How do Animal Features Help Animals? Danielle Ruff CES 3 rd Grade

Adaptations for Survival  Like plants, animals have adaptations for surviving.  Eagles have great eye sight (they can spot prey over a mile away).  The birds’ strong wings help them fly fast.  Eagles have sharp claws they can use to grab and hold their prey.  They also have sharp beaks for eating their food. Pg. 246

Behaviors  Animals have behaviors, or ways of acting, that help them survive.  Winter is hard for some animals.  There is little food.  In fall, some animals eat more and build up fat.  Then they hibernate, or spend the winter in a kind of deep sleep.  They do not use much energy.  They live off their fat.  Hibernating is an adaptation.

Behaviors  Other animals migrate to survive.  To migrate is to travel from one place to another and back again.  In summer, gray whales live near Alaska.  In fall, when the ocean becomes colder, they swim south.  They migrate to warmer waters off the coast of California.  In spring, they swim north.

Other Adaptations for Survival  Some animals can hide well.  Their shapes or colors match their environment.  This adaptation helps them hide.  The Artic hare has brown fur in the summer. The brown color matches the rocks and the ground. In winter, the Artic hare’s fur turns white. This makes the animal hard to see against the snow.  Animals that eat hares may not see them.

Other Adaptations for Survival  Some animals survive by looking like other animals.  The milk snake is not deadly. The coral snake is.  These snakes look very much alike. People can tell them apart. Animals that eat snakes cannot, so they leave both alone.  Looking like the deadly coral snake keeps the milk snake safe. Coral Snake Milk Snake