BiologyBaby Animals Grow Into Grown-Up Animals
A sunny meadow where Lumi kneels beside a mother duck and her fuzzy yellow ducklings waddling toward a pond, pointing at each duckling and smiling warmly.
- Identify at least two ways a baby animal looks like its parent.
- Compare a baby animal to its grown-up form and name one change.
- Predict what a baby animal will look like when it is fully grown.
- Sort pictures of baby animals with their matching parent animals.
Key terms
- offspring
- The young, or babies, that an animal parent has.
- parent
- A grown-up animal that has babies of its own.
- down
- The soft, fluffy feathers a baby bird is born with.
- life cycle
- The steps a living thing goes through as it grows up.
- trait
- A feature an animal has, like fur color or beak shape.
Babies Resemble Their Parents
When an animal has a baby, the baby looks a lot like its mom and dad. A duckling has a beak and webbed feet, just like the adult duck. A kitten has soft fur and pointy ears, just like the adult cat. These shared features are called traits, and parents pass them on to their offspring. That is why you can often guess what kind of animal a baby is just by looking at it.
Growing And Changing Over Time
Baby animals do not stay the same forever. As they grow, they get bigger and stronger, and some parts of their body change. A duckling's fluffy down feathers fall out and smooth flying feathers grow in. A puppy's tiny teeth fall out and bigger teeth come in. But through every change, the baby is always becoming a grown-up version of the same kind of animal it was born as.
Same Kind, Every Time
Here is the most important rule: a baby always grows into the same kind of animal as its parents. A duckling grows into a duck, never a cat or a fish. A foal grows into a horse. This is true for birds and for mammals like cats, dogs, sheep, and horses. The kind of animal a baby will become is decided the moment it is born, by the parents it came from.
Worked examples
What will a tiny lamb grow into?
- A lamb is the baby of a sheep, so its parents are sheep.
- Babies always grow into the same kind of animal as their parents.
- So a lamb must grow into a sheep, not a goat or a cow.
Answer: A lamb grows into an adult sheep.
Why does a kitten look different from a grown cat?
- A kitten is younger, so it is smaller and weaker than an adult cat.
- As the kitten grows, it gets bigger and its body gets stronger.
- It still has the same fur and ear shape, just in a bigger size.
Answer: It is younger and smaller, but it is the same kind of animal growing up.
Activity
Match each baby animal to its grown-up parent by dragging them together.
Practice
A baby horse is called a foal. What animal will it grow into?
Name two body parts a duckling shares with its mother duck.
Common mistakes to avoid
- A baby can grow into a different kind of animalA baby always grows into the same kind of animal as its parents; a duckling becomes a duck, never a cat.
- A baby looks nothing like its parentBabies share many traits with their parents, like fur, beak shape, or webbed feet, even when they are small.
Check your understanding
A puppy grows up to be a ___.
How does a duckling change as it grows up?
A kitten and its mother both have ___.
Recap
Baby animals look a lot like their parents because they share traits like fur or beak shape. As they grow, they get bigger and some parts change, but a baby always grows into the same kind of animal as its parents.
Reflect
Which baby animal would you most love to watch grow up, and why?