11 The Amazing Octopus

The
Amazing
Octopus

by Cindy Baker

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

The
Amazing
Octopus

by Cindy Baker

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suction cups

What amazing animal has eight
arms but no hands? The answer is
an octopus!

The octopus uses its arms to
crawl along on the ocean floor.
Each arm has 240 suction cups.
They help the octopus move
through the water.

2

How an Octopus Moves
Sometimes the octopus needs

to move fast. The octopus fills its
body with water. Then it pushes
the water out. The octopus speeds
through the water. It can go as
fast as 25 miles an hour!

3

What an Octopus Eats
Octopuses eat many animals.

They eat crabs and fish. Large
octopuses can eat sharks!

Octopuses use their arms to
look for food. The little cups on
their arms can grip the food that
they find.

4

beak

An octopus also looks in places
where animals hide. It looks for
food in small, dark places. Its
arms reach far into the rocks.

The octopus has a beak in its
mouth. The beak breaks open the
shells of lobsters and clams.

5

Octopus Size
Octopuses are many different

sizes. One of the biggest
octopuses has arms that are six
feet long.

Baby octopuses are quite small.
A really tiny baby is no bigger
than a freckle.

6

Octopus Colors
Octopuses can change colors.

This helps them hide from danger.
Octopuses show their feelings, too.
They change colors when they are
mad or happy!

Octopuses are also very
smart. They are smart enough to
open jars!

7

Octopus Bodies
Octopuses don’t have shells.

Their bodies are soft. This makes
it easy for octopuses to hide. They
can squeeze into tiny places.

Sometimes an octopus gets hurt
and loses an arm. The arm grows
right back!

8

ink

Octopus Ink
If an enemy attacks an

octopus, the octopus can squirt ink
in the water. This ink is not like the
ink you find in a blue or black pen.
The ink hurts the enemy’s eyes, so
the octopus can swim away quickly.

9

Octopuses live all over the
world. They swim in cold water
and warm water. Some people
think they look scary, but they
don’t want to hurt you. Octopuses
are amazing animals!

10

Responding

TARGET SKILL Author’s Purpose
Why did the author write this
book? What are three
details that help tell you this?
Make a chart.

Write About It
Text to World Draw a picture
of an octopus. Write two
sentences that tell facts about
octopuses.

11

WORDS TO KNOW

blue little water
cold
far live where

their

LEARN MORE WORDS

crawl suction

TARGET SKILL Author’s Purpose
Tell why an author writes a book.

TARGET STRATEGY Analyze/Evaluate
Tell how you feel about the text,
and why.

GENRE Informational text gives
facts about a topic.

12

Level: L
DRA: 24
Genre:
Informational Text
Strategy:
Analyze/Evaluate
Skill:
Author’s Purpose
Word Count: 346

1.3.11

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ISBN-13:978-0-547-02709-8
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