WHY INSECTS ARE SO IMPORTANT?

• They provide food for other animals.
• They eat dead animals and plants.
• They help pollinate plants.
• Some make honey or silk.

Some insects can also be harmful because:

• They sting.
• They transmit diseases.
• They damage crops.
• They eat our food, clothes and wood.

Insects are food for other animals. Photo from Life123

Insects pollinate plants. Photo from Wikipedia

Bees make honey. Photo from Lachie Mathieson

Worms make silk. Photo from treehugger

Some insects sting. Photo from Adventure Malaysia

Some insects transmit diseases. Photo from Scientific American

Insects damage crops. Photo from Kansas State University

Termites eat wood. Photo from Cascade

THE LIFE CYCLE OF INSECTS

Insects are oviparous.
When the egg hatches, the offspring looks like a worm.
It hasn't got any wings or antennae.
It is called a larva for some insects, and a caterpillar for butterflies and moths.
Larvae and caterpillars eat all the time.
Silk moth: when the caterpillar grows large, it makes a cocoon.
An adult silk moth emerges from the cocoon.

1.- Butterfly egg. Photo from Wikipedia

2.- Caterpillar. Photo from Wikipedia

3.- Cocoon. Photo from Wikipedia

4.- Butterfly. Photo from Wikipedia

WHAT ARE INSECTS LIKE?

Insects are the largest group of animals.
Tehy are invertebrates.
Ants, beetles, cockroaches, butterflies, flies and mosquitoes are all insects.
Insects' bodies are divided into three main parts:

• The head: the mouth, the eyes and two antennae.
• The thorax contains six legs and four wings.
• The abdomen contains the organs.

Thanks to Fabián, who brought us the beetle, so I could take the photo

INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS VOCABULARY

SPIDERS

Spiders belong to a group of animals called arthropods.

Centipedes, crabs and insects are also arthropods.

Spiders have eight legs.

Most spiders spin webs to trap insects.

They eat the insects.

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

MOLLUSCS

 There are many types of molluscs.

All molluscs have soft bodies.
They usually have hard shells for protection.
Snails, clams, scallops and mussels are molluscs.

Snails have a hard, spiral shell.

They have one flat foot for moving.

They eat plants.

Some molluscs do not have shells: the slug and the octopus.

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

WORMS

Worms are long and thin.
Their bodies are soft, and they do not have legs.
Many worms live underground, while others live in the sea.

Some worms, such as the tapeworm, live inside the human body.
They can make people very ill.

Adult worms have a bump on the body called a clitellum.
It is part of their reproductive system.

JELLYFISH

Jellyfish are invertebrates that live in the sea.
They look like bags of jelly.
They have tentacles that sting.
Jellyfish do not swim.
They float with the sea currents and use propulsion.

INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS

Invertebrate animals haven´t got a backbone.
Jellyfish, worms, snails, mussels and spiders are invertebrates.
Insects are also invertebrates.
For example, butterflies, ants, flies and beetles are invertebrates.

All images taken from Wikipedia but fly: from Bugguide

Click here, play and learn:

VERTEBRATE ANIMALS ACTIVITIES

Here you have some activities to practice. Some pf them are the same you have on your book. Some others, not.

VERTEBRATE ANIMALS TEST

Here you have a test to practice and learn about vertebrate animals.

Enjoy it!

HOW AMPHIBIANS REPRODUCE

Amphibians are oviparous.
Tadpoles hatch from eggs laid in water.
Tadpoles are different from the adults.
They breathe through gills and have a tail to swim.
They live in water.
As they develop, tadpoles grow legs.
They leave the water and live on land.

AMPHIBIANS

Amphibians have bare skin and they can breathe through lungs and through their skin.
They have four legs.
Frogs and toads have longer hindquarters and no tail.

Picture from: Comunity Correspondant

Newts and salamanders have four equal legs and a long tail.

Picture from: http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/spotted_salamander.htm

Amphibians are oviparous and do not take care of their babies.

Picture from: http://biobook.nerinxhs.org/bb/systems/development.htm

Information from: Kid's Corner

HOW FISH REPRODUCE

Fish are oviparous animals.
They lay many small eggs in water.
These eggs have no protective covering, and the fish do not incubate them.
Fish do not take care of the baby fish.

Picture from: The Fish Site

FISH

Fish are aquatic animals.
They breathe in oxygen from water using their gills.
Their bodies are covered with shiny scales, and they swim using their fins.
Some fish, like trout and carp, live in fresh water.
Others, like hake, sardines or sharks, live in salty water.

Information from: Kid's Corner

BIRDS AND DINOSAURS

Dinosaurs were reptiles that lived on Earth millions of years ago.

They are extinct now, but scientists can study their bones.

Some dinosaurs were enormous, bigger than elephants. 

Others were small and their bodies were covered with feathers.

Scientists think that birds are descended from dinosaurs.

HOW BIRDS REPRODUCE

Birds are oviparous animals.
They hatch from eggs laid on land.
Birds incubate their eggs, feed and take care of their babies.

Here you can see how a chick grows inside an egg!

BIRDS

Birds breathe through lungs.
They have a beak and their skin is covered with feathers.
Birds have two wings to fly and two legs covered with scales.

Information from: Kid's Corner

HOW REPTILES REPRODUCE

Reptiles are oviparous animals.

Reptiles lay their eggs on land to reproduce.

Most reptiles do not incubate their eggs or feed or take care of their babies.

REPTILES

Lizards, snakes, tortoises...
All reptiles breathe through lungs and have skin covered with scales.
Most of them live on land and walk using their legs.
However, some reptiles are different:

• Snakes have no legs and they slither.
• Tortoises and turtles have a hard shell to protect their body. Turtles are aquatic, but they breathe oxygen from the air.
• Crocodiles are protected by bony scutes where their scales are very thick.

Picture from: Kid's Corner

PRIMATES

Humans belong to this group of mammals.
Gorillas, chimpanzees and monkeys are also primates.
All primates have big brains and their eyes are at the front of their face.
They use their hands to grip objects and use them as tools.

FLYING MAMMALS

There are many different types of bats.
Bats fly using their upper limbs, which are wings.
The wings have layers of skin stretched over the arms and fingers.
Bats have a thumb and four fingers.
Bats hunt insects at night but they cannot see them.
They use their big ears to help them find the insects.

MARINE MAMMALS

Marine mammals, like dolphins or whales, live in the sea.

They have bare skin ant they swim using their fins.

Marine mammals are excellent divers. 

However, they need to come to the surface of the water to breathe in oxygen from the air.

Photos from Wikipedia

HOW MAMMALS REPRODUCE

Mammals are viviparous.

They are born from their mother's womb and drink their mother's milk.

Some babies, like lambs, can walk when they are born.

Others cannot. Baby kangaroos stay in the mother's pouch for some time.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MAMMALS

Mammals are vertebrates.
Most mammals live on land and use their legs to move around.
They breathe through lungs.
Their skin is usually covered with fur or hair.

Information from: Kid's Corner

Photo from: ZMEScience

ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS

Many plants also reproduce asexually, without flowers or seeds.

Olive trees can grow from cuttings.

The cuttings are branches that are cut off and planted.

They grow roots and produce a new plant.

REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS

Most plants have sexual reproduction.
The flowers have a male part and a female part.

• In spring, the plum tree grows flowers.

• The carpel (pistil) of the flower turns into a plum.

• The plum grows. The seeds are inside the plum.



• The seeds fall to the ground and germinate. They grow small roots and a stem.
• A new plum tree grows.