Lesson video

Hello everyone.

It's Mr. Brown here with your English lesson for today.

And we are focusing on generating information to use in a non-chronological report all about nocturnal animals.

And we are focusing on one particular animal today, an animal which will have its own section in our report.

That animal is hedgehogs.

So are you ready to become experts on hedgehogs? Let's get started then.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can gain knowledge about hedgehogs to use in a non-chronological report.

And the keywords are spines, predator, prey, adaptations and nocturnal.

Let's say those together, my turn, then your turn.

Spines.

Predator.

Prey.

Adaptations.

Nocturnal.

Amazing work, well done.

The lesson outline, we're gonna focus first on a hedgehog's adaptations, then move on to looking at a hedgehog's predators.

All animals have changed and adapted to survive.

These changes and adaptations have happened over millions of years, and were very, very gradual.

Adaptations can be thought of as superhero skills that animals and plants have made to help them survive and thrive in their homes.

For example, a lizard has adapted by camouflaging into its environment.

So if you look at that picture, it's very hard at first glance to see where the lizard is.

It's used at camouflaging, which means changing the colour of its skin to blend into its surroundings so it can't be seen by predators.

An arctic fox, that's a really good example because an arctic fox has a thick, dense winter fur to survive in its cold habitat.

Adaptations are nature's way of giving everyone the tools they need to have the best chance of survival in the place where they live.

Just like how we learn and use things to make our lives better, animals and plants have their own amazing tools to help them live happily in their own different homes.

Let's check our understanding.

Why do animals have adaptations? So we've said that animals have made adaptations over millions of years, but why have they done this? Is it A, to stay warm in their habitats, B, to hide from predators or C, to enable them to survive and thrive in their environments? So we are thinking about all animals here.

Why have they made those adaptations? Is it A, B or C? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone.

Okay, so let's take a look, A, B or C.

Now, A and B, staying warm in the habitats, hiding from predators, these are both reasons why certain animals have made adaptations, but not all animals.

If we're looking for a definition to explain why all animals have adaptations, that would be C, to enable them to survive and thrive in their environment.

So well done if you said C.

Have you ever seen a hedgehog before? Most people have not seen a hedgehog in real life and this is because when hedgehogs are active, we are sleeping.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals, and this means they sleep during the day and are awake at night.

Now, there are many different nocturnal animals such as bats, badgers, foxes and owls.

When do nocturnal animals sleep? Let's check your understanding of the word nocturnal.

When do nocturnal animals sleep? Is it A, during the day, B, at night, or C, when the lights are on? When do nocturnal animals sleep, A, B or C? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

Let's see if you were right.

When do nocturnal animals sleep? Now, I was a bit worried.

I was a bit worried that you would see the word nocturnal and think, well, nocturnal means that it's nighttime.

But the question was, when do nocturnal animals sleep, not when are nocturnal animals active, when are they awake? That would be B, at night.

But the question we had was when do nocturnal animals sleep and they sleep, A, during the day.

When we are active, they're asleep, and when we're asleep, they are active.

That's what nocturnal animals mean.

So in today's lesson, you'll be gaining knowledge about hedgehogs.

This will prepare you to write a non-chronological report about nocturnal animals with a section all about hedgehogs.

So let's focus on hedgehogs.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal and are awake at night, dusk and dawn.

Dusk and dawn are the two parts just before and just after nighttime.

That's when hedgehogs are awake.

They are small mammals and are recognisable because of the spikes they have on their backs.

So if you look at that picture, you can see that hedgehog is covered in so many tiny spikes on its back.

These sharp pointy spikes are called spines.

That's one of our keywords, spines.

And they play an important part in protecting the animal.

And as you can see, lots and lots of spines on a hedgehog's back.

Have a think about how they might be protecting the animal.

Hedgehogs have around 5,000 to 7,000 spines on their backs.

Wow, that is a lot of spines protecting that animal.

Each spine lasts about a year before dropping out and being replaced.

The spines are all over a hedgehog's back, but not on its face, hands, feet or tummy.

Let's check our understanding.

True or false, the spikes on a hedgehog's back are called spines.

So we know we have a spine as humans in our back, don't we? But are the spikes on a hedgehog's back called spines too? Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's see if you were right.

The spikes on a hedgehog's back are called spines, that is absolutely true.

Well done if you said true.

Hedgehogs also have a long pointed nose, which is called a snout.

