Science Series Level 4 Level 4 Div ersity Div ersity
Living things Plants Animals • Size, shape and colour • Outer coverings • Manner of movements • Methods of reproduction Non-flowering Flowering Similarities / Differences Similarities / Differences Diversity Level 4 4 Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Many things around us Do not Fungi • Different shapes and sizes • Feed on plants and animals • Reproduce through spores Bacteria Can only be seen under a microscope Non-living things • Need air, water and food • Grow • Move by themselves • Respond to changes around them • Die • Wood • Metal • Rubber • Plastic • Fabric • Ceramics • Glass • Mammals • Birds • Fish • Insects Diversity Level 4 5 Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 6 Living Things: Animals Interesting Information Vampire bats can be found in Central and South America. They can survive in arid to humid, tropical and subtropical areas. Creatures Of The Night - Vampire Bats I guess there must be vampire bats nearby as there’s a farm here. That herd of cattle might be their source of blood supply. The sky is getting dark. We need to look for a place to camp for the night. The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest tropical rainforest, renowned for its biodiversity. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 7 Interesting Information Vampire bats live in colonies in almost completely dark places, such as caves, old wells, tree hollows and attics of old buildings. Let’s go for a walk after dinner. Do you think there’ll be vampire bats in that cave? Wow! The bats are all hanging from the walls of the cave using their forelimbs. Hey, there’s a cave in front of us. Let’s go in and find out. That’s fine with me. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 8 Interesting Information A vampire bat colony can number from a single digit to hundreds roosting at a site. The basic social structure of roosting bats consists of female groups and their offspring, a few adult males, known as ‘resident males’, and a separate group of males, known as ‘non-resident males’. They are going out soon to forage for food. Once the vampire bats locate a host, such as a sleeping mammal, they will land on it and suck its blood. They must be heading for the farm we passed by earlier. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 9 Interesting Information A typical female vampire bat weighs about 40 grams and can consume over 20 grams of blood during a 20-minute feed. This feeding behaviour is facilitated by its anatomy and physiology for rapid processing and digestion of the blood to enable the animal to take flight soon after feeding. It uses its thermoreceptor to identify a warm spot on the skin to bite. Each night, vampire bats drink about half of their body weight in blood. Vampire bats can also transmit rabies which can be fatal to humans. If you see a bat, the best thing to do is to leave it alone. Domesticated animals, such as cattle, horses and pigs are the preferred hosts of these nocturnal creatures. Wow! What a precious shot I got on my camera. It makes a small incision with its teeth and lap up the flowing blood from the wound. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 10 Interesting Information Vampire bats hunt only when it is totally dark. Like fruit-eating bats, they emit only low-energy sound pulses. Oh no! My camera! The following morning ... Hmm ... How I wish I could get some frontal view photos of the vampire bats. Err ... the cave stinks of manure. Alright, let’s go into the cave again. Tread carefully and watch out for unexpected danger. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 11 Interesting Information A unique behaviour pattern of vampire bats is the sharing of food. A vampire bat can only survive for two days without a meal of blood, so when a bat fails to find food, it will often ‘beg’ another bat for food. A ‘donor’ bat may regurgitate a small amount of blood to sustain a hungry member of the colony. Great! I’ve got all the best shots I need. Let’s get out immediately. Aah! At last I can take a deep breath. Click! Click! There are so many of them! Oh my! Look up there! Yes, you can say that again! Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 12 Vampire bats are members of a diverse family of bats which depend on a variety of food sources, including nectar, pollen, insects, fruit, fish and meat. Vampire bats are bats whose food source is blood, a dietary trait called hematophagy. Facts About Vampire Bats The common vampire bat feeds mostly on the blood of mammals (occasionally humans), whereas both the hairy-legged vampire bat and white-winged vampire bat feed on the blood of birds. Three bat species feed solely on blood: the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), the hairy-legged vampire bat (Diphylla ecaudata), and the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi ). Common vampire bat Hairy-legged vampire bat White-winged vampire bat Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Diversity Level 4 13 Science Education Extension: Enter and key in “Vampire Bats | World’s Weirdest” (reprint YouTube) Unlike a fruit bat, a vampire bat has a short, conical muzzle. It also lacks a nose leaf, but has naked pads with U-shaped grooves at the tip. A vampire bat has front teeth that are specialized for cutting whereas the back teeth are much smaller compared to other bats. The inferior colliculus, the part of the bat’s brain that processes sound, is well adapted to detecting the regular breathing sounds of sleeping animals that serve as its main food source. The common vampire bat also has specialized thermoreceptors on its nose, which help it to locate areas where blood flows close to the skin of its prey. While other bats have almost lost the ability to manoeuvre on land, vampire bats can walk, jump and even run by using a unique, bounding gait, in which the forelimbs or wings, instead of the hindlimbs are used for force propulsion, as the wings are much more powerful than the legs. Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd All Rights Reserved
Our planet teems with a myriad of living organisms and inanimate objects, each adding to the tapestry of life. Humanity's quest to understand this complexity involves categorizing these entities into manageable groups. We uncover commonalities among living things and shared characteristics in non-living items that aid in this classification. This endeavor underscores the value of maintaining diversity, reminding us of its role in enriching our understanding of the world. Science Series Level 4 Level 4 Div ersity Div ersity All Rights Reserved Printed by: Percetakan Tatt Sdn. Bhd. (270731-D) Lot 17485, Jalan 2, Taman Selayang Baru, Batu 8 Jalan Ipoh, 68100 Batu Caves, Selangor. Tel : 03-6136 6686 Faks : 03-6136 8676 WM: RM16.00 EM: RM17.00 Publisher: HUP LICK PUBLISHING (M) SDN. BHD. (106567-K) 40, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 12, Sri Edaran Industrial Park, Off Jalan Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-6258 9471 Fax: 03-6258 7795 English translation rights granted to YOUNG SCIENTISTS PTE. LTD. ISBN 978-629-488-098-6