Animals Around Us

Animals are living beings that move, eat, breathe and grow. We can group animals by their body features and where they live. Learning these groups helps us recognise and care for animals.

Main groups and their simple features:

• Mammals: Have hair or fur, breathe with lungs, warm-blooded and mothers give milk to their babies. Examples: dog, cow, human.
• Birds: Have feathers, wings and beaks; most can fly and they lay eggs. Examples: sparrow, pigeon, crow.
• Fish: Live in water, have gills to breathe, scales and fins. Examples: goldfish, shark.
• Reptiles: Have dry, scaly skin, cold-blooded and usually lay eggs. Examples: snake, crocodile.
• Amphibians: Live both in water and on land at different stages; moist skin and usually start life as tadpoles. Example: frog.
• Insects: Small animals with three body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), six legs and often wings. Examples: butterfly, ant.
• Other invertebrates: Animals without backbone, e.g. earthworm, snail, spider (spiders are arachnids).

We can also group animals by where they live or how people use them: domestic/farm animals (cow, goat), pets (dog, cat), wild animals (tiger, deer), and aquatic (fish) or flying (birds). These simple groups make it easy for Class 2 students to identify animals and understand their needs like food, home and care.

What are animal features and body parts?
Animals have different body parts that help them live, move, eat, feel and protect themselves. Common parts are head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body, legs, wings, fins and tail. Some animals have fur or feathers, some have scales or smooth skin.

Why are body parts important?
Each body part has a job. Eyes help to see, ears to hear, nose to smell, mouth to eat, legs or fins to move, and skin or fur to protect the body. Different animals have different special parts for their life—for example, birds have wings for flying and fish have fins for swimming.

How can we observe and compare?

• Look at an animal and name its parts: head, eyes, mouth, legs, tail, body.
• Notice what the animal uses to move (legs, wings, fins, crawl).
• See how the animal is covered: fur, feathers, scales, or smooth skin.
• Think where the animal lives and how its parts help it (water animals have fins, desert animals may have thick fur or long ears).

Simple classification by body parts: Animals can be grouped by the number of legs (no legs: snake; two legs: bird; four legs: dog; many legs: centipede) and by coverings (fur: cat; feathers: parrot; scales: fish).

What is movement? Movement is how animals change their place or move parts of their body to get food, escape danger, find a home or play. Different animals move in different ways using legs, wings, fins, muscles or their whole body.

Main modes of movement

• Walking and running: Animals use legs to walk or run. Walking is usually slower; running is faster. Example: dog, cow.
• Hopping and jumping: Animals use strong hind legs to push off the ground. Example: frog, kangaroo.
• Flying: Animals use wings to fly through the air. Example: sparrow, eagle, butterfly.
• Swimming: Animals use fins, webbed feet or body movements to move in water. Example: fish, duck, whale.
• Slithering/crawling: Animals move by twisting their bodies or using many legs close to the ground. Example: snake (slithers), earthworm (crawls), centipede (many legs).
• Climbing and gliding: Some animals climb trees using hands and feet (monkey) or glide short distances with special skin flaps (flying squirrel).

One animal, many ways: Some animals use more than one mode. For example, frogs hop on land and swim in water; ducks can walk, swim and fly.

How to observe: Watch animals in a park or on TV, note their body parts used (legs, wings, fins), and try imitating their movement to understand it better.

Every animal needs a place to live. The place where an animal lives and gets food, water, shelter and space is called its habitat. An animal's home is the specific shelter inside the habitat where it sleeps and cares for its young (for example, a bird's nest is its home; the forest where the bird lives is its habitat).

There are three main kinds of habitats you learn about in Class 2:

• Land habitats — places on the ground like forests, grasslands, deserts and cities. Animals: tigers, elephants, rabbits, dogs.
• Water habitats — places with water like ponds, rivers and oceans. Animals: fish, frogs, whales, crabs.
• Air habitats — the space where birds and flying insects live and move. Animals: sparrows, butterflies, bats.

Animals have special features (adaptations) that help them live in their habitats. For example, fish have gills to breathe underwater; camels store fat in their humps and can survive with less water in deserts; polar bears have thick fur for cold Arctic regions. If a habitat changes or is damaged, animals may lose their homes and find it hard to survive.

We should protect habitats by not littering, planting trees, saving water, and caring for pets so all animals can have safe homes.

All animals need food to grow, move and stay healthy. Food gives them energy. Animals get food in different ways and eat different kinds of things. We can group animals by what they eat and how they eat.

