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Mammals
Mammals have hair and feed their young with milk. Find out what makes a mammal a mammal, meet the egg-laying, pouched and placental mammals, test how fur and blubber keep heat in, and calculate why a mouse loses heat faster than an elephant. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7Fur, milk and babiesWhat do a cat, a whale, a bat and you have in common? Find out what makes a mammal, and test how a furry coat keeps heat in.Ages 10–11What makes a mammal?The features all mammals share, the three groups (egg-laying, pouched and placental mammals), different kinds of teeth, and how blubber keeps sea mammals warm. Then run a fair test on blubber.Ages 15–16Endothermy, size and heat lossMammalian origins and defining features, the cost of endothermy, and the surface-area-to-volume ratio: why small mammals lose heat faster and have a higher metabolic rate per kilogram.