Chapter 6 of 8

All 8 chapters
  1. 1Living and non-living, readunderstood
  2. 2Grouping animals, readunderstood
  3. 3Habitats, readunderstood
  4. 4Exploring a small habitat, readunderstood
  5. 5Fit for the habitat, readunderstood
  6. 6Plant eaters, meat eaters and both, readunderstood
  7. 7Food chains, readunderstood
  8. 8Changes to habitats, readunderstood

S2.2.6 Chapter 6

Plant eaters, meat eaters and both

How can I tell what an animal eats?

Your guess

Pick one before you read on. It is fine to be wrong.

Your guess

  • You picked A. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked B. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked C. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

  • You picked D. Read on. At the end, the chapter comes back to your guess.

By the end you can

  • Sort animals into herbivores, carnivores and omnivores
  • Tell from teeth or beaks what an animal eats

Every animal needs food. Some eat plants. Some eat other animals. Some eat both.

A herbivore eats only plants. A goat, a cow, a rabbit and an elephant are herbivores.

A carnivore eats other animals. A lion, an eagle and a shark are carnivores.

An omnivore eats plants and animals. People, pigs, bears and crows are omnivores.

A hen eats seeds. It also eats worms and insects. So a hen is an omnivore.

Three rows, each with an animal and two words. A goat is labelled herbivore and eats grass. A frog is labelled carnivore and eats insects. A hen is labelled omnivore and eats seeds, worms.herbivoreeats grasscarnivoreeats insectsomnivoreeats seeds, worms
A goat eats plants. A frog eats animals. A hen eats both.

See it three ways

As a picture

Two overlapping circles. The left circle is labelled eats plants and holds goat, cow and rabbit. The right circle is labelled eats animals and holds lion, eagle and shark. The shared middle holds hen, bear and crow.eats plantseats animalsgoatcowrabbithenbearcrowlioneagleshark

In words

A herbivore eats only plants. A carnivore eats only animals. An omnivore eats both, so it sits in the middle.

Teeth tell you what an animal eats. A plant eater has wide, flat back teeth. They grind plants.

Its front teeth cut or tear grass. A cow has no top front teeth. It has a hard pad.

A meat eater has long, pointed teeth to grip. Its sharp back teeth slice meat.

An omnivore has some teeth of each kind.

Two jaws seen from the side, front of the mouth on the right. The first is labelled plant eater. It has wide flat teeth at the back and chisel teeth at the front. A dashed line from the words front teeth cut points to the chisel teeth, and one from the words flat teeth grind points to a flat tooth. The second is labelled meat eater. It has saw edged teeth at the back and a long pointed tooth in each jaw. A dashed line from the words long tooth grips points to the long tooth, and one from the words back teeth slice points to a saw edged tooth.plant eaterfront teeth cutflat teeth grindmeat eaterlong tooth gripsback teeth slice
Flat teeth grind plants. Pointed and sharp teeth grip and slice meat.

Draw it first

Draw three rows of teeth

  1. Three rows of teeth hanging from a gum. In the first row every tooth is flat, labelled herbivore and flat, grinds. In the second row every tooth is pointed, labelled carnivore and pointed, grips. In the third row two teeth are flat on each side of a pointed one, labelled omnivore and some of each.herbivoreflat, grinds

    1 Draw a gum and flat teeth. Write herbivore and flat, grinds.

  2. Three rows of teeth hanging from a gum. In the first row every tooth is flat, labelled herbivore and flat, grinds. In the second row every tooth is pointed, labelled carnivore and pointed, grips. In the third row two teeth are flat on each side of a pointed one, labelled omnivore and some of each.herbivoreflat, grindscarnivorepointed, grips

    2 Draw a gum and pointed teeth. Write carnivore and pointed, grips.

  3. Three rows of teeth hanging from a gum. In the first row every tooth is flat, labelled herbivore and flat, grinds. In the second row every tooth is pointed, labelled carnivore and pointed, grips. In the third row two teeth are flat on each side of a pointed one, labelled omnivore and some of each.herbivoreflat, grindscarnivorepointed, gripsomnivoresome of each

    3 Draw a gum with flat and pointed teeth. Write omnivore and some of each.

Birds have beaks, not teeth. A beak fits the food too.

An eagle has a hooked beak. It tears meat. A sparrow has a short, strong beak. It cracks seeds.

A sunbird or a hummingbird has a long, thin beak. It reaches nectar in flowers. A duck has a flat, wide beak. It sifts food from water.

Four bird heads in two rows. An eagle has a hooked beak, labelled eagle and tears meat. A sparrow has a short, strong beak, labelled sparrow and cracks seeds. A sunbird has a long, thin beak, labelled sunbird and sips nectar. A duck has a flat, wide beak, labelled duck and sifts food.eagletears meatsparrowcracks seedssunbirdsips nectarducksifts food
A beak fits the food a bird eats.

Try it

Feel your teeth

You need: your tongue, clean hands, paper and a pencil.

Be safe: Never put your fingers in an animal's mouth. Wash your hands after.

  1. Wash your hands first.
  2. Run your tongue along your front teeth. Are they flat or pointed?
  3. Move back along one side. Find the pointed tooth.
  4. Feel your back teeth. Are they wide and bumpy?
  5. Draw one side of your mouth. Show flat, pointed and wide teeth.

What you will see: Your front teeth are flat. They cut. Next to them is a pointed tooth that grips. Your back teeth are wide. They grind. You have some of each, because people eat plants and meat. People are omnivores.

If you cannot try it, this is what happens.
One side of a human jaw seen from the cheek, with the front of the mouth on the left. Two flat teeth at the front are labelled incisors. A pointed tooth next to them is labelled canine. Two wide teeth at the back are labelled molars. The words front and back are written under the gum.incisorsmolarscaninefrontback

The flat front teeth are incisors. The pointed tooth is the canine. The wide back teeth are molars.

