travel_exploreDiscovery · Extreme survival

🏜️ Extreme survival

How do animals survive in the desert? Simple, true extreme survival facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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How do animals survive in the desert? Revealexpand_more

Desert animals have clever tricks to beat the heat and find water. Many rest in cool burrows by day and come out at night, some get all the water they need from their food, and a camel can go a long time between drinks by storing fat in its hump. Every part of their body helps them save water.

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Talk about itWould you rather survive a very hot place or a very cold one, and how?

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Did you know?A camel can drink a huge amount of water in just a few minutes when it finally finds some.

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Try itOn a hot day, notice how shade and a sip of water help you. Desert animals use the very same ideas to survive.

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🏜️🔬Why do the best-suited animals survive?🧫What is the toughest animal alive?🦑How do creatures live in the deep, dark sea?

🤖Still curious?How do desert plants store water?arrow_forward

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How do creatures live in the deep, dark sea? Revealexpand_more

Far below the waves it is pitch black, freezing cold and squeezed by enormous pressure, yet animals still thrive there. Many make their own light to find food or mates, some have huge eyes to catch the faintest glow, and their soft bodies handle the crushing weight of all the water above.

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Talk about itIf you could explore the deep sea in a safe submarine, what would you hope to find?

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Did you know?Some deep-sea fish dangle a glowing lure in front of their mouth to attract a meal.

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Try itCup your hands to block all light and imagine finding food in total darkness. That is daily life in the deep sea.

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🏜️🐫How do animals survive in the desert?🧫What is the toughest animal alive?🐙Why is the octopus so clever?

🤖Still curious?How do we explore parts of the ocean that are too deep for people?arrow_forward

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What really happens during hibernation? Revealexpand_more

Some animals survive the cold, foodless winter by hibernating, a deep sleep that is far more than an ordinary nap. Their heartbeat slows way down, their body cools, and they live off fat they stored in autumn. They can go weeks or months barely moving, then wake up when spring returns.

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Talk about itIf you could sleep through one season, which would you skip, and why?

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Did you know?A hibernating ground squirrel's heart can slow from hundreds of beats a minute to just a few.

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Try itTake a slow, calm breath and feel your own heartbeat settle. Hibernating animals slow their bodies far, far more than that.

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🏜️🐫How do animals survive in the desert?🐱Why do cats sleep so much?🐦Why do birds fly away for winter?

🤖Still curious?How do hibernating animals not starve while they sleep?arrow_forward

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What is the toughest animal alive? Revealexpand_more

One of the toughest animals is the tardigrade, a tiny water creature smaller than a grain of sand. It can survive being frozen, boiled, dried out for years and even the emptiness of space. When conditions get too harsh, it curls up, shuts its body down almost completely, and waits for better days.

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Talk about itIf you had one super-tough power like a tardigrade, what would you use it for?

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Did you know?Tardigrades have survived in outer space, something no human could do unprotected.

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Try itLook at a drop of pond water or damp moss under a magnifier. You might spot one of these tiny survivors.

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🏜️🦑How do creatures live in the deep, dark sea?🐫How do animals survive in the desert?🔬Why do the best-suited animals survive?

🤖Still curious?How can such a tiny animal survive things that would kill almost anything else?arrow_forward

🏜️ Extreme survival

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