Animal Groups — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which animal group lays eggs and has feathers?
A) mammals
B) reptiles
C) birds
D) fish
Birds are the group that has feathers, and they lay eggs in nests that hatch into chicks. Mammals have fur, reptiles have scales, and fish live in water.
2. A frog belongs to which group?
A) reptiles
B) amphibians
C) mammals
D) insects
A frog hatches in water as a tadpole and grows up to live on land, which is exactly what an amphibian does.
3. Which animal breathes with gills?
A) whale
B) lizard
C) trout
D) sparrow
A trout is a fish, and fish breathe by passing water over their gills. A whale uses lungs, a lizard uses lungs, and a sparrow uses lungs too.
4. What covers a reptile body?
A) fur
B) feathers
C) scales
D) slime
A reptile body is protected by dry, hard scales. Fur belongs to mammals, feathers belong to birds, and slime is not what covers a reptile.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. A dolphin is a mammal, not a fish.
Even though dolphins swim in the ocean, they breathe air with lungs and feed milk to their babies, which makes them mammals and not fish.
2. Insects have six legs.
Three pairs of legs add up to six, and having six legs is one of the main features of every insect.
3. Reptiles are cold blooded animals.
Reptiles cannot make their own body heat, so their temperature changes with the air around them, which is what cold blooded means.
4. An owl is a bird that hunts at night.
An owl has feathers, wings, and a beak, the features of a bird, and many owls use their sharp eyes to hunt after dark.
5. A caterpillar turns into a butterfly.
A caterpillar goes through a big change inside a chrysalis and comes out with wings as a butterfly.