worlds These iteractios Aimals all iteract with each other ad their eviromet i some way. this iterweavig are like a web of livig thigs likig everythig together. Biologists call web together with the eviromet the aimals live i a ecosystem. CONIFEROUS FORESTs FRESHWATER Most trees i the orther hemisphere have tiy, spike-shaped leaves, which stay o them durig the colder moths ad stop them from losig water. May orther aimals hiberate, slowig dow to save eergy whe there is t much food aroud. Freshwater habitats iclude bogs, pods, streams ad marshlad. Most water is trapped i rocks ad soil as groudwater, ad less tha oe per cet is surface water i the form of rivers, lakes ad swamps. ad behave very The atural home of a aimal or plat is called a habitat. Aimals look habitats. differetly to oe aother because they have evolved to live i differet DECIDUOUS WOODLANDS RAINFORESTS These woodlads are oly foud betwee 40 ad 60 degrees orth or south of the equator ad each seaso of the year is very distict. Whe the leaves fall off the trees i autum, thousads of isects use them as food ad evetually break them dow ito soils. The high temperatures ad raiy coditios mea that raiforests grow to be very tall ad dese, supportig tes of thousads of species. The Amazo raiforest cotais oe i te of all the kow species o Earth! GRASSLANDS Grasslads are foud over much of the Earth, close to the equator where the climate is warmer. This is where huge migratig herds of herbivores are foud searchig for food ad water, pursued by opportuistic predators. MARINE Marie habitats iclude reefs, estuaries, the abyss of the deep ocea, ad the seabed itself. They make up 71 per cet of the plaet s surface, but the majority of this remais completely uexplored. E Q U A T O R MOUNTAINS Moutais are formed whe the Earth s tectoic plates crash ito each other. They are cold, steep ad i a state of gradual chage as the plates keep movig. With steady footig ad a ability to adapt to chagig elevatios, some aimals thrive here. 10 SCRUBLANDS From South Africa to Australia, scrublads are foud wherever rai falls less ofte. Resiliet ad stocky plats hold o to whatever moisture they ca by storig it iside themselves, or growig thors to protect themselves from thirsty aimals. POLAR REGIONS AND TUNDRA DESERTS Polar regios ad tudra are at the eds of the Earth the extreme orth ad south. Tudra is too cold for may plats to survive, except for moss ad liche, which take may years to grow. Every livig thig eeds water to survive, but it is very scarce i deserts. The largest desert is actually i Atarctica, where the extremely low temperature meas very little of the ice ever melts ito water. 11
Learig about Habitats: IDEAS FOR NON-FICTION WRITING STYLES, USING PAGES 12-41: No-chroological reports: Select a aimal to research i more detail ad preset fidigs as a o-chroological report. Jouralistic writig: Write a ewspaper/magazie article about why a creature is edagered or the dagers to a particular habitat. Explaatio: Use the book to choose a aimal whose life-cycle ca be researched ad explaied. This could be preseted as: - A series of models/diagrams with explaatio labels. - A writte piece. Studets ca work scietifically by observig ad comparig the life cycles of plats ad aimals i their local eviromet with those of others aroud the world. They ca ask pertiet questios ad suggest reasos for similarities ad differeces. OCEANIA The Pacific Ocea is a eormous swathe of sea, larger tha all of the Earth s cotiets put together! Withi this regio of Oceaia are twety thousad tiy islads; home to a icredible abudace of life, as aimals maaged to fid their way to these isolated lads ad evolve. UNDERWATER PREDATORS I betwee the islads lives the thresher shark, whose sleder tail makes up half of their body legth. The strikig black marli also swims i these waters, growig to the legth of more tha two people ad swimmig at the same speed that cheetahs ca ru. THRESHER SHARK Alopias vulpius DID YOU KNOW? The trasparet sea gooseberry is made up of 99 per cet water. It is almost ivisible i the ocea, ad moves by pulsatig the tiy hairs alog its body, creatig a raibow of colours! GIANTS OF OCEANIA The massive cocout crab ca weigh over four kilograms ad the giat clam is oe of the largest molluscs, growig to more tha a metre across. Glidig through the water above is the gree sea turtle oe of the most majestic aimals i the Pacific. This docile vegetaria oly breaks the surface of the ocea to breathe. Females haul themselves o lad to lay eggs i the sad, away from marie predators. COCONUT CRAB Birgus latro T R O P I C O F C A N C E R Norther Mariaa Islads CLOWNFISH Amphiprio ocellaris SEA GOOSEBERRY Pleurobrachia bachei MANDARINFISH Sychiropus spledidus Philippie Carolie Islads Solomo Islads Marshall Islads Kiribati North Pacific Ocea BLACK MARLIN Istiompax idica E Q U A T O R UNIQUE FISH The clowfish has a amazig ability. If the oly female dies or leaves its group, oe of the males trasforms ito a female to take her place. The