Part III: THE WORLD OF
ANIMALS
You will not besurprisedto hear thatanimallife isjustas varied and
justas endlessly fascinating to observe as is the world of plants. You may
even thinkanimallife muchmoreinterestingthanplants. The body organs
and the life processesofanimals are closerthanthoseofplantsto the ways
in which we ourselves are built and function. And if you are like most people,
you will want to know as much as possible aboutyour own body.
Unlikeplants,animals do not manufacturetheir own food. In one way
they are less self-sufficientthanplants, but inanother,they are more so, for
animals can move from one place to anotherunder their own power. And
there istremendous variety in the ways they getaround. Some hop, some
fly,othersswim and many others walk or run. Some animals usecombina-
tions of these methods. A frog, for example, is equally at home in the water
as he is on land. And althougha chicken cannotfly for long distances, he
travelsbothby foot and by air.
Describedin the following pages are many activities designed to reveal
the wondersoftheanimalkingdom. You will see"invisible"animals, whose
bodies consist of a single cell. These animals, protozoa,have to depend on
a single cell to carryoutall their life functions. This cell does everything, but
ofcourse in a much more simple way, thatis done by the infinitely more
complicatedtissues and organsoffrogs, birds andhumanbeings. Inprotozoa
a single cell eats, digests food, gets rid of wastes,breathes and reproduces.