Download Lesson 4 – What Animals Eat 2

Section 4
What Animal’s Eat
For Use with the KS2 Science
Curriculum Topic 3A
Adapted by Oral Health Promotion, Devon 2014
Human teeth
The four types of teeth
1. Incisor
2. Canine
3. Premolar
4. Molar
( Cutting )
( Piercing )
( Crushing )
( Grinding )
Incisor
Used for cutting.
Canine
The Roman’s called their
dogs canines. Why is this a
good name for this tooth ?
Premolar
Pre-Molar means in front of the
molars. Its job is to crush things.
Especially nuts. Just like this
nutcracker.
Molar
Molar is the Latin name for
this grinding bowl. This is what
the molar does. It grinds our
food before we swallow it.
Human teeth
That’s the human
mouth. Let us
see how animal’s
teeth can differ
from ours.
Carnivore
Carnivores have special chewing teeth called carnassial
teeth. They act like knives, and are used for slicing meat.
Carnivores
Can you think of any animals which are carnivores ?
The dog
Alsatians are famous for their big teeth. Which makes
them very useful as police and guard dogs.
Big cats
The leopard uses it’s long canines to
hang onto it’s prey when hunting.
The cat
Even your family cat has sharp teeth like his
wild relatives. Though he preys on smaller
game.
The shark
Shark’s teeth are unlike any other carnivore. They are
not really teeth at all. The shark has special teeth
evolved from skin scales. They are shed continually
throughout its life and are very sharp.
Herbivore
Herbivores specialise in eating plants. They have a gap
between their cutting teeth and the chewing teeth. This is called
the diastema. Food rests here before being pushed back onto
the chewing teeth.
Herbivore
Can you think of any animals which are herbivores ?
The horse
Horses eat grass and have large blade like
incisors to crop the grass before chewing.
The sheep
Sheep also eat grass. You can see the gap
between the incisors and the chewing teeth on
the sheep’s skull.
The elephant
Elephants have very
long modified canines
called tusks. These
are used for defence.
Their other teeth are
specialized for eating
grass just like other
herbivores. Though
these are also very
large due to the
animals size and the
huge amount of food it
eats.
The giraffe
Giraffes have no front
teeth at all. They use
their lips to pull down
leaves and shoots. Then
they push the food back
onto the molars with their
tongues.
The rabbit
The rabbit has two large incisors that are used
for gnawing. It is a specialized type of herbivore.
Omnivore
Omnivores eat both animals and plants. Their teeth are not
specialized, and their diets can include a wide range of different
foods.
Omnivores
Can you think of any more animals which are omnivores ?
The bear
Bears will eat
absolutely anything.
Nuts, berries, roots,
and small animals.
Their favourite food is
salmon caught right
out of the river.
The chicken
While chickens eat
primarily grain and seeds,
they will also eat insects
and earthworms if they
can. So free range
chickens have a more
varied diet.
Humans
Humans can eat a very
wide variety of foods.
Meat, fish, fruit,
vegetables, nuts, seeds,
milk, cheese, bread,
eggs, etc.
Questions
What kinds of animals have carnassial teeth ?
How are horses teeth adapted for their diet of grass ?
Name three omnivores ?
Why does a squirrel have long teeth ?
With thanks to
Graeme Jones, Liverpool Dental Health Promotion