Animal tongues

Animal tongues

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about special features of animals.

Question 1Change answer
  
The main uses of an animal’s tongue are to taste food and to help it drink.  In some animals the tongue is also used for other things.
Complete the chart to explain the purpose of the special features of the tongues of the animals listed.
Animal Special feature How its tongue helps the animal survive
a) Giraffe Very long dark coloured tongue
b) Snake Long tongue, often with a forked tip, which darts in and out
c) Dog Long, flexible tongue that frequently flops or hangs out of the mouth
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online.
Copyright: 

Photo source:
National Museum of Natural History Photo (snake and dog) source: www.copyright-free-pictures.org.uk
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Science, Knowledge, Living World
Keywords: 
Life processes, adaptation, features, animals, tongues
Description of task: 
Task: Use information from pictures and background knowledge to complete a chart. Assessment focus: the purpose of the special features of some animals' tongues.
Answers/responses: 
  Y6 (10/2005)
a) Wrapping around and holding leaves or twigs/ to reach high trees
and/or
the dark colour of the tongue prevents sunburn.
[Do not accept answers that say the tongue is needed to taste or drink.]		 easy

very difficult
b) A snake's tongue is used as a 'sense'. By flicking its tongue out a snake is able to pick up chemical traces in the air. The tongue is then inserted into pits on the roof of the mouth where there is a special organ that analyses the chemicals. Accept any answers that include the idea that the snake uses its tongue as one of the 'senses'.
[Do not accept answers that say the tongue is needed to taste or drink.]		 difficult
c) A dog's tongue is used to keep the dog cool/ heat loss/panting (sweating) / washing.
[Do not accept answers that say the tongue is needed to taste or drink.]		 difficult
Results are based on a trial set of 138 Year 6 students in October 2005.
Diagnostic and formative information: 

For the questions about both the giraffe's and the dog's tongues, a common error was to refer only to tasting and drinking functions of the tongue. Answers that indicated an awareness of other functions of the tongue were considered correct even if they contained partial understandings, for example:
"The dog's tongue helps the dog to survive by panting to get out and in air when hot. If the dog had no tongue they wouldn't be able to sweat."

For the question about the giraffe's tongue a common error was to give a response that lacked any specific detail, for example, "A giraffe uses its tongue to eat". A giraffe does use its tongue to eat, but we looked for specific mention of how the giraffe uses its tongue to eat, for example, "pulling leaves off trees".

For the question about the snake's tongue common errors were:
Snakes use their tongues to:

  • scare away other animals;
  • make a hissing noise;
  • poison animals.
Next steps: 
The "big idea" underlying this resource is that animals have special features that help them stay alive. Any follow up to this resource should focus on this big idea rather than on acquiring detailed knowledge. Students could choose another feature such as the beak of a bird and investigate how beaks are adapted in specific ways to allow different birds to eat different foods.
 
Children commonly believe that individuals can change their special features. Adaptations occur over very long periods of time. An individual giraffe cannot suddenly grow an especially long tongue so that it can reach the highest leaves. However if the best food supply remained at a very high level over a long period of time those giraffes with very long tongues may well survive better and so over many generations giraffe tongues in general would get longer.
 
The special features of an animal or plant work together to help it survive in its particular environment. If, for example, a bird lives on the mudflats it is likely to have a long pointed beak to help it probe in the mud for food and long spread out toes to stop it sinking in the mud.
 
Plants and animals that live in extreme climates often have very specialised features to help their survival. For example cactus plants that live in very dry places often have thick stems that store water and no leaves to reduce water loss. Extreme environments could be an interesting context for exploring adaptations.

For similar ARB resources at level 3 involving the special features of animals that help them survive, click on the link or use the keywords: adaptation and animals.

For similar ARB resources at level 3 involving the special features of plants that help them survive, click on the link or use the keywords: adaptation and plants.

The following resources also explore adaptations:

  • Ministry of Education (2000). Building Science Concepts Book 3, Birds. Wellington: Learning Media.
  • Ministry of Education (2001). Building Science Concepts Book 5, Fur, Feathers, and Bark. Wellington: Learning Media.