Animals
Map
Arrows point from what you learn first to what it opens. Point at a concept to light up its chain and where it comes back deeper. Right-click a concept (or press and hold it) for its lessons and stories.
- Proven to depth123
- Open
- Locked
- Comes back deeper
Learning path
In the order the concepts build on each other.
- Vertebrates and invertebratesReadySome animals have a backbone, a row of small bones down the middle of the back. These are vertebrates: fish, frogs, snakes, birds, cats and people. Most kinds of animals have no backbone at all. These are invertebrates: worms, snails, insects, spiders and many more.
- AmphibiansLockedAmphibians, like frogs, toads and salamanders, start life in water and later live on land too: amphibian means 'living two lives'. A young frog, the tadpole, breathes with gills like a fish. The grown frog breathes with lungs and through its thin, damp skin, so it must stay near water to keep its skin wet.Opens after: Vertebrates and invertebrates
- BirdsLockedBirds are vertebrates with feathers, two wings and a beak with no teeth. They breathe with lungs, keep their bodies warm, and lay eggs with a hard shell, which they sit on to keep warm until the chicks hatch. Most birds fly, but not all: ostriches and penguins can't.Opens after: Vertebrates and invertebrates
- FishLockedFish are vertebrates that live in water. Water has air dissolved in it, and fish take that air in through their gills. They swim with fins and a tail, and most are covered in scales. Most fish lay a great many small eggs in the water.Opens after: Vertebrates and invertebrates
- MammalsLockedMammals are vertebrates with hair or fur, and their mothers feed their babies on milk. They breathe with lungs and keep their bodies warm. Most are born, not hatched from eggs. Cats, cows, bats, whales and people are all mammals.Opens after: Vertebrates and invertebrates
- ReptilesLockedReptiles, like snakes, lizards, turtles and crocodiles, are vertebrates with dry skin covered in scales. They breathe with lungs, even the ones that swim, and most lay eggs with a tough, leathery shell on land. Their bodies don't make much heat of their own, so they warm up in the sun and cool down in the shade.Opens after: Vertebrates and invertebrates
- Animal life cyclesLockedEvery animal goes through a life cycle: it starts life, grows up, has young of its own and in the end dies, and its young start the cycle again. A fish hatches from its egg as a tiny fish and simply grows bigger. A frog changes far more on the way: egg, tadpole, tadpole with legs, young frog, frog.Opens after: Fish, Amphibians
Connections to other domains
- Vertebrates and invertebrates leads to ClassificationLife and Its Variety