Home Geography for Primary Grades · Lesson XXXVIII · Unit 8: Animals and the seasons
38. The covering of animals
Goal: Your child names animals covered with fur, hair, feathers, wool and shells, and explains how each covering suits the animal's life.
You'll need
- Samples to touch if you have them: a feather, a piece of wool yarn, a seashell
- An eyedropper of water and a bit of cooking oil on wax paper (to show how oil sheds water)
- A geography notebook (any notebook kept just for these lessons) and a pencil
What's in the book
Questions about animals covered with fur, hair and feathers, the covering of a sheep and a pig, the shells of the oyster, lobster and turtle, the oily feathers of the duck, and what would happen if a squirrel had a turtle's shell or a bird had scales. Each animal has the covering that suits its habits best.
The lesson, step by step
Fur, hair, feathers
Ask the book's questions: Name two animals covered with fur. Two covered with hair. Two covered with feathers. What do we call the covering of a sheep? Of a pig?
Why a covering?
Ask: What use is hair to animals? (keeps them warm and dry)
Shells
Look at a shell if you have one. Ask: What covering has an oyster? A lobster? A turtle? What use is it to them?
Oily feathers
Read about the duck's oily feathers. Rub a little cooking oil on part of a piece of wax paper or a leaf, then drip water on both the oily part and the plain part. On the oil, water rolls off in beads.
SayThat is why a duck can swim and stay dry.
Ask: Does a hen need such oily feathers? Why not?
Silly swaps
Ask the book's funny questions: What if a squirrel had a turtle's shell? What if a bird had scales instead of feathers? Your child may draw one of these.
The big idea
Read:
You see that each animal has that covering which suits its habits best.
Afterwards
On walks, notice the coverings of every animal you see: a dog's hair, a robin's feathers, a snail's shell, an earthworm's bare, damp skin.
Answers to the book's problems
Fur: cat, rabbit, fox, beaver. Hair: horse, cow, dog. Feathers: hen, duck, robin. A sheep is covered with wool, a pig with bristles. Hair keeps animals warm and dry. An oyster, a lobster and a turtle have hard shells that protect them. A hen's feathers are not so oily, because a hen does not swim. A squirrel with a turtle's shell would be too heavy and stiff to leap and climb trees. A bird with scales could not fly. Each animal has the covering that suits its habits best.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.