Animals
Primary 6 · English
Animals
Lesson 2 of 4
18 min
Let's begin
Mutesi has just come back from Akagera National Park with her uncle. Her little brother runs to meet her. "What did you see?" he asks.
"Big animals," says Mutesi. Her brother frowns. "What kind? How big? What did they look like?" Today you will learn to describe an animal so clearly that someone who has never seen it can picture it.
Akagera National Park lies in the east of Rwanda. Read about some of the animals that live there. As you read, notice what each animal has, where it lives and what it eats.
These are giraffes. They have very long necks and long legs. They eat leaves from the tops of tall trees. Giraffes are the tallest animals in the world.
This is an elephant. Elephants have large ears and long trunks. The males have white tusks. Elephants use their trunks to pick leaves off tall trees. They eat grasses and leaves.
This is a crocodile. It lives in the rivers and lakes. It has a long tail, a wide mouth and many sharp teeth. It eats fish and other animals.
This is a lion. It has big, sharp teeth. Male lions have a mane of long hair around the head and neck.
This is a grey crowned crane. It has long legs and a crown of golden feathers on its head. It lives near swamps and lakes. In Uganda, the crowned crane is the symbol of the country.
These are buffaloes. They have heavy, curved horns. They eat grasses and live near rivers and lakes.
These animals are zebras. They have black and white stripes.
Here are two different kinds of animals. There is a mother warthog with her babies. Warthogs have tusks too. The other animals are antelopes. They eat grasses.
Which of these animals are mammals? All of them except two: the crocodile is a reptile and the crowned crane is a bird.
Watch the verb change when you talk about one animal or many.
When two adjectives describe the same animal, the one about size usually comes first: a big grey elephant, not a grey big elephant. If you have an opinion too, it comes before both: a beautiful tall brown giraffe. A number goes first of all: two beautiful tall giraffes.
Worked example
describe the zebra in four sentences.
Step 1 Kind: A zebra is a mammal.
Step 2 Look: It has black and white stripes and a short, stiff mane.
Step 3 Home: It lives on the grassy plains of Akagera.
Step 4 Food and habits: It eats grass and moves around in a herd.
Careful! Do not stop at It is nice or It is big. Those words tell your listener nothing they can picture. Say what makes the animal different from every other animal.
Tip
Kind, look, home, food
Hold up four fingers and give one sentence for each: what kind it is, what it looks like, where it lives, and what it eats. Four fingers, four sentences, and your listener can see the animal.
Answer each one, then check.
Write has or have: Warthogs ___ tusks.
Answer: have. Warthogs means more than one.
Correct the order: a grey big buffalo
Answer: a big grey buffalo. Size comes before colour.
Compare, using tall: a giraffe / an elephant
Answer: A giraffe is taller than an elephant.
From the passage: what do male lions have that female lions do not?
Answer: a mane of long hair around the head and neck.
Describe a cow in four sentences: kind, look, home, food.
Answer: for example, “A cow is a mammal. It has four legs, two horns and a long tail. It lives on a farm. It eats grass, and it gives us milk.”
What you learned today
Sources and credits
Quick check
Which is in the right order?
