1. Other Animals and Us

Notes: Science Junior 5
2020 - 2021
Topic 1: Other Animals and Us
This belongs to:
___________________________
St Catherine’s High School, Pembroke

In this topic we will learn:
1. that Animals grow and reproduce:
• Animals differ from non-living things in that they
grow and reproduce
• Know about the human life cycle as well as about
some other animal life cycles such as the life cycle
of a frog, a butterfly, a dragonfly or a grasshopper
2. How to group animals according to common
features:
• Be aware of the basic classification of animals into
two broad categories:
o Animals with backbones (vertebrates)
o Animals without backbones (invertebrates)
• Know about the most common subgroups, for
example mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians,
and fish.

The keywords in this topic include:
• Mrs Nerg
• The 7 characteristics of living things
(Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Nutrition, Excreti
on, Reproduction, Growth)
• Life Cycle
• Classification
• Vertebrate
• Invertebrate

Mrs Nerg (or as she's sometimes known, Mrs Gren)
All living things have 7 characteristics.
To help us remember these seven characteristics, the
first letter of each word helps to form Mrs Nerg’s name.
1 Movement The ability to change in position
2 Respiration Or, breathing. Changing oxygen into
energy.
3 Sensitivity Awareness of your surroundings
4 Nutrition Using food to provide energy for such
things as movement, growth, and
repairing the body
5 Excretion The removal of waste products from
the body.

6 Reproduction The ability to make offspring (babies)
7 Growth The ability to increase in size and
maturity, and to
repair damanged tissue

Watch this video on YouTube:
7 Characteristics of Life - Mrs Gren - Mrs Nerg - BBC
Curriculum Bites
The Life Cycle
All living things, including humans, plants, fish, and
insects, are born, they get older and bigger and some will
go on to have offspring (or children). In the end, all living
things die, leaving new behind new generations. We call
this a life cycle.
Animals are small when they start life. Over time they
grow bigger and their bodies change.

When they are grown up, they might reproduce and
have young animals of their own (the new generation!).
These children will get older and may eventually also
have children too, and so the life cycle keeps going!
The Butterfly Life Cycle
We all love butterflies
for their beautiful,
brightlycoloured
wings. But
did you know that
these fab flyers begin
life as
something completely different? As they grow, they
undergo one seriously terrific transformation – a process
known as “metamorphosis“.

Stage 1: the egg
It all starts when a
female butterfly
lays her eggs,
usually on leaves
or stems of plants.
Inside these tiny
eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the
eggs can vary in shape and texture – they can be round,
oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The
time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary – in some
species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others
they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.

Stage 2: the caterpillar
Once
ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the
big outside world! And these little critters have one
serious appetite – they actually eat their way out of the
egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the
host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or
five times – as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too
tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin
underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100
times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!
Stage 3: the pupa

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a
“pupa” (or chrysalis) – a kind of vessel in which the
caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this
on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The
“pupa” stage may last a few weeks to several months
depending on the species. During this time, a hardened
case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators
and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue,
limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result?
A wonderful winged butterfly!

Stage 4: the butterfly
Once the butterfly is
ready to emerge, the
case around the pupa
splits open. But it’s not
time for take off just
yet, as the wings are at
first wet, soft and
wrinkled against its
body. The butterfly
waits for its wings to
dry, and pumps a liquid
called hemolymph into
them so that they
become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant
bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on
and for other butterflies to mate with. And that’s the
cycle complete – and ready to start all over again!

Quiz time!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zwn6mnb
• Sort the stages of a butterfly's life cycle into the right
order.
• Sort the stages of a chicken's life cycle into the
correct order.
Animal Classification
There are many types of animals:

Some walk on land, some swim, some are able to fly,
some live in shells, some live in caves, and others (like
human beings) live in communities with other animals.
Some have skeletons on the inside (like birds or reptiles),
and some have skeletons on the outside (like snails,
oysters, and sea urchins).
Watch video on YouTube
Animal Classification for Children: Classifying Vertebrates and
Invertebrates for Kids - FreeSchool
Vertebrates
Animals that have a backbone inside their body are
called vertebrates.
The major groups include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds
and mammals.
Watch this video on YouTube

Vertebrate Animals: Educational Video for Kids

Invertebrates
Likewise, invertebrate animals are animals that do
not have a backbone.
Watch this video on YouTube to learn more about
invertebrate animals:
Invertebrate Animals | Educational Video for Kids
Let's play a game of classification!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zp6g7p3

Mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and fish all have
something in common - they all have a backbone. Here
are the basics on each group.

End of topic

Revision:
The keywords in this topic included:
• Mrs Nerg
• The 7 characteristics of living things
(Movement, Respiration, Sensitivity, Nutrition, Excreti
on, Reproduction, Growth)
• Life Cycle
• Classification
• Vertebrate
• Invertebrate

In this topic we have learned that:
1. that Animals grow and reproduce:
• Animals differ from non-living things in that they
grow and reproduce
• Know about the human life cycle as well as about
some other animal life cycles such as the life cycle of
a frog, a butterfly, a dragonfly or a grasshopper.
2. How to group animals according to common
features:
• Be aware of the basic classification of animals into
two broad categories:
o Animals with backbones (vertebrates)
o Animals without backbones (invertebrates)
• Know about the most common subgroups, for
example mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and
fish.