Animal Behavior: Migration, Hibernation, and Camouflage
How animals survive seasonal changes and avoid danger
Animal Behavior: Migration, Hibernation, and Camouflage
How animals survive seasonal changes and avoid danger
Biology - Grade 4-5
- 1
Define migration in your own words. Give one example of an animal that migrates.
Think about animals that travel long distances when the weather changes.
Migration is a regular movement of animals from one place to another, often because of seasons, food, or breeding. One example is a goose flying south for the winter. - 2
Define hibernation in your own words. Give one example of an animal that hibernates or becomes very inactive during cold months.
Hibernation is a deep rest or very inactive state that helps some animals survive when it is cold and food is hard to find. One example is a groundhog resting in its burrow during winter. - 3
Define camouflage in your own words. Explain how camouflage helps an animal survive.
Think about an animal that is hard to see because it looks like leaves, bark, sand, or snow.
Camouflage is a body color, pattern, or shape that helps an animal blend in with its surroundings. It helps an animal hide from predators or sneak up on prey. - 4
A monarch butterfly travels a long distance to a warmer area when the seasons change. Is this behavior migration, hibernation, or camouflage? Explain your answer.
This behavior is migration because the butterfly is moving from one area to another when the seasons change. - 5
A frog buries itself in mud and becomes very inactive during a cold winter. Is this behavior migration, hibernation, or camouflage? Explain your answer.
Look for a clue that the animal is resting or slowing down instead of traveling.
This behavior is hibernation or a hibernation-like winter rest because the frog becomes very inactive to survive the cold. - 6
A snowshoe hare grows white fur in winter and brown fur in summer. Is this an example of migration, hibernation, or camouflage? Explain your answer.
This is an example of camouflage because the hare's fur color helps it blend in with snow in winter and with dirt and plants in summer. - 7
Complete the sentence: Many birds migrate because they need to find warmer weather, more food, or safe places to raise their young. Explain why each of these needs is important for survival.
Animals need food, suitable temperatures, and safe places to reproduce.
Warmer weather helps birds use less energy to stay alive. More food gives them energy. Safe places to raise young help their babies survive. - 8
A brown walking stick insect rests on a brown tree branch. A bird flies by and does not notice it. Explain how the insect's body helps it survive.
The walking stick insect uses camouflage because its body looks like a branch. This makes it harder for predators like birds to see it. - 9
Compare migration and hibernation. Write one way they are alike and one way they are different.
Compare moving away with resting and saving energy.
Migration and hibernation are alike because both help animals survive difficult seasons. They are different because migration means traveling to another place, while hibernation means staying in one place and becoming inactive. - 10
A black bear eats a lot of food in the fall before spending much of the winter resting in a den. Why is eating extra food before winter helpful?
Eating extra food before winter helps the bear store fat. The stored fat gives the bear energy while it rests and eats little or no food. - 11
A fish that lives near the sandy ocean floor has a light brown body with speckles. How does this trait help the fish?
Look at how the animal's color matches its habitat.
The light brown, speckled body helps the fish blend in with the sandy ocean floor. This camouflage can help it hide from predators or surprise prey. - 12
Sort these animal behaviors into the correct groups: a whale swimming to warmer waters, a turtle resting through winter in mud, a moth that looks like tree bark, and geese flying south.
Migration includes a whale swimming to warmer waters and geese flying south. Hibernation includes a turtle resting through winter in mud. Camouflage includes a moth that looks like tree bark. - 13
Why might an animal that stays active all winter need a different survival strategy than an animal that hibernates?
Think about how much energy an active animal uses compared with a resting animal.
An animal that stays active all winter must keep finding food, water, and shelter in cold conditions. An animal that hibernates saves energy by resting when food is hard to find. - 14
A young bird is born in the north during summer. In the fall, it follows older birds to the south. What cues might help birds know when to migrate?
Cues are signals from the environment or from the animal's body.
Birds may use cues such as shorter days, cooler temperatures, changes in food supply, and instincts to know when to migrate. - 15
Choose one animal and describe a survival behavior or trait it has. Tell whether it is migration, hibernation, or camouflage, and explain how it helps the animal survive.
Answers will vary. A complete answer should name an animal, identify migration, hibernation, or camouflage, and explain how the behavior or trait helps the animal survive. For example, an arctic fox has white winter fur for camouflage, which helps it hide in snow.