Animals Around Us
Primary 2 · Science and Elementary Technology
Animals Around Us
Lesson 1 of 3
12 min
Let's begin
Every morning Uwase carries grass to her family's cow. The cow waits at the gate for her. It is never afraid of her.
On Saturday, Uwase went with her school to Akagera. She saw an elephant. Nobody carried grass to that elephant. Nobody opened a gate for it.
Two animals. Two very different lives. Today you will learn why.
The cow sleeps in a shed behind the house. Uwase brings it grass and water. When it is sick, her father calls the animal doctor.
The cow does not run away. It knows the family. It lets them touch it and milk it.
An animal like this is called a domestic animal. Domestic means it lives with people.
The elephant sleeps under the trees. Nobody feeds it. It walks in the park and finds its own grass and leaves. It drinks from the river.
When people come close, the elephant does not walk to them. It stays away. It has never been touched by a person.
An animal like this is called a wild animal. Wild means it lives on its own, far from people.
A domestic animal lives with people. People give it food, water and a home. It is used to people.
A wild animal lives on its own in the bush, the forest, the park or the lake. It finds its own food. It is not used to people, and it can be dangerous.
Domestic animals in Rwanda: the cow, the goat, the sheep, the hen, the rabbit, the pig, the dog, the cat, and bees in a hive.
Wild animals in Rwanda: the elephant, the buffalo, the lion, the zebra, the gorilla, the monkey, the hippo, the crocodile, the snake and the antelope.
Careful! A wild animal is not always big. A snake is small, but nobody feeds it and nobody keeps it. It is wild.
We do not keep these animals for nothing. Each one gives us something good.
A wild elephant gives us nothing to eat or wear. But it is still beautiful, and visitors come from far away to see it. So we protect it.
Mugisha writes six animals: hen, lion, goat, monkey, dog, hippo. He must put each one in the right basket.
He asks himself one question about each: "Who feeds it?"
Three domestic, three wild. Mugisha did not guess. He asked one question, six times.
Tip
Are you stuck? Ask this one question:
"Who feeds it and where does it sleep?"
If a person feeds it and it sleeps near a home → it is domestic.
If it finds its own food and sleeps in the bush → it is wild.
Say your answer out loud first. Then look underneath.
Is a goat a domestic animal or a wild animal?
Answer: domestic. People feed it, tie it on the grass, and shut it in a pen at night.
Is a zebra domestic or wild?
Answer: wild. A zebra finds its own grass in the park. Nobody feeds it and nobody milks it.
What do we get from a hen?
Answer: eggs (and meat). Milk comes from a cow or a goat, not from a hen.
Keza's grandmother has a hive at the end of the garden. What do the bees give her?
Answer: honey. Bees are domestic animals when we keep them in a hive.
A snake is small, and it lives near the banana trees. Is it domestic?
Answer: no, it is wild. Nobody feeds it and nobody keeps it. Small does not mean domestic. Stay away and tell an adult.
Note
What you learned today:
Quick check
Match each animal to what it gives us.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
