Fact file research - Websites to use

 National Geographic Kids - Animals

Animal Fact Guide

Science Kids - Animal Facts

Kupe and the Wheke

 

Life in Aotearoa | Connected 'Kaitiakitanga"

 

Home Sweet Habitat - Crash Course Kids

 Click this link to watch the video

Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores

 Animals can be classified based on the food they eat. Animals that are plant eaters are called herbivores, meat-eaters are carnivores, and animals who eat both plants and meat are called omnivores.

Key Facts & Information

Herbivores

• Animals that eat only plants and plant products are called herbivores.
• They are referred to as the primary consumers.
• Herbivores are usually at the second level of the energy pyramid.
• The energy that herbivores need is high, so they are usually busy feeding themselves because they cannot survive without sufficient energy.
• They use several defenses to protect themselves from their enemies.
• Some have shells, poisons that they release from their body, and camouflage abilities.
• Herbivores come in various sizes, and the world’s largest herbivore is the African elephant.

Types of Herbivores

• Herbivores can either eat various plants or just one type of plant.
• Herbivores such as fruit bats and flying foxes that consume only fruits are called frugivores.
• Folivores are herbivores that mostly eat leaves.
• Detritivores are those that eat dead plant materials only.
• Herbivores that consume seeds are called granivores.
• Nectar-eating herbivores are called nectarivores.
• Xylophages are herbivores that eat wood.
• Grazers are herbivores who depend on grass.
• Two ways herbivores digest their food are through foregut fermentation and hindgut fermentation.
• Animals with multiple chambers digest their food through foregut fermentation, while animals with single-chambered stomachs process their food through hindgut fermentation.
• Herbivores such as cows and kangaroos are foregut fermenters, while horses and elephants fall under the hindgut fermenters.

Carnivores

• Carnivores are animals that consume meat or animal flesh.
• They hunt their prey to survive, and they are also referred to as predators.
• Carnivores that consume herbivores are secondary consumers and are usually placed third in the energy pyramid.
• Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers and are at the fourth level of the energy pyramid.
• Their bodies and characteristics are suitable for hunting.
• However, some carnivores do not hunt and depend on dead or decaying animals for food.
• These animals are called scavengers.
• Carnivores who can only consume meat to survive are called obligate carnivores and they cannot digest plants properly.
• An example of an animal under this category is a lion.
• There are three distinctions of carnivores based on the meat that they eat.
• Hypercarnivores have a 70 percent meat diet.
• The rest of their energy is covered by consuming plants, fungi, and other nutrients.
• All obligate carnivores are considered hypercarnivores.
• Carnivores that consume 50 percent meat on their diet are called mesocarnivores.
• To fill their energy, they can consume fungi, fruits, and vegetables.
• Carnivores who consume less than 30 percent of meat are called hypocarnivores.
• They also consume fish, berries, nuts, roots, and bulbs.
• Some hypocarnivores are also considered omnivores, and the most common example is a bear.

Omnivores

• Omnivores are animals who consume both plants and animals.
• Although they eat plants, they cannot eat all types of them.
• Omnivores are animals who consume both plants and animals.
• Although they eat plants, they cannot eat all types of them.
• Humans are also considered omnivores.
• Omnivores are very adaptable in finding food in different places.
• Some omnivores are also scavengers.
• Like carnivores, omnivores are called secondary consumers.
• They are also in the third trophic level in the energy pyramid.
• Omnivores are believed to have better chances of living due to their diet.

Digital Citizenship: Interland

 

Type into Google Chrome: Interland

See if you can navigate safely through the digital world!

Extinct creatures

 

Space Food

 Space Food 

Read this article and explain in your own words how things decompose.