Hom

e-School Connection

Hom

e-School Connection

(fold here)© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Nam

e

Word Workout

WORDS TO KNOW

sigh

t od

or

veno

m

rela

ted

fem

ale

iden

tica

l

Riddle Me This

I’ll

giv

e yo

u a

ridd

le for ea

ch w

ord

. Fo

r th

e w

ord

odo

r, th

e ridd

le m

ight

be:

“Th

is is

ano

ther

w

ord

for sm

ell.

Wha

t w

ord

am

I?”

SPELLING WORDS

pilo

t di

ner

tige

r fa

vor

lem

on

plan

et

mod

el

shad

y ro

bot

tiny

label

co

zy

sile

nt

spid

er

froz

en

Speed Spell I

’ll k

eep

givi

ng y

ou w

ord

s to

spel

l, an

d at

the

end

of

one

min

ute,

we

can

see

how

man

y yo

u sp

elle

d co

rrec

tly.

Do

you

wan

t to

go

agai

n to

see

if

you

can

bet

ter yo

ur s

core

?

Dear Family Member:

This

wee

k w

e’re

rea

ding

Unique Animals of the

Southw

est.

It’s a

non

fi ct

ion

articl

e ab

out

dese

rt a

nim

als

of t

he S

outh

wes

t. W

e’re

als

o le

arni

ng to

com

par

e an

d co

ntra

st. W

e re

ad t

hat

dese

rt a

nim

als

can

all l

ive

in t

he

dese

rt’s h

ot c

limat

e bu

t th

e an

imal

s pro

tect

the

mse

lves

in

dif

fere

nt w

ays.

For ex

ampl

e, w

hen

they

’re in

dan

ger,

road

runn

ers

run

very

fas

t bu

t ar

mad

illos

rol

l up

in a

bal

l. I’m

sur

e th

ere

will

be

othe

r w

ays

to c

ompar

e an

d co

ntra

st t

he a

nim

als.

Com

par

ing

and

cont

rast

ing

as I

re

ad h

elps

me

rem

ember

fac

ts a

bout

the

ani

mal

s.

This Week’s Skills

Comprehension: c

ompar

e an

d co

ntra

st

Vocabulary: d

iction

ary—

unkn

own

word

s

Spelling/Phonics:

syl

labl

es

299

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

Alike and Different

Let’s

look

at

each

pic

ture

. I’ll

hel

p yo

u re

ad t

he w

ord

s.

Then

we

can

talk

abo

ut w

hich

thi

ngs

in t

he p

ictu

res

are

the

sam

e an

d di

ffer

ent.

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

300

Conexión con el hogar

Conexión con el hogar

(fold here)© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Queridos familiares:

Esta

sem

ana

esta

mos

leye

ndo

“Uni

que

Ani

mal

s of

th

e So

uthw

est”

. Es

un a

rtíc

ulo

de n

o-fi c

ción

sob

re lo

s an

imal

es d

esér

tico

s de

l Sur

oes

te. T

ambi

én e

stam

os

apre

ndie

ndo

a co

mpar

ar y

a c

ontr

asta

r. Le

emos

que

los

anim

ales

des

értico

s pu

eden

viv

ir e

n el

clim

a ca

lient

e de

l de

sier

to, p

ero

que

se p

rote

gen

de d

ifer

ente

s m

aner

as.

Por ej

empl

o, c

uand

o es

tán

en p

elig

ro, l

os c

orr

ecam

inos

co

rren

muy

ráp

ido,

per

o lo

s ar

mad

illos

rue

dan

en

form

a de

bol

a. E

stoy

seg

uro(

a) d

e qu

e en

cont

rare

mos

ot

ras

man

eras

de

com

par

ar y

con

tras

tar lo

s an

imal

es.

Com

par

ar y

con

tras

tar m

ient

ras

leo

me

ayud

a a

reco

rdar

dat

os s

obre

los

anim

ales

.

Destrezas de la semana

Comprensión: c

ompar

ació

n y

cont

rast

e

Vocabulario: d

icci

onar

io—

pal

abra

s de

scon

oci

das

Ortografía/Fonética:

síla

bas

Nom

bre

Ejercicio de palabras

PALABRAS DE VOCABULARIO

sigh

t od

or

veno

m

rela

ted

fem

ale

iden

tica

l

Adivíname esto Y

o te

diré

una

adiv

inan

za p

ara

cada

pal

abra

. Par

a la

pal

abra

odor,

laad

ivin

anza

pod

ría

ser:

This is another word for sm

ell. What word am

I?