Some people think big, strong animals must eat meat. Elephants, gorillas and rhinos are huge. They eat only plants.

A table with three columns, Animal, Size and Eats. elephant: huge, plants. rabbit: small, plants. lion: big, animals. owl: small, animals.AnimalSizeEatselephanthugeplantsrabbitsmallplantslionbiganimalsowlsmallanimals
Big animals and small animals can eat plants. Some eat animals.

A wrong idea many people have

Big, strong animals must eat meat.

Why it feels right: A lion is strong and eats meat. So strength must come from meat.

The test that breaks it: Think of an ox that pulls a plough. It is very strong. It eats only grass and hay. Elephants, gorillas and rhinos eat only plants too. Find out what the biggest animal near you eats.

What is true: Size and strength do not tell you what an animal eats. Look at its teeth or its beak.

Key words

herbivore
an animal that eats only plants.
carnivore
an animal that eats other animals.
omnivore
an animal that eats both plants and animals.

Back to your guess

The answer is D: Look at its teeth or its beak.

Teeth and beaks fit the food. Size, colour and home do not tell you.

Check yourself

Try each one before you look. A wrong answer tells you where to go next.

  1. Which animal eats only plants?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A lion eats other animals. It is a carnivore. Try another.

    2. Yes, that is right. An elephant is a herbivore. It is huge, but it eats only plants.

    3. Not this one. A bear eats plants and animals. It is an omnivore. Try another.

    See the answer

    Elephant

    An elephant is a herbivore. It is huge, but it eats only plants.

    • If you chose A: A lion eats other animals. It is a carnivore.
    • If you chose C: A bear eats plants and animals. It is an omnivore.

  2. A hen eats seeds, worms and insects. What is a hen?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A hen eats worms and insects too. A herbivore eats only plants. Try another.

    2. Not this one. A hen eats seeds too. A carnivore eats only animals. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. A hen eats plants and animals. That makes it an omnivore.

    See the answer

    An omnivore

    A hen eats plants and animals. That makes it an omnivore.

    • If you chose A: A hen eats worms and insects too. A herbivore eats only plants.
    • If you chose B: A hen eats seeds too. A carnivore eats only animals.

  3. An animal has long pointed teeth and sharp back teeth. What does it eat?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Yes, that is right. Pointed teeth grip and sharp back teeth slice. They suit a meat eater.

    2. Not this one. Plant eaters have wide, flat back teeth for grinding. Try another.

    3. Not this one. A bird with a short, strong beak cracks seeds. Pointed teeth grip meat. Try another.

    See the answer

    Other animals

    Pointed teeth grip and sharp back teeth slice. They suit a meat eater.

    • If you chose B: Plant eaters have wide, flat back teeth for grinding.
    • If you chose C: A bird with a short, strong beak cracks seeds. Pointed teeth grip meat.

  4. A bird has a short, strong beak. What does it eat?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. A hooked beak tears meat. A short, strong beak cracks seeds. Try another.

    2. Not this one. A long, thin beak reaches nectar. Try another.

    3. Not this one. A flat, wide beak sifts food from water. A short, strong beak cracks seeds. Try another.

    4. Yes, that is right. A short, strong beak cracks seeds. A sparrow has one.

    See the answer

    Seeds

    A short, strong beak cracks seeds. A sparrow has one.

    • If you chose A: A hooked beak tears meat. A short, strong beak cracks seeds.
    • If you chose B: A long, thin beak reaches nectar.
    • If you chose C: A flat, wide beak sifts food from water. A short, strong beak cracks seeds.

  5. Sort these into herbivore, carnivore and omnivore: cow, eagle, bear, rabbit.

    See the answer

    Herbivores: cow and rabbit. Carnivore: eagle. Omnivore: bear.

    A cow and a rabbit eat only plants. An eagle eats other animals. A bear eats both.

  6. From an earlier chapter

    Mei sees a hen. It has feathers and lays eggs. Which group is it in?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. Mammals have fur or hair and feed milk to their young. A hen has feathers. Go to S2.2.2. Try another.

    2. Yes, that is right. Birds have feathers and lay eggs. A hen is a bird.

    3. Not this one. Reptiles have dry scales. A hen has feathers. Go to S2.2.2. Try another.

    See the answer

    Birds

    Birds have feathers and lay eggs. A hen is a bird.

    • If you chose A: Mammals have fur or hair and feed milk to their young. A hen has feathers. Go to S2.2.2.
    • If you chose C: Reptiles have dry scales. A hen has feathers. Go to S2.2.2.

  7. A rhino is huge and strong. What does it eat?

    Tap your answer.

    1. Not this one. Strength does not tell you what an animal eats. A rhino has flat grinding teeth. Try another.

    2. Not this one. Size does not tell you either. A rhino eats only plants. Try another.

    3. Yes, that is right. A rhino is a herbivore. It is huge, but its flat teeth grind plants.

    See the answer

    Only plants.

    A rhino is a herbivore. It is huge, but its flat teeth grind plants.

    • If you chose A: Strength does not tell you what an animal eats. A rhino has flat grinding teeth.
    • If you chose B: Size does not tell you either. A rhino eats only plants.

Keep it

Copy this into your exercise book.

A herbivore eats plants. A carnivore eats animals. An omnivore eats both. Flat back teeth grind plants. Pointed teeth grip meat. Beaks fit food too. Size does not tell you what an animal eats.

Draw: A row of flat teeth and a row of pointed teeth. Label them plants and meat.

Reading with a child? A short page for the adult: what this chapter teaches and three questions to ask.

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