What Animals Eat: Omnivores

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Did you know humans are omnivores?

That's right! You are an omnivore! What's that? In this lesson, you will learn how to identify omnivores in the wild and what they eat!

What do you eat? Do you eat only fruits and veggies? Do you eat meat? Tell a parent or teacher what you eat!

People are omnivores. Just like you, most people eat fruits, veggies, and some type of meat. Generally, people eat pork, beef, and poultry. We get our meat from pigs, cows, and chickens.

Do you hunt for your food like animals do? Why or why not? Tell a parent or teacher.

People are blessed enough to have grocery stores where they can buy food. This makes it much easier to get all the foods we need to satisfy our omnivorous diet needs!

How do you identify omnivores in the wild?

What is the first thing you could do to find out whether or not an animal is an omnivore? Watch what it eats! If it eats plants and animals, it's an omnivore. One animal that is an omnivore found in many place in the world is a grey squirrel. Grey squirrels are omnivores. You may see them collecting seeds from trees and bird feeders, but did you know squirrels also eat meat? Sometimes squirrels will eat small birds. Squirrels are omnivores.

Omnivores have a variety of different types of teeth. Omnivores have some flat, large teeth like herbivores, and some large, sharp teeth like carnivores. Look at your teeth in a mirror. Do you have any pointy teeth hiding in there? Yes, you do! These are your canines. Are they as large as a tiger's teeth? Of course not! Do you have some flat teeth like a herbivore? Great! You use your sharp canines for tearing meat, and your flat teeth for grinding up plants.

Omnivores come in all different shapes and sizes. Some omnivores, like hedgehogs, squirrels, and mice, have eyes on the sides of their head. Badgers, bears, and skunks have their eyes directly in the front of their head. Some omnivores have great big claws like grizzly bears, and some omnivores have tiny, fragile paws like chipmunks.

Why do you think omnivores have different characteristics? Tell a parent or teacher.

Fantastic! Did you say they have different characteristics because of where they live and what they eat the most?Bears have sharp claws on their paws to help them catch fish. Chipmunks don't need long sharp claws because they don't need to catch prey! They mostly eat insects and bird eggs.

Excellent job! You learned how to identify omnivores in the wild!

Before you move on to the next section, tell a parent or teacher two ways you can identify omnivores in the wild.