So it's not called a nose like we have, it's called a snout, a bit like a pig.

They use their long snout to hunt.

A hedgehog's eyesight is quite poor.

So when looking for food, they mostly use their excellent sense of smell.

So a bit like how a bat has made an adaptation to use echolocation because their eyesight is poor and a bat is almost blind.

A hedgehog's eyesight is quite poor, not as bad as a bat, but it's quite poor.

So they use their sense of smell.

So they've adapted over millions of years to have an excellent sense of smell and use that instead.

True or false, hedgehogs use their amazing eyesight to hunt.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide now.

Welcome back everyone.

Hedgehogs use their amazing eyesight to hunt, well, that is false because hedgehogs do not have amazing eyesight.

They have quite poor eyesight, but they do have an amazing sense of? Smell, that's it.

Good job, well done.

Amazing sense of smell.

The spines on their back and long snouts are both examples of adaptations hedgehogs have made to help them survive in their habitat.

Do you know what a hedgehog's habitat might be? Where do hedgehogs live? The hedge part of a hedgehog's name comes from where they like to build their nests.

So you can see from that image, that's a hedge running along the side of that garden and there's a few smaller hedges in the garden too.

And a hedgehog is called a hedge hog because they like to build their nests in hedges.

These creatures love to make their homes underneath hedges, bushes and shrubs, which are small plants.

Therefore, a garden or a park would be a suitable habitat for a hedgehog.

Hedges, bushes and shrubs are perfect homes for hedgehogs because they provide cover and a place to be hidden from predators.

They attract insects which hedgehogs like to eat.

So the food comes to them because the insects are attracted to their habitat.

Their thick vegetation, which means all the leaves and plants, the plants that they have, the leaves and tangled branches make a great nesting spot.

So there's lots of things they can use to help build and create nests.

They help the hedgehog regulate its temperature by providing shade in the summer and warmth in the winter.

So under these bushes and hedges and shrubs, the sun can't reach.

So it keeps cooler in the summer and in the winter, a cold wind can't reach because it's protected by the hedges, so therefore it keeps warmer.

So this means that the hedgehog can regulate its temperature.

So we've got cover and a place to hide from predators, which are other animals that might try and eat a hedgehog.

The insects that the hedgehog likes to eat are attracted to this habitat.

So amazing for a hedgehog to have its food come to them, bit like a delivery service that we might use at home.

Their thick vegetation and tangled branches make a great nesting spot and the hedgehog can regulate its temperature well too.

Okay, let's check our understanding.

Select the reasons why hedgehogs.

Sorry, select the reasons why hedges, bushes and shrubs are suitable homes for a hedgehog.

A, B and C.

A is they provide cover and a place to be hidden from predators, B, they attract insects which hedgehogs like to eat, or C, they are green so hedgehogs can camouflage.

A, B or C.

I would like you to select the two answers that are correct here, why hedges, bushes and shrubs are suitable homes for a hedgehog.

Which two are correct here? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone.

Let's see if you were right.

So A, they provide cover and a place to be hidden from predators is correct.

Well done if you said A.

B, they attract insects which hedgehogs like to eat.

They do.

C, they're green so hedgehogs can camouflage.

Well, no, because hedgehogs are not green, so they can't camouflage with green leaves.

So A and B were the correct answers.

Time for a practise task.

I would like you to fill in the blanks using the words from the box below, eyesight, spines, nocturnal, smell and hedges.

Your job is to fill in the blanks in the sentences that I've written for you, using one of those five words in each blank.

So let me read you the sentences with the blanks.

Hedgehogs are blank animals, so something, blank animals and are active at night.

Hmm, what could that be? They have thousands of spikes on their back called something, what could that be? Hedgehogs have poor something and so they use their long snouts and a good sense of something instead.

So what sense do they use instead to compensate for their poor something else? A hedgehog's habitat might be garden, hmm, bushes and shrubs.

What do you think? I'd like you to pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone, let's see if you were right.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals and are awake at night.

Well done if you said nocturnal.

They have thousands of spikes on their back called spines.

Yes, they are.

Hedgehogs have poor eyesight.

Well done if you said eyesight.

And so, they use their long snouts and a good sense of smell instead.

And a hedgehog's habitat might be garden hedges, bushes and shrubs.

Well done if you said hedges for that last sentence.

Okay, let's move on to look at a hedgehog's predators.

Some animals eat plants, fruits and vegetables.