• Herbivores – animals that eat only plants (leaves, grass, fruits). They have flat teeth for grinding. Example: cow, goat, deer.
• Carnivores – animals that eat other animals (meat). They have sharp teeth and claws for catching and tearing. Example: lion, tiger, snake.
• Omnivores – animals that eat both plants and animals. Example: human, dog, crow.
• Insectivores / Nectar feeders – animals that eat insects or nectar. Example: frog (insects), butterfly and bee (nectar).
• Scavengers – animals that eat dead plants or animals. Example: vulture, hyena.

Some animals have special body parts for their food. For example, cows have flat teeth to chew grass, lions have sharp teeth to tear meat, and birds have beaks shaped for their food. We can also show how energy moves by using a simple food chain like:

Grass → Rabbit → Fox

Food and feeding habits are important because they tell us where animals live, how they find food, and how they help nature stay balanced. If one animal disappears, other animals in its food chain can be affected.

What are young ones?

Young ones are the baby animals. Every animal begins life as a young one and grows into an adult. Some babies look like their parents, while others change shape as they grow.

Names of some baby animals

• Cat → kitten
• Dog → puppy
• Cow → calf
• Sheep → lamb
• Goat → kid
• Hen → chick
• Frog → tadpole → frog
• Butterfly: egg → caterpillar → pupa (chrysalis) → butterfly

How do young ones grow?

• Stage 1: Birth or hatching — the animal is born or comes out of an egg.
• Stage 2: Baby stage — needs milk or special food and lots of care.
• Stage 3: Growing (juvenile) — the animal becomes stronger, learns to move and eat adult food.
• Stage 4: Adult — the animal is fully grown and can have its own young.

Special kind of growth: Metamorphosis

Some animals like butterflies and frogs do metamorphosis. They change shape a lot. Example: a frog starts as a tadpole (lives in water, has a tail) and grows legs and becomes a frog that can live on land.

What do young ones need to grow well?

• Good food (milk, plants, insects, as needed)
• Clean water
• Warmth and shelter
• Care and protection from danger
• Time — they grow slowly step by step

How we can see growth

We can measure how they grow by watching their size, weight and behaviour over days, weeks or months. Babies learn to walk, run and find food as they grow.

Simple rule to remember

Care + Good Food + Time = Healthy Growth

Animals are useful to people in many ways. They give us food, help us in work, provide materials for clothing and other goods, keep us safe, and are our friends. We must treat animals kindly and take care of them because they help us a lot.

Major uses of animals:

• Food: Animals give us milk, eggs, meat, fish and honey that we eat and use to make other foods.
• Work and transport: Some animals like oxen, horses, camels and elephants help people pull carts, carry loads and do farm work.
• Clothing and materials: Sheep give wool, silkworms give silk and some animals provide leather. These materials are used to make clothes, shoes and bags.
• Companionship and safety: Dogs and cats are kept as pets and dogs can guard homes. Pets give us friendship and comfort.
• Farm help and natural services: Bees pollinate flowers and make honey. Earthworms make soil healthy. Cow dung is used as manure and sometimes fuel.
• Products used at home: Animals give butter, ghee, cheese, and other products made from milk; beeswax and honey from bees; eggs from hens.

We should use animals responsibly: feed them, give them shelter, take veterinary care when needed and not harm them. When animals are cared for well, they stay healthy and continue helping people.

Animals are living beings who feel pain, hunger, cold, and happiness just like us. Care and protection of animals means giving them food, water, shelter, love, and safety so they can live healthy lives. We must also protect wild animals and their homes (habitats).

Why it is important:

• Animals keep nature balanced (for example, bees help plants by pollination).
• Many animals are our friends and helpers (pets, farm animals).
• Being kind to animals teaches respect and responsibility.

How to care for animals (simple things children can do):

• Give clean water and healthy food to pets and, sometimes, to stray animals (with an adult's permission).
• Provide shelter: a safe place to sleep and protection from rain and cold.
• Keep pets clean and take them to the vet for vaccinations and check-ups.
• Do not hurt, tease, or disturb wild animals; keep a safe distance.
• Protect homes of wild animals (trees, ponds, fields) — avoid littering and noise.
• Use gentle handling: always ask an adult before touching an animal you do not know.

What to do if an animal is sick or hurt:

1. Tell an adult right away.
2. Keep the animal calm and warm (do not give medicine unless told by a vet).
3. Take the animal to a veterinarian or call a local animal rescue group.

Simple rules to remember:

• Respect animals' space.
• Never feed animals harmful food (chocolates, salty or spicy human food).
• Help protect animal homes by not cutting trees or polluting water.

Care and protection of animals makes the world kinder and healthier for both animals and people.

What are animal sounds? Animal sounds are noises made by animals. Sounds are made when parts of the animal's body vibrate (for example, a bird's throat or a dog's vocal cords). The vibrations travel through the air and reach our ears.

