Science // Area
Animals of the World
Age coverage
Ages 5 to 14
Starts at age 5 // 7 topics
Starting at age 5
Your child is discovering the amazing diversity of animals around the world — learning how they have babies, find shelter, use camouflage, and adapt to different environments from deserts to polar regions.
- Animals Everywhere
Know that animals live all over the world — on land, in water, and in the air — and that every continent, even icy Antarctica, is home to animals, each suited…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Animal Homes
Know that animals make or find many different kinds of homes — birds build nests, rabbits dig burrows, bees live in hives, hermit crabs use empty shells…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - How Animals Have Babies
Know that different animals have their babies in different ways — some lay eggs (birds, reptiles, fish, insects), some give birth to live young (most mammals)…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Wild, Farm & Pet Animals
Understand the difference between wild animals, farm animals, and pets — wild animals find their own food and shelter in nature; farm animals are kept by people…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Nocturnal Animals
Know that some animals are nocturnal — active at night and sleeping during the day — and that nocturnal animals often have special features like big eyes (owls…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Animal Camouflage
Know that many animals use camouflage — colours and patterns that help them blend into their surroundings — to hide from predators or to sneak up on prey, like…
Ages 5 to 7Concept - Animal Record-Holders
Know some of the world's animal record-holders — the blue whale is the largest animal ever, the cheetah is the fastest land animal, the bee hummingbird is the…
Ages 5 to 7Concept
Starts at age 7 // 8 topics
Starting at age 7
Your child is exploring the amazing diversity of animals around the world, learning how different creatures communicate, migrate, hunt and survive in various habitats from rainforests to deserts to polar regions.
- Polar Animals
Explore animals of the Arctic and Antarctic — polar bears, Arctic foxes, and walruses in the north; penguins, seals, and albatrosses in the south — and…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Animal Migration
Know that many animals make incredible journeys called migrations — Arctic terns fly from pole to pole, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles across…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Predator Hunting Strategies
Understand that predators have evolved hunting strategies — wolves hunt in packs, chameleons use their long tongues, spiders build webs, crocodiles ambush at…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Savanna & Grassland Animals
Explore animals of the grasslands and savanna — lions, zebras, wildebeest, elephants, cheetahs in African savanna; bison and prairie dogs in American grasslands…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Desert Animals
Explore animals of the desert — camels, fennec foxes, scorpions, rattlesnakes, meerkats — and understand how desert animals survive extreme heat and lack of…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - The World of Minibeasts
Know that insects and other minibeasts (spiders, worms, snails, centipedes) are the most numerous and diverse group of animals on Earth — there are more species…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Rainforest Animals
Explore animals of the tropical rainforest — the most species-rich habitat on Earth — learning that the forest has layers (canopy, understory, forest floor)…
Ages 7 to 9Concept - Animal Communication
Understand that animals communicate in many different ways — birds sing to attract mates and defend territory, whales call across vast ocean distances, bees…
Ages 7 to 9Concept
Starts at age 9 // 7 topics
Starting at age 9
Your child is discovering how animals have evolved amazing adaptations to survive in their environments, exploring complex animal behaviors and intelligence, and learning about conservation efforts to protect endangered species and biodiversity.
- Biodiversity
Understand that biodiversity — the variety of different species in an ecosystem — is essential for healthy ecosystems, and that keystone species (like wolves in…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Protecting Endangered Animals
Know how people work to protect endangered animals — through national parks and marine reserves, captive breeding programmes (like those that saved the…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Endangered & Extinct Species
Understand why some animal species become endangered or go extinct — habitat destruction, hunting/poaching, pollution, climate change, and invasive species…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Invasive Species
Understand that invasive species are animals (or plants) that have been introduced to a place where they don't naturally belong — like grey squirrels…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Structural Adaptations
Understand that animals have structural adaptations (body features like the giraffe's long neck, eagle's talons, dolphin's streamlined shape), behavioural…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Symbiosis
Understand symbiosis — close relationships between different species — including mutualism (both benefit, like clownfish and anemones), commensalism (one…
Ages 9 to 11Concept - Animal Intelligence
Explore animal intelligence and complex behaviour — chimpanzees and crows use tools, dolphins recognise themselves in mirrors, octopuses solve puzzles and…
Ages 9 to 11Concept
Starts at age 11 // 1 topic
Starting at age 11
- The Red Queen Hypothesis
Introduce the Red Queen hypothesis — species must keep evolving just to maintain fitness relative to co-evolving partners; describe predator-prey arms races…
Ages 11 to 12Concept
Starts at age 12 // 3 topics
Starting at age 12
- The Biodiversity Crisis
Quantify the current biodiversity crisis: extinction rates 100-1000x the background rate; explain methods for measuring biodiversity loss (species-area…
Ages 12 to 14Concept - Sexual Selection
Explain sexual selection as a form of natural selection: runaway selection for peacock tails, bird of paradise displays, and frog calls; explain kin selection…
Ages 12 to 13Concept - Deep-Sea Survival
Explain how deep-sea animals cope with crushing pressure (no gas-filled spaces, flexible proteins, pressure-adapted enzymes); describe thermoregulation extremes…
Ages 12 to 13Concept
Starts at age 13 // 1 topic
Starting at age 13
- Grouping Species Using DNA
Explain cladistics: organisms are grouped by shared derived characters, not just similarity; how phylogenetic trees are built using molecular data (DNA sequence…
Ages 13 to 14Concept