Some animals hunt for their food and eat other animals.

These animals are called predators.

That's one of our key words, isn't it? Predators.

So animals that hunt for their food and eat other animals are predators.

The animals they are hunting to eat are called prey.

That's another one of our key words, prey.

True or false, an animal which eats other animals is called prey.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide now.

Well done everyone, welcome back.

Let's see if you were right.

An animal which eats other animals is called prey.

No, it is not.

It is called a predator.

The prey is the name for the animals that it is trying to eat, that it is hunting.

That's prey.

So well done if you said false.

A hedgehog eats both living creatures and plants.

This means they are predators.

However, some animals hunt hedgehogs and try to eat them, which means that hedgehogs are prey.

So hedgehogs are predators because they eat some living creatures and they are prey because other animals try and eat them.

Hedgehogs are both predators and prey.

A hedgehog is a predator of the following animals, insects such as beetles, caterpillars, ants and grasshoppers.

A hedgehog will try and eat those.

So a hedgehog is a predator for those insects.

Worms, snails and slugs and spiders.

These are all things that a hedgehog will try and eat.

Now, a hedgehog is prey for the following animals, foxes, badgers, owls.

These are animals that will try and eat a hedgehog.

So therefore, they are the predators and the hedgehog now becomes the prey.

A hedgehog is a predator of an earthworm.

However, a hedgehog is the prey for a fox.

Let's take a look at this food chain.

We can see that the earthworm is eaten by the hedgehog, but the hedgehog is eaten by a fox.

The fox is a predator of a hedgehog.

A hedgehog is the prey for a fox.

A hedgehog is, A, a predator, B, prey, or C, predator and prey.

Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone.

So we know that a hedgehog is a predator because it tries to eat things like an earthworm or a spider, but it's also prey because a fox would try and eat a hedgehog.

A badger might try and eat a hedgehog.

So the correct answer is C, predator and prey.

Well done if you said C.

Hedgehogs have made adaptations to protect themselves from predators.

I wonder if you can think about an adaptation that a hedgehog has made to protect itself from predators.

Have a think.

There's one particular adaptation that springs to mind for me.

Their sharp, pointy spines are the most effective tool against predators.

To make themselves very difficult to eat, they roll into a ball so their face, hands, feet and tummy are safely tucked away and only their spines are exposed.

This puts animals off trying to eat them.

They don't want to try and eat them because they're covered in sharp spines.

Can you imagine trying to eat something if it was covered in sharp spines? Imagine trying to eat a banana if it was covered in thousands of sharp spines.

It would be horrible and it would put you off wanting to do it and that's what hedgehogs have adapted to do.

Their spines put animals off wanting to try and eat them.

True or false, hedgehogs protect themselves from predators by rolling into a tight ball with only their sharp spines exposed.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and decide for yourself now.

Welcome back everyone.

Do hedgehogs protect themselves from predators by rolling into a tight ball with only their sharp spines exposed? They absolutely do, well done if you said true.

Okay, time for a practise task.

I would like you to write a list of creatures that hedgehogs are predators for.

And then number two, write a list of creatures that hedgehogs are the prey for.

So I want a list of creatures that hedgehogs are predators for, number one, and number two, a list of creatures that hedgehogs are the prey for.

So pause the video and write your lists now.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

Let's see if you manage to get any of these on your list.

So insects such as beetles, caterpillars, ants and grasshoppers, these are all creatures that hedgehogs are predators for.

Worms, snails and slugs and spiders, these could have all been on your list too.

So well done if you had any of these on your list for number one.

And number two, a list of creatures that hedgehogs are the prey for.

That's foxes, badgers and owls.

Foxes, badgers and owls try to eat hedgehogs.

So hedgehogs are prey for those animals.

Well done if you managed to get any of those on your list.

Let's summarise our learning for today's lesson.

Hedgehogs have thousands of spikes on their backs, which are called spines.

Hedgehogs protect themselves by curling up into a ball with their spines facing out.

The name for an animal that tries to eat another animal is predator and the name for an animal that tries to eat.

Sorry, I'll say that one more time.

The name for an animal that other animals try to eat is prey.

Well done for excellent work in today's lesson on becoming experts at hedgehogs.

You now know so much, so I suggest you speak to someone, perhaps in your family or a friend, about hedgehogs.

Share the knowledge that you've gained in today's lesson.

Well done, I will see you again very soon.