Why do animals make sounds? Animals make sounds to:

• Tell others where they are (call their babies or mates).
• Warn about danger (a dog barking or a bird alarm call).
• Show feelings like happiness, fear or anger (purring, growling).
• Mark their home or territory (roaring, howling).

Other ways animals communicate: Not all communication is by sound. Animals also use body movements (a cat’s tail), smells (ants leave scent trails), colors (bright feathers) or dances (bees do a 'waggle dance' to show food).

How we can learn: Listen to sounds carefully, match the sound to the animal, and watch what the animal does at the same time. Teachers may make simple activities like a sound chart or mimic games so children learn to recognize different animal sounds.

What is classification? Classification and grouping means putting animals together based on things they have in common so we can understand and study them easily.

Why we group animals: It helps us find, compare and learn about animals quickly. For example, if we want birds, we look for animals with feathers and beaks.

Easy ways to group animals

• By habitat – where they live: land, water, air.
• By food – what they eat: herbivores (plant-eaters), carnivores (meat-eaters), omnivores (eat both).
• By body covering – fur, feathers, scales, smooth skin.
• By number of legs – two-legged (birds), four-legged (dogs, cats), many legs (insects, worms).

How to group animals (simple steps)

1. Look carefully at the animal (where it lives, what it eats, its body covering, how many legs).
2. Pick the feature you want to use (e.g., habitat or body covering).
3. Put animals that share that feature into one group.

Useful note: Some animals fit more than one group (for example, bats are mammals but they can fly), so we can make overlapping groups or put them in the group that best answers our question.

What it means
Safety around animals means knowing how to behave so that both you and the animal are safe and not hurt. Animals can be our friends, but they may bite, scratch, or act scared if they are surprised, hurt, or protecting their babies. So we must always be careful and respectful.

Why it is important
Being safe keeps you from getting hurt and keeps animals from becoming scared or aggressive. It also helps prevent infections and keeps pets healthy.

Simple rules to follow

• Always ask an adult’s permission before touching or feeding any animal (pet, stray, or farm animal).
• Approach slowly and quietly. Let the animal see and smell you first.
• Don’t disturb an animal that is eating, sleeping, or caring for babies.
• Never pull an animal’s tail, ears, or fur. Don’t climb on them.
• If an animal looks angry, scared, or is growling, hissing, baring teeth, or trying to move away, keep your distance.
• Don’t run or shout near animals — sudden moves may scare them.
• Stay with an adult near wild or unfamiliar animals. In parks or near farms keep to paths and don’t feed wild animals.
• Always wash your hands with soap and water after touching animals, their food, or their places.

What to do in a risky situation

• If a dog comes close and looks threatening: stand still like a tree (keep your hands by your side), avoid eye contact, and slowly back away when it moves away.
• If you are bitten or scratched: tell an adult right away, wash the area with soap and water, and get medical help if needed.
• If you find an injured or dead animal, do not touch it — tell an adult or call animal services.

How adults help
Adults should teach children how to behave around animals, keep pets vaccinated, and supervise interactions with animals at home, school, and on outings.

What this topic covers

In Class 2 EVS (Animals Around Us), 'Activities and Learning Skills' are simple hands‑on tasks and thinking steps that help young learners notice, understand and care for animals. These activities build observation, classification, counting, drawing, speaking and empathy skills through play and real-life practice.

Key learning skills and how they help

• Observation: Look carefully at size, color, sounds and behaviour (helps children notice differences among animals).
• Classification (sorting): Put animals into groups (pets, farm, wild / land, water, air) to practise thinking and organising information.
• Comparison: Compare two animals (how they move, what they eat) to build reasoning.
• Counting and recording: Count animals or features and make simple charts to practise numbers and reading data.
• Drawing & labelling: Draw animals and label parts (tail, legs, beak) to improve fine motor and vocabulary.
• Communication & role‑play: Talk about animals, act like them or play vet to build speaking and empathy.
• Questioning & reasoning: Ask why an animal lives in water or how it keeps warm to encourage curiosity.

How to use the activities in class or at home

• Start with a short observation (look at a picture or go on a nature walk for 5–10 minutes).
• Ask simple questions: What colour is it? Where does it live? What sound does it make?
• Let children sort pictures or toys into groups and explain their choices in one sentence.
• Use drawing, stickers or a pictograph to record results (easy to read for Class 2).
• Finish with a short reflection: What did we learn? How will we be kind to animals?

Safety and respect

Teach children to look but not touch wild animals, to ask an adult before approaching a pet, and always to be gentle and kind.