PALABRAS DE ORTOGRAFÍA

pilo

t di

ner

tige

r fa

vor

lem

on

plan

et

mod

el

shad

y ro

bot

tiny

label

co

zy

sile

nt

spid

er

froz

en

Ortografía veloz

Te v

oy a

dar

var

ias

pal

abra

s par

a de

letr

ear y

al c

abo

de u

n m

inut

o po

dem

os v

er c

uánt

as

pal

abra

s de

letr

east

e co

rrec

tam

ente

. ¿Q

uier

es ju

gar de

nu

evo

par

a ve

r si

pue

des

mej

ora

r tu

pun

taje

?

301

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

Parecidas y diferentes

Vam

os a

mirar

cad

a ilu

stra

ción

. Te

ayud

aré

con

la

lect

ura

de la

s pal

abra

s. D

espu

és p

odre

mos

hab

lar de

las

sem

ejan

zas

y di

fere

nci

as e

ntre

las

ilust

raci

ones

.

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

How

are

the

y th

e sa

me?

How

are

th

ey d

iffe

rent

?

302

Alike

Different

Different

Summarize

Use a Venn diagram to tell

how two animals or plants

from the book are the

same and different. Then

summarize the information.

Think and Compare

1.

Reread pages 5–6. How are porcupines

and hedgehogs the same? How are they

different? (C

om

pare

and Contrast

)

2. What was the most interesting fact

in the book? Why?

(Analy

ze)

3. Why is it important to know how plants

and animals protect themselves? (E

valu

ate

)

Comprehension Check

16

Natural

Defenses

Defenses

bybySandy Dam

ashek

Tab

le o

f C

on

ten

ts

Ch

ap

ter

1Ouch! Getting the Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Ch

ap

ter

2Poison Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Ch

ap

ter

3What’s That Smell?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Glo

ssary

/In

dex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Comprehension Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Natural Defenses

CHAPTER 1

Ouch! Getting the Point

Many plants and animals have natural

de

fen

ses. They need them to protect

themselves. Some natural defenses are

sharp growths, p

ois

on, and bad smells.

Sharp growths can poke and stick

others. They can keep hungry animals

away. Have you ever seen a plant or

animal with this kind of defense?

2

de

fen

se (d

i-FENS)a way that a plant or an

animal protects itself (p

age 2)

po

iso

n (P

OY-z

uhn)something harmful when

taken into the body (p

age 2)

pre

dato

r (P

RED-u

h-tuhr)an animal that eats

other animals

(page 6)

pri

ckle

(P

RIK

-uhl)a small, sharp point on

plant stems, leaves, or flowers (p

age 4)

qu

ill

(KW

IL)a stiff, sharp spine on a

porcupine or hedgehog (p

age 5)

spin

es

(SPIG

HNZ) stiff, sharp growths on a

plant or an animal (p

age 3)

tho

rn (T

HAW

RN)a kind of plant stem that

is thin, hard, and sharp (p

age 4)

ve

no

m (V

EN-u

hm

)a poison produced by an

animal (p

age 10

)

Index

poison, 2, 7–

11, 14

predator, 6, 7, 14

prickles, 4, 14

smells, 2, 12

–14

spines, 3, 4–6

, 11, 14

thorn, 4, 14

urushiol,

7

venom, 10

, 11

Glossary

15

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

The Best Defense

Is one nat

ura

l defe

nse

better

than anoth

er?

It

depends. Pla

nts

and

anim

als dev

elo

p th

e best

defe

nse

again

st th

eir

pre

dat

ors

. Cle

arly, sp

ines,

prick

les, th

orn

s, poison,

and

bad sm

ells

su

it so

me pla

nts

and anim

als ju

st fine!

There are also some animals that use

bad smells as a defense. When skunks are

threatened, they raise their tail and

spray their enemy. Both males and

females give off the odor. A

skunk’s smell is something you

will never forget.

Stinkbugs are small, but they

can be smelly. The odor of

their stink liquid drives away

many predators. Like all

natural defenses, a bad smell

tells predators to stay away.

14

Would an animal trotting through the

desert think that a cactus looked like a

tasty meal? No way! Many cactus plants

have stiff, sharp leaves called sp

ine

s.

These spines keep animals from eating the

plant. They are a great natural defense!

Prickly

pear

cactu

s

3

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Some plants, such as

thistles, have

pri

ckle

s

instead of spines. Unlike

spines, prickles are

not leaves. They are

sharp growths found on

leaves or other parts of

the plant. They protect

the plant’s flowers.

A th

orn is a kind of stiff, sharp stem.

It grows out from

the branches of a

plant. Blackberry and

raspberry bushes have

thorns. Even some trees,

such as honey locust

trees, have thorns.

Spines, prickles,

and thorns on plants

are natural defenses

that help keep hungry

animals away.

Thorn

s can m

ake

it hard

to

pic

k ra

spberr

ies.

Rose

st

em

s actu

ally

have prickle

s, not

thorn

s.

