What Animals Eat: Carnivores

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Carnivores are meat eaters!

This means they eat other animals. Can you think of any animals that only eat meat? Share your ideas with your parent or teacher.

One simple way to identify carnivores is by watching what they eat! Carnivores are predators — They hunt for prey. Can you think of an animal that hunts for prey?

Carnivores have special teeth that allow them to tear apart meat. These sharp teeth are called canine teeth, and they are long and sharp. They use these teeth to take down prey and to cut up meat. If they had flat teeth like herbivores, it would be very hard to tear apart meat!

Carnivores have eyes in the front of their head. The placement of their eyes helps them hunt for prey. One great way to remember how to identify carnivores is by remembering this saying: "Eyes in the front, helps them hunt."

There is another way you can identify carnivores, and that's by looking at their feet or paws. What do you think carnivores have on their paws? Tell a parent or teacher.

Did you say claws? Fantastic! Carnivores have claws. They use their claws to catch and hold prey. They also use their claws to climb trees and dig for food in hard-to-reach places. Another thing that is special about carnivore paws is that they have padded feet. Why do you think a predator, like a tiger, would need soft pads on its feet? Tell a parent or teacher.

Did you say to sneak up on its prey? Great! Carnivores use the soft pads on their feet to sneak up on prey. Try walking on tile with your shoes — Do you think you could sneak up on someone with hard shoes on? Now, take off your shoes and try walking on tile in your socks. Do you think you could sneak up on someone? Your socks allow you to walk more quietly than your shoes. Predators would not be able to sneak up on prey if the prey could hear their loud footsteps.

Great work! You learned four ways to identify a carnivore. Tell your parent or teacher at least two ways you can identify a carnivore.

When you are finished, move on to the next section.