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I.E.S LA ESCRIBANA 1º E.S.O. Sección Bilingüe Lesson 4
I.E.S LA ESCRIBANA 1º E.S.O. Sección Bilingüe
Lesson 4
Vertebrate Animals
I.E.S LA ESCRIBANA 1º E.S.O. Lesson 1: Vertebrate Animals
ANIMAL KINGDOM
All animals share some common characteristics:
They are multicellular. They are made by many cells that specialize in a given function.
Their cells are eukaryotic. They have a nucleus and a cell wall.
They all are heterotrophs, that is to say, they feed directly or indirectly on other livingbeings. According to where their food comes from, they can be:
Carnivores (eat foods from animal origins)
Herbivores (eat foods from vegetable origins)
Omnivores (eat foods from both animal or plant origins)
Parasites
They have a great capacity to detect the changes produced in the environment. Thisinformation is received through the senses.
They have the ability to displace. Most are mobile, so they can look for their food, flee
from danger, etc.
ACTIVITY 1: Look for information about the animal kingdom and give tenexamples of:
Carnivores:
Hervivores:
Omnivores:
VERTEBRATES AND INVERTEBRATES
Animals can be either:
Vertebrates: animals that have a vertebral column, that is part of an internal skeletonor endoskeleton.
Invertebrates: animals without a vertebral column. They can have external skeletonor exoskeleton (such as insects or spiders) or not (such as worms or jellfish).
ACTIVITY 2: Write the name of each animal and decide if they arevertebrates or invertebrates:
ACTIVITY 3: Answer the following questions:
What are eukaryotic cells?
What is the difference between an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton? Givethree examples of animals with these types of skeletons.
VERTEBRATE CHARACTERISTICS
A dog, a fish, a whale, a bird or a frog are examples of vetebrates. All of them have aninternal axis, called vertebral column, that is formed by articulated pieces called vertebrae.
Vertebrates can be classified in five groups:
Mammals.
Birds.
Reptiles.
Amphibians.
Fish.
Their characteristics are:
They have an internal skeleton or endoskeleton with a vertebral column.
Their bodies are divided into three main parts: head, trunk and tail.
Most have articulated extremities, which can be either legs, wings or flippers. Thereare some vertebrates that lack them, such as snakes.
They have a very developed nervous system. The main part is the brain, which isinside the head, protected by the cranium.
They have bilateral symmetry and their bodies can be divided in two symmetricalhalves.
ACTIVITY 4: What are vertebrae? Where are they? and what do they form? Draw apicture of an animal showing them.
ACTIVITY 5: All vertebrates have bilateral symmetry. Explain what it is and draw a
picture showing it.
MAMMALS
Elephants, dogs, horses and bears are mammals. Most of them are land mammals,however, there are also sea mammals, such as dolphins or whales, and even a flying mammal,the bat.
Their main characteristics are:
The head is joined to the trunk by the neck and vertebral column, which extends to thetail. They are the only vertebrates that have ears.
They have four extremities, adapted to the environment where they live: land mammalshave legs, sea mammals have flippers and bats have wings.
Their body is covered by hair.
They have lips and teeth.
They have many glands. The most characteristic ones are the mammary glands, whichproduce milk.
Mammals are able to maintain their body temperature constantly. This type of animalsare called homeothermic.
They breathe with their lungs and their feeding is very varied. There are mammals thatare carnivores, insectivores, herbivores, etc.
Their fertilization is internal and the babies develop inside their mum's belly, whichmeans they are viviparous. After the babies' birth, they feed on their mother's milk.
ACTIVITY 6: Look for information on the Internet about the main groups ofmammals and draw some examples.
ACTIVITY 7: Answer the following questions:
Why are they called mammals?
Why are human beings mammals? Compare human beings with othermammals and list their common characteristics.
What is the meaning of “biped”?
ACTIVITY 8: Look for information on the Internet and make a postershowing some examples of:
Birds.
Reptiles.
Amphibians.
Fish.
ACTIVITY 9: Look at the picture and answer the following questions:
Killer whales surface from time to time. Why do you think they have thisbehaviour?
Look for information about the water that spouts from their backs.
Why don´t sea mammals have ears?
GLOSSARY
Vertebrate animal: animal vertebrado. Invertebrate animal: animal invertebrado. Multicellular: multicelular. Eukaryotic cell: célula eucariotica. Heterotroph: heterótrofo. Carnivore: carnívoro. Hervivore: hervívoro. Omnivore: omnívoro. Senses: sentidos. Displace: desplazarse, moverse. Vertebral column: columna vertebral. Endoskeleton: endoesqueleto. Exoskeleton: exoesqueleto. Vertebrae: vertebras. Mammal: mamífero. Bird: ave. Reptile: reptil. Amphibian: anfibio. Fish: pez. Trunk: tronco. Tail: cola, rabo. Articulated extremities: extremidades articuladas. Wing: ala. Flipper: aleta. Nervous system: sistema nervioso. Brain: cerebro. Cranium: cráneo. Bilateral symmetry: simetría bilateral. Land mammal: mamífero terrestre. Sea mammal: mamífero marino. Mammary gland: glándula mamaria. Homeothermic: homeotérmico. Belly: vientre. Viviparous: vivíparo. Biped: bípedo.
