B. Life Systems · Growth and Changes in Animals

Comparing Animals: Body Coverings and Body Parts

B2.1 A1.1 A1.5About 35 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe an animal's characteristics, like its body covering, its number of legs and its special body parts.
I can sort animals into groups: mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects.
I can tell how two animals are the same and how they are different.
I can find facts about an animal and share them on an animal card.

Words to know

characteristic
Something you can observe about an animal, like its body covering, size, colour or number of legs.

body covering
What covers the outside of an animal's body: fur, feathers, scales, skin or a hard shell.

mammal
An animal with fur or hair. Mammal babies drink milk from their mother. People are mammals.

bird
An animal with feathers, wings and a beak. Birds hatch from eggs.

fish
An animal that lives in water, breathes with gills and swims with fins. Most fish have scales.

amphibian
An animal like a frog, toad or salamander. Most start life in water and have soft, moist skin with no scales.

reptile
An animal with dry scales, like a turtle, snake or lizard.

insect
A small animal with 6 legs and 3 body parts. Insects have a hard outer covering.

compare
To look for how things are the same and how they are different.

Animals in your pocket

Look at Canadian coins. Some of them show animals!

The nickel (5 cents) shows a beaver.
The quarter (25 cents) shows a caribou.
The loonie ($1) shows a loon, a bird.
The toonie ($2) shows a polar bear.

How are these four animals the same? How are they different? Scientists ask questions like this all the time. Today you will learn to compare animals like a scientist.

A common loon with a black head, red eye, and black and white checkered back swimming on a lake. — This is the loon from the loonie! Its body is covered in feathers, and its black and white pattern helps us tell it apart from other birds. AI-generated image

🦫🦌🐦🐻‍❄️

A beaver, a caribou, a loon and a polar bear. Three of them have fur. One has feathers. Which one?

Remember from Grade 1

In Grade 1 you learned that animals have body parts that help them live, like legs to move and mouths to eat.

This year we look more closely. A characteristic is something you can observe about an animal. Here are some characteristics to look for:

its body covering: fur, feathers, scales, smooth skin or a hard shell
how many legs it has (or no legs at all)
special body parts, like wings, fins, a beak, a tail, antlers or a shell
its size, shape and colour

Animal groups

Scientists put animals that share important characteristics into groups. The body covering is a big clue!

Group	Body covering	Other characteristics	Canadian examples
🦫 Mammal	fur or hair	Babies drink milk from their mother. Most are born live (not from an egg).	beaver, moose, black bear, raccoon, people
🐦 Bird	feathers	2 legs, 2 wings and a beak. Babies hatch from eggs with hard shells.	common loon, Canada goose, black-capped chickadee
🐟 Fish	scales (most fish)	Live in water. Breathe with gills. Swim with fins.	brook trout, northern pike, yellow perch
🐸 Amphibian	skin with no fur, feathers or scales (most have soft, moist skin)	Most lay eggs in water. Young live in water, and many adults live on land.	wood frog, American toad, spotted salamander
🐢 Reptile	dry scales (turtles also have a shell)	Breathe air. Many lay eggs on land.	painted turtle, snapping turtle, garter snake
🐞 Insect	hard outer covering	6 legs and 3 body parts. Many have wings and antennae.	monarch butterfly, honeybee, ladybug

Six animal groups and how to tell them apart

Every insect has 3 body parts: a head, a thorax and an abdomen. Its 6 legs are on the thorax.

Is a spider an insect?

No! A spider has 8 legs and 2 body parts. An insect has 6 legs and 3 body parts. Count the legs before you decide.

Funny but true

When Canada's $1 coin got the nickname loonie because of its loon, people had fun with the new $2 coin in 1996. They did not name it the "bearie" after its polar bear. They called it the toonie: two loonies!

Worked example

Let's compare a beaver and a loon

A beaver and a loon both live on Canadian lakes. How are they the same? How are they different?

