Animal Nutrition and the Skeletal System

In this science project, children revisit learning about living things, including how animals can be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores, needing food, water, air, shelter and space to reproduce and survive, from the projects Animal Parts, Animal Survival and Human Survival.

They learn that humans are omnivores before asking scientific questions about the human diet, and they research to find the answers. They learn about human nutrition, including the importance of food and a balanced diet, and identify the different food groups and what they provide for the human body before sorting and grouping various foods into the correct groups.

They learn that oils and spreads contain fat, an essential part of the human diet if consumed in small amounts, before following instructions to investigate the fattiness of various foods. They make predictions and record their findings in tables, using their observations to rank foods from the most to least fatty.

They compare and contrast the diets of different animals, including carnivores, herbivores and omnivores, revisiting learning about how animals' diets change with the seasons.

Children will learn about the major bones of the human skeleton and their important functions before creating labelled diagrams to observe and identify their location. They learn about joints, their important function and three types, including the hinge, ball and socket and pivot joints, and then follow instructions to investigate and observe how their joints allow them to bend and move easily.

They learn the function of muscles and explore a range of bodily actions firsthand to observe the movements their muscles bring about before recording their observations. They learn about different skeleton types, including endoskeletons and exoskeletons. They discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each type before sorting various animals according to the type of skeleton they have.