Science

Amazing Animals

Super senses, super speed, clever tricks and record-breakers.

Animals can do things that seem almost like superpowers — smelling from miles away, running as fast as a car, or hiding in plain sight. Let's meet the most amazing animals on Earth!

🦸 Super senses

Many animals have senses that are much better than ours.

👃 Super smell
  • Dogs can smell 10,000 times better than humans!
  • Bears can smell food from 20 miles away.
👂 Super hearing
  • Bats use sound to "see" in the dark — called echolocation.
  • Elephants can hear sounds from 6 miles away.
👁️ Super sight
  • Eagles can spot a rabbit from 2 miles away!
  • Cats see in the dark 6 times better than we do.
👅 Super taste & ✋ touch
  • Snakes "taste" the air with their tongues; butterflies taste with their feet!
  • Rats feel their way with whiskers; octopuses can taste with their arms.
🔍 Which super sense would you most like to have, and why?

🏃 Super movers

🦘 Jumping
  • Kangaroos jump 3 times their own height. Fleas jump 200 times their body length!
🏃 Running
  • Cheetahs are the fastest on land — 70 mph, as fast as a car on the motorway!
🏊 Swimming
  • Dolphins swim up to 20 mph. Sea turtles can hold their breath for 7 hours!
🦅 Flying
  • Peregrine falcons dive at 240 mph. Hummingbirds can even fly backwards!
🐌 Slow movers
  • Sloths move so slowly that algae grows on their fur. Snails take a whole day to travel 25 metres!

Movement challenge — can you move like these animals?

Which was the hardest? Which was the most fun?

🛡️ Clever defences

Animals have brilliant ways to protect themselves from danger:

  • 🦔 Hedgehogs roll into a spiky ball.
  • 🦨 Skunks spray a really smelly liquid at predators.
  • 🦎 Some lizards drop their tail — it wiggles to distract the predator while the lizard escapes (it grows back!).
  • 🐢 Tortoises pull their head and legs inside their hard shell.
  • 🐡 Pufferfish blow themselves up like a spiky balloon.
  • 🐝 Bees sting to protect their hive; possums play dead!

🤯 Believe it or not!

These facts sound made up — but they're all true:

  • A giraffe's tongue is 50cm long — as long as a ruler!
  • Koalas sleep 18–22 hours a day.
  • Cows have best friends and get stressed when separated.
  • Chickens can remember over 100 different faces.
  • Octopuses have 3 hearts and blue blood!
  • Snails can sleep for 3 years.
  • Parrots can live over 80 years — longer than most people!
  • Ducks sleep with one eye open to watch for danger.
✏️ Do you know an amazing animal fact that isn't listed? Write it down!

🏆 Record breakers

🐋Biggest animal — Blue whale
As long as 3 buses, and as heavy as 30 elephants!
🦇Smallest mammal — Bumblebee bat
Weighs less than a penny.
🦒Tallest animal — Giraffe
Up to 5.5 metres tall.
🦅Fastest animal — Peregrine falcon
Dives at 240 mph.
🦥Slowest animal — Sloth
Moves less than 40 metres a day.
🦈Longest living — Greenland shark
Can live over 400 years!
🐋Loudest animal — Blue whale
Its call carries 1,000 miles.
🪲Strongest for its size — Dung beetle
Pulls 1,141 times its own weight — like you pulling 6 buses!
🏅 Your record book: "The ______ is the best at ______ because ______!" Make up your own amazing animal record and draw it.

📖 Glossary

Echolocation — using sound and its echo to find things in the dark.
Predator — an animal that hunts and eats other animals.
Prey — an animal that gets hunted and eaten.
Sense — a way of finding out about the world: sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch.
Record breaker — the very best in the world at something.

✓ Check your understanding