Jessica Johnson
EDU 250
12:15
Content Standard: 5.0 Diversity and Adaptation Among Living Things
The student will understand that living things have characteristics that enable them to survive in
their environment.
Learning Expectations:
5.2 Recognize that living things have features that help them to survive in different
environments.
Accomplishments
Diversity and Adaptation Among Living Things:
K.5.2 Recognize that living things have features that help them to survive in different
environments.

Know that different organisms tend to be found in different environments.
Facts
1) The panther, or the black leopard, lick each other to keep clean.
2) Cheetahs use their environment to blend in, in order to hunt their prey.
3) The male deer is called a buck, a bull, or a stag. The female deer is called a doe or a
cow. The young deer, as shown in this picture, is called a fawn or calf.
4) Many meerkats serve as lookouts watching for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles.
5) Meerkats eat insects, lizards, birds, and fruit.
6) The meerkat begin their day by soaking up the sun to warm up there bodies from the
nights sleep by facing the sun.
7) Meerkats live in underground burrows which consist of entrance holes, tunnels, and
sleeping chambers.
8) More people are attacked by hippos per year than attacked by sharks.
9) Snake patterns allow snakes to both hide from enemies and to easily capture the
animals they need for food.
10) A rattlesnake’s rattle is made up of the same thing that makes up human fingernails.
11) Crocodiles can live as long as humans.
12) Ducks tip themselves face first into the water (so you can see their bottoms pointing into
the air) and filter water through their beaks to harvest food from beneath the surfaces.
This is called “dabbling.”
Vocabulary Words
1) Grooming – to clean and remove dirt from the fur
2) Predator – an animal that hunts down other animals for food
3) Fawn – a baby deer
4) Sentry – the guard of the meerkat clan that watches for predators
5) Forage – digging for food
6) Clan – a group of meerkats
7) Burrow – a hole or tunnel in the ground made by an animal
8) Wallow – to lie down and roll around in something
9) Venom – a poisonous fluid from an animal
10) Prey – an animal that’s hunted by another animal for food
11) Wetlands – swampy land
12) Dabbling – to move under water for food
Questions & Answers
1) Why do panthers lick themselves and each other? (to clean themselves and remove dirt
from their fur)
2) What is another name for the panther? (the black leopard)
3) What are the cheetah’s spots used for? (blending into their environment)
4) Is the cheetah the predator or the prey to other animals? (the predator)
5) What is another name for a baby deer? (fawn)
6) What do deer eat? (grass, leaves, and other plants)
7) What are meerkats doing when they stand on their hind legs? (looking for predators)
8) What is a “look out” meerkat called? (sentry)
9) What do meerkats eat? (insects, small lizards, and small birds)
10) What is an animal that eats insects called? (insectivore)
11) Why do meerkats stretch out in the sun in the morning? (to warm their bodies from the
last night’s sleep)
12) What kind of an environment can you usually find meerkats in? (in hot, dry
environments)
13) How are meerkats like groundhogs? (they dig holes and burrows in the ground)
14) What color are meerkats? (light brown)
15) What do hippos do most days? (lie on their bellies, either in the water or closeby, in the
sun)
16) How long can hippos hold their breath while under water? (up to 6 minutes)
17) Why do snakes have different patterns and colors? (to blend in to their environment so
they will not be seen by other animals)
18) What is a snake’s poison called? (venom)
19) What do rattlesnakes use their rattles for? (to warn their prey that they are coming and to
torment them a little)
20) Where do most crocodiles live? (in wetlands and swamps)
21) What do ducks eat? (fish, plants, and worms)
22) Can ducks fly? (yes)