madarifish also stads out due to its beautifully strikig markigs. These serve as a warig to predators as they taste horrible! Tuvalu GREEN SEA TURTLE Cheloia mydas G R E AT B A R R I E R R E E F Coral New Caledoia Vautau Fiji Samoa Toga Cook Islads Frech Poliesia T R O P I C O F C A P R I C O R N DEADLY SEA CREATURES Box jellyfish ad sea sakes are extremely veomous the olive sea sake is oe of the most dagerous sakes i the world. South Pacific Ocea BOX JELLYFISH Chiroex fleckeri RADIANT REEFS Coral reefs live i symbiosis with algae; i retur for sharig food with the corals, algae are allowed to shelter iside the reef. The reefs are also home to the coloured Christmas tree worms ad udibrachs a type of soft mollusc. GIANT CLAM Tridaca gigas OLIVE SEA SNAKE Aipysurus laevis 36 37
Y5: LIVING THINGS AND THEIR HABITATS Describe the differeces i the life cycles of a mammal, a amphibia, a isect ad a bird. Describe the life process of reproductio i some plats ad aimals. Y6: EVOLUTION AND INHERITANCE Recogise that livig thigs produce offsprig of the same kid, ad that ormally offsprig vary ad are ot idetical to their parets. Explai how some creatures have adapted to their eviromets, recogisig that livig thigs have chaged over time. NS guidace: They should also appreciate that variatio i offsprig over time ca make aimals more or less able to survive i particular eviromets (for example, by explorig how giraffes ecks got loger, or the developmet of isulatig fur o the arctic fox). THE ARCTIC The Arctic is ofte called the lad of the midight su because the su ever rises i the witer ad ever sets i the summer! Every witer the ocea freezes over, coectig the surroudig area i a massive sheet of ice, allowig aimals (ad people) to migrate across the North Pole. SNOWY OWL Bubo scadiacus Harp seals are very fast swimmers, ad ca hold their breath for up to 15 miutes uderwater. ARCTIC FOX Vulpes lagopus NARWHAL Moodo mooceros Berig fic ci Pa h rt cea o O N HARP SEAL PUP Pagophilus groeladicus U i t e d S t a t e s ARctIC WHALES ar rc Arc O a S S I A R U tic le C a a d a ic ci N o r t h P o l e ARCTIC HARE Lepus arcticus ct ce BOWHEAD WHALE Balaea mysticetus May Arctic aimals, like the arctic fox, have a summer ad a witer coat so they remai camouflaged i sow or whe the sow melts to reveal the groud beeath. The Arctic hare is completely white i witer, but for two black spots o the eds of its ears. These hares are kow to flock this is where a group of up to 3,000 ca move, ru ad chage directio i perfect sychroicity! Uusually for owls, the sowy owl huts by day, locatig prey by sight ad soud. Their distictive white plumage offers them the perfect camouflage agaist the sow. DID YOU KNOW? Kow as the uicors of the sea, the arwhals are famous for their sigle swirlig tusk, which is actually a tooth. Secod oly to the blue whale i weight, the bowhead whale has the largest mouth of ay aimal o the plaet. Beluga whales clicks, gruts, squeals ad whistle souds have eared them the ame sea caary. SEASONAL WARDROBES The Sowy Owl Hudso B ay The Arctic Ter LONG IN THE TOOTH This huge member of the seal family ca reach sizes of up to 3.6 metres ad weigh up to 2,000 kilograms. The walrus ca dive ito the depths, feedig o small ivertebrates ad molluscs o the sea floor. d Baffi B ay ARCTIC TERN Stera paradisaea l a Barets Greelad a ti I c e l a d c The migratory Arctic ter makes by far the logest regular migratio of ay kow aimal! It travels a whoppig 70,900 kilometres i a year. f i l a d c e s w e d e O ea tl r o r w a y h A Norwegia e G rt Covered i thick white fur for isulatio, the polar bear s ski is actually black, like its ose ad paws. They ca siff out prey almost a kilometre away ad a metre uder sow! Polar bears are solitary aimals, but the mothers are famously protective of their cubs. No EBONY BEARS Labrador North WALRUS Odobeus rosmarus MUSK OX Ovibos moschatus uited kigdom POLAR BEAR Ursus maritimus BELUGA WHALE Delphiapterus leucas STRONG SURVIVORS Musk oxe are oe of a very small group of aimals kow as megafaua which have survived the impact of huma activity o the eviromet. Whe threateed, herds of musk oxe display clever defece behaviour, buchig together ad bradishig their hors to form a impeetrable lie. 12 13 Persuasive Writig: Desig a leaflet to persuade people to protect oe of the edagered species metioed i the book. Persuade someoe to visit a locatio ad see the wildlife. Discussio: Does tourism support or destroy coservatio attempts? Should all species be protected whatever the cost?
MORE TO INVESTIGATE: Ivestigate some of the explorers or scietists who discovered these aimals. Usig differet spoos, chopsticks, tweezers etc. as beaks, ivestigate how birds have adapted to feed i their habitat (see the otes o Darwi s fiches). Compare two aimals ad idetify the similarities ad differeces betwee them ad how they survive i their eviromet (for example, i the Arctic). Ivestigate camouflage i differet aimals from differet eviromets. www.flyigeyebooks.com @flyigeyebooks