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What animals eat: herbivores, carnivores and omnivores

Around age 7 · Usually taught in ⁨Year 1⁩ · Free

Aprende

  1. All animals eat. But not all of them eat the same things. Each animal has a name depending on what it eats.

    Herbivores eat only plants or parts of plants: grass, leaves, fruit or seeds. The cow eats grass. The rabbit eats carrots, lettuce and grass. They are different things, but all of them are plants or parts of plants. The giraffe and the snail are herbivores too.

    cowrabbit
    Herbivores: they eat only plants

  2. Carnivores eat other animals. A cat eats mice and fish. A frog eats flies. Flies are small animals, and an animal that eats them is a carnivore too.

    catfrog
    Carnivores: they eat other animals

  3. Omnivores eat plants and also other animals. A bear eats fruit and fish. A hen eats seeds and worms. People are omnivores too. Omnivore does not mean that it eats just anything.

    bear
    Omnivores: plants and animals

  4. To find out, do not look at whether the animal is big or fierce. Look at what it eats. The elephant is huge and eats only plants. The cat is small and soft, and it eats other animals. What counts is what is on its plate.

    animalsherbivorescarnivoresomnivores
    Animals, by what they eat

Worked examples

Ejemplo 1

Tony sees a goat on the farm. The goat eats grass and leaves. What do we call an animal that eats only plants?

goat
  1. Look at what the goat eats: grass and leaves.
  2. Grass is a plant and leaves are part of a plant.
  3. The goat eats only plants.

The goat is a herbivore.

¡Ojo! Many children say “omnivore” because it eats two different things. But both come from plants.

Common mistake

Ejemplo 2

Julie sees a cat in the neighbourhood. The cat is eating a fish. What is it called?

cat
  1. Look at what the cat eats: a fish.
  2. The fish is an animal.
  3. The cat eats other animals.

The cat is a carnivore.

¡Ojo! Many children think the cat is a herbivore because it is small and soft. But what counts is what it eats.

Common mistake

Ejemplo 3

Gus is eating bread and an egg at Ellie’s house. What are people?

person
  1. Bread comes from a plant: wheat.
  2. The egg comes from an animal.
  3. We eat plants and animals.

People are omnivores.

¡Ojo! Many children believe that omnivore means eating everything, even things that are not food. That is not it: it means eating plants and animals.

Common mistake

Un reto para pensar

For a week, watch what an animal near your home eats, without touching it or giving it food. Draw its food and write whether it is a herbivore, a carnivore or an omnivore.

Practica

Rondas de 10 preguntas. Elige el nivel:

Next topic: Invertebrates: insects, spiders, snails and worms →