4

Other plants use bad smells to attract

animals. The corpse flower is the world’s

largest flower. It may also be the world’s

smelliest! Some people say the corpse

flower smells like rotten eggs. Others say

it smells like a dead elephant. In other

words, it smells bad!

Still, certain beetles love the corpse

flower’s smell.

They look for the

blooming plant

and pollinate the

flowers. They

help create new

corpse plants.

Unfortunately, the

new plants are

just as smelly as

the old ones!

This co

rpse

flow

er

is

big

and sm

elly!

13

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

A Helpful Smell

The sm

ell of

a

citr

onella pla

nt

keeps

inse

cts

like

m

osq

uitoes

aw

ay.

Citro

nella candle

s ke

ep in

sects

out

of

back

yard

s.

CHAPTER 3

What’s That Smell?

So far, we have seen plants and animals

with painful spines and poisonous venom.

But there are also plants and animals that

are stinkers! Their

natural defense is

a bad odor.

Some plants

use bad smells

to keep animals

away. For example,

Copper Canyon

daisies smell like

medicine. Their

scent keeps deer

from eating them.

Copper Canyon daisy

12

The porc

upin

e’s quills even ke

ep th

is lion aw

ay!

Porcupines have thousands of sharp

spines called

qu

ills. When a porcupine is

threatened, it swings its tail at its attacker.

As the tail touches the attacking animal,

quills come off and go into the animal’s

skin. The quills have tiny hooks that hold

tightly. The quills go deeper, sometimes

causing death.

5

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Hedgehogs are small animals found

in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Hedgehogs

and porcupines are related to each other,

but are not identical. The spines on a

hedgehog do not come out easily. Their

spines also do not have hooks.

Look at this hedgehog. It curls up to

protect its soft face, belly, and legs from

pre

dato

rs. Hedgehogs curl up when they

defend themselves and when they sleep.

6

Long-spined

sea urchin

Sometimes one kind of

defense isn’t enough. Many

underwater creatures have

both poison and spines.

Look at this stonefish.

Its sharp spines are filled

with poison. If these

spines break through

another creature’s skin,

poisonous venom passes

into the creature’s body.

The enemy can die in less

than an hour.

Remember

the Name

The nam

es

say

it all.

Lik

e th

e

stonefish

, th

ese

anim

als

have

poisonous

spin

es.

A ru

n-in w

ith

one of

them

w

ill

be pain

ful.

Sto

nefish

Crown-of-thorns

starfish

11

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

The ra

ttle

snake

is one of

four

kin

ds

of

pois

onous

snake

s in

th

e United Sta

tes.

Spitting Snakes

Som

e sn

ake

s’ fa

ngs

poin

t fo

rward

. They sp

it

their venom

th

rough

their fa

ngs

and blind

their enem

ies!

Many snakes have poisonous fangs.

Snake poison is called

ve

no

m. When

snakes bite other animals, the venom

travels through their hollow fangs into the

bite wounds. It can paralyze an animal. It

can even cause death.

10

Poison Sumac

Poison Oak

Poison Iv

y

CHAPTER 2

Poison Power

Poison is one of the best plant and

animal defenses. Poison may make an

animal sick. It may even stop a predator

dead in its tracks!

Have you ever had poison ivy? You may

have gotten it by simply brushing against

the leaves of a poison ivy plant. There

is sap in poison ivy. The sap contains a

chemical called urushiol. This chemical

is in the leaves, twigs, and roots of the

poison ivy plant. When a poison ivy leaf

touches your skin, urushiol causes a rash

or blisters.

7

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill

Poison in plants can cause animals to

become sick. Some poisons can even

cause animals to die. Most animals learn

which plants make them sick. They stay

away from those plants, and they keep

their babies away, too.

Mis

tleto

eB

utt

erc

up

Cast

or

be

an

Wild

ch

err

yLi

ly o

f th

e va

lley

Jasm

ine

Wis

teri

aF

oxg

love

Mo

on

seed

Berries

Flowers

Seeds

Poisonous

8

Get the Point?

The Choco

In

dia

ns

of

South

A

merica dip

th

eir arr

ow

s in

frog

poison befo

re th

ey

go hunting.

Just like plants, some animals also use

poison as a defense. Poison arrow frogs

are about the size of a person’s thumbnail.

These frogs may seem like the perfect

meal for other animals in the rain forest.

But they’re not! They are one of the most

poisonous animals in the world. Poison

comes right through their skin.

Although these frogs are a deadly sight,

they are easy to spot. Their bright colors

warn other animals to stay away.

The poison arr

ow

frog’s bright

colo

rs

are

a w

arn

ing to

oth

er

anim

als

.

9

Natural Defenses© Macmillan/McGraw-Hill