Look at body coverings. The beaver has fur. The loon has feathers. That is different.
Count the legs. The beaver has 4 legs. The loon has 2 legs and 2 wings. Different.
Look at the feet. Both have webbed feet (skin between the toes) that help them swim. The same! (The beaver's back feet are webbed.)
Look at the mouth. The beaver has big front teeth for chewing wood. The loon has a sharp beak for catching fish. Different.
Think about babies. Beaver babies are born live and drink milk. Loon chicks hatch from eggs. Different.

Same: both live on lakes, both swim, both have webbed feet. Different: fur and 4 legs (beaver, a mammal) compared with feathers, 2 legs and wings (loon, a bird).

Worked example

Let's sort these animals

Put each animal in its group: moose, black-capped chickadee, brook trout, wood frog, garter snake, honeybee.

Moose: fur, and the calf drinks milk. → mammal
Chickadee: feathers, wings and a beak. → bird
Brook trout: scales, fins and gills, lives in water. → fish
Wood frog: smooth, moist skin, starts life in a pond. → amphibian
Garter snake: dry scales, no legs. → reptile
Honeybee: 6 legs, 3 body parts, wings. → insect

One animal in each group! We used characteristics (body covering, legs, body parts) to decide.

Hands-on activity

Animal detective card

You need: paper, pencil crayons, and a library book about Canadian animals (or a kids' animal website with a grown-up).

Choose one Canadian animal you are curious about.
Find out: What is its body covering? How many legs? What special body parts does it have? Which group is it in?
Make an animal card: draw your animal and label 3 body parts. Write 3 facts on the back.
Share your card with your family, like a scientist sharing a discovery. Tell them where you found your facts.

What to look for: a clear drawing with labels, the correct group, and facts that came from a book or trusted website (not guesses).

Your turn

What body covering does a bird have?

How many legs does an insect have?

A black bear has fur, and its cubs drink milk. Which group is it in?

A painted turtle has dry scales and a shell. It lays eggs on land. Which group is it in?

Is a spider an insect? How do you know?

Tell one way a frog and a fish are the same and one way they are different.

What is a characteristic?

More practice: warm-up

Which animal has feathers: a moose, a robin or a trout?

Which animal has fur: a beaver, a snake or a ladybug?

What do fish use to breathe under water?

Which group are people in?

Name the animal on the Canadian loonie.

More practice: on your own

A beluga whale lives in the ocean and swims. But it breathes air with lungs, and its calf drinks milk. Is it a fish or a mammal?

Which one does not belong: moose, beaver, Canada goose, black bear? Why?

A little brown bat flies, but it has fur, and its baby drinks milk. Which group is it in?

A ladybug has 6 legs, 3 body parts and a hard red covering with spots. Which group?

Compare a chickadee and a bat. Give one way they are the same and one way they are different.

Challenge

Sam says, "Every animal that swims is a fish." Is Sam right? Give 2 examples to explain.

You find a small animal with 6 legs, 3 body parts, 2 antennae and wings. It is buzzing near flowers. What group is it in? Which clues told you?

Make up your own sorting rule for these animals: monarch butterfly, loon, little brown bat, chickadee. Show your two groups.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which body covering do only birds have?

How many legs does an insect have?

A moose has fur, and its calf drinks milk. What is it?

Which animal is an amphibian?

A beaver and a loon are the same because both...

Which is not a characteristic you can observe?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Animals can be compared by their physical characteristics: body covering, number of legs, body parts, size, shape and colour (B2.1). Grouping animals (mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects) is a handy way to practise noticing characteristics. Your child is not expected to memorize scientific classification.

Researching and sharing (A1.1, A1.5): The animal card is a mini research project. Help your child use one trusted source (a library book, Canadian Wildlife Federation, or a provincial park page) and say where the facts came from.

Common difficulties:

"Whales and beavers are fish because they swim." Ask: "Does it breathe with gills or lungs? Does the baby drink milk?"
"Spiders are insects." Count legs together.
"Bats are birds." Bats have fur, teeth and drink milk as babies, so they are mammals.

How to help: Play "20 questions" with animals, using only characteristic questions ("Does it have fur? How many legs?"). Look at the coins in your wallet together.