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Key Terms for the Unit: •classification •vertebrate •invertebrate •fish •bird •reptile •amphibian •mammal
I can identify animals that are vertebrates and animals that are invertebrates. (Knowledge)
I can identify vertebrates as either fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, or mammals. (Knowledge)
I can differentiate vertebrates from invertebrates. (Reasoning)
I can differentiate vertebrates into fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds or mammals. (Reasoning)
I can use multiple data sources to develop a model that shows how animals are sorted into groups. (Skill)
I can develop a model to show how animals can be sorted as either vertebrates or invertebrates. (Product)
I can develop a model to show how vertebrates can be sorted into groups. (Product)
Vertebrates refers to any animal that has a backbone or spinal column. The vertebrates are also characterized by a muscular system consisting primarily of bilaterally paired masses and a central nervous system partly enclosed within the backbone.
There are currently around 65,000 known species of vertebrate animals. This sounds like a lot, but vertebrates are only around 3% of all the animals on Earth. Most of the animal species are invertebrates.
Invertebrates are animals without a backbone or bony skeleton. They range in size from microscopic mites and almost invisible flies to giant squid with soccer-ball-size eyes. More than 90 percent of all living animal species are invertebrates. Invertebrates are especially important as agricultural pests, parasites, or agents for the transmission of parasitic infections to humans and other vertebrates. Invertebrates serve as food for humans; are key elements in food chains that support birds, fish, and many other vertebrate species; and play important roles in plant pollination.
Birds are four-limbed, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates and are the only animals with feathers. Although all birds have wings, a few species can't fly.
The only characteristic that is different between mammals and birds, and thus distinguishes mammals from birds, is the ability of mammals to give birth to live babies.
Amphibians are four-limbed, cold-blooded, egg-laying vertebrates that don’t have scales. They live part of their lives in water for reproduction and part on land.
Amphibians are different from the other vertebrates with four limbs because amphibians cannot reproduce away from water.
A platypus is a unique mammal as they lay eggs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk, and have legs attached from their sides. The only characteristic unique to mammals that platypuses share is their ability to feed their young milk.
Dolphins are mammals because they live in the water, are warm-blooded, and have lungs. Other characteristics of dolphins that make them mammals rather than fish are that they give birth to live young rather than laying eggs and they feed their young with milk.
Mammals and birds are warm-blooded, which means that they can make their own body heat even when it is cold outside. Whether it is sunny and hot outside or there is a snowstorm and it is very cold, warm-blooded animals have body temperatures that usually stay the same.
Cold-blooded animals, like reptiles, amphibians, and fish, become hotter and colder, depending on the temperature outside. For example, when the sun sets at night, their bodies are cooler because it is less warm outside. When the sun is out, however, their bodies soak up the heat and become warmer.