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Learning Objective: Students will learn about different animals and how animals eat.

HOW ANIMALS EAT?
Different animals eat different types of food. Their manner of eating is also different.
Accordingly, their mouth is also modified to suit their mode of eating.

Animals that swallow their food

• Birds do not have teeth. They swallow their food whole. Lizards and snakes have very
small teeth. These teeth are not useful for chewing. They only help in grabbing the
food. So, snakes and lizards swallow their food whole.
• Some animals use their tongue to catch food. Frogs and lizards have a long and sticky
tongue. They shoot out the tongue to catch insects.
Animals that tear, grind and chew their food

• Carnivores like lions and tigers tear and chew the flesh of animals. They have sharp,
pointed and curved front teeth to tear the flesh. They also have strong flat teeth at the
back, to chew the flesh.
Animals that chew and swallow their food

• Herbivores have broad, sharp front teeth to cut their food and flat back teeth to chew
it. Cows and buffaloes bite the grass and swallow it. Later, they bring back the food
into their mouth and chew it slowly. This process is called chewing the cud or
mastication.
Some other ways of eating

• Animals like squirrels and rabbits have a pair of long sharp front teeth which help
them to break nuts and fruits and bite them repeatedly. This is known as gnawing.
• Cats and dogs use their tongue to drink water or milk. This is called lapping.
• Elephants use their trunk to tear off grass and branches and put it in their mouth.
• Butterflies and mosquitoes have a long-pointed tube in place of mouth.

Learning outcome: Students learnt about the different animals and how they eat.