Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals

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Diurnal andNocturnal Animals
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Diurnal Animals

• Diurnal is a tricky word! Lets all say that word
  together. Diurnal dahy-ur-nl
• A diurnal animal is an animal that is awake or
  active during the day.
• The following pictures are all of diurnal
  animals.
• Can you think of another diurnal animal?

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Nocturnal Animals

• Nocturnal is also a tricky word! Lets all say
  that word together! Nocturnal nok-tur-nl
• A nocturnal animal is an animal that is awake or
  active at night.
• The following pictures are all of nocturnal
  animals.
• Can you think of any other nocturnal animals?

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Nocturnal Animals

• Today we are going to be learning about Nocturnal
  Animals. Keep your Eagle Eyes open for some
  clues!
• Nocturnal animals are active at night. During the
  day, these animals sleep or keep away from the
  sun.
• It is not until the sun goes down, that these
  animals begin to look for water and to hunt for
  food.
• Some nocturnal animals have special features that
  help them adapt to the dark.

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Big Eyes

• To help them see at night, many nocturnal animals
  have very large eyes. Their eyes are special in
  that they let in more light, so an they can see
  better in the dark!

opossum
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Sense of Hearing Smell

• Nocturnal animals also have very good hearing and
  a strong sense of smell. This helps them find
  their way in the dark.

great horned owl
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Quiet Movement

• Cats are great hunters. They have soft pads on
  their feet so they do not make any noise when
  they are looking for food.

domestic house cat
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Adaptation

• An adaptation is when an animal makes adjustments
  or changes, so it can have a better chance to
  survive in its environment.

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Reasons for Adaptations

• The hot climate is a reason many animals adapt to
  the night. A frog has very sensitive skin and it
  will dry out under the suns harsh rays.

red eyed tree frog
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Reasons for Adaptations

• Another reason nocturnal animals prefer the
  nighttime is that the darkness keeps them safe
  from other animal predators.

garden dormouse
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Echolocation

• Some animals are even equipped with a special
  adaptation that give them super hearing, such as
  a bat!
• Bats use echolocation to find food! Bats have
  super sonic hearing. Bats use sound waves to find
  their food. The sound wave bounces off an insect
  and tells the bat where to fly!

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Echolocation Facts

• Even if thousands of bats are using their
  echolocation at the same time, they can still fly
  and find food.
• Humans cant hear the echolocation sounds.
• Most of the time bats use their mouth to send out
  echolocation sounds, sometimes they use their
  nose.
• Class Echolocation Activities
• Today we will watch a video on echolocation.
• Later on we will also participate in an
  echolocation activity to better understand how
  echolocation works.

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Diurnal Nocturnal Animal Sort
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Diurnal Nocturnal Worksheet
You will each get a copy of the diurnal and
nocturnal animal worksheet. You will also get a
set of animal cards. You will cut them out and
glue them in the proper section. You must decide
if the animal is a diurnal (daytime) or nocturnal
(nighttime) animal. You may independently read
when finished.