４年生(Eネイティブ)理科
Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 4-A
Chapter 2. Structure of plants and animals p.45
尻尾の機能をみてみよう！として下記の記載があります。
大人が読んでも楽しい。
知識の蓄積や見直しにもなりますね。
人間に尻尾があったら、どのように使うかな？とディスカッションするのもよさそうです。
このテキストは、どの単元も大変に魅力的に作られています。
オススメ！
Tails help an animal to:
• move and swing in trees - monkeys for example.
• balance - kangaroos use their tails to balance while they jump for example.
• kill their prey - crocodiles use their tails to spin them around and around when they need to drown their prey; scorpions often have poison in their tails.
• pat down the earth - beavers use their powerful tails to pat ground down hard and solid.
• swim - almost all fish use their tails to let them swim.
• steer their movement - fish, whales, dolphin, sharks and many others use their tail as a sort of rudder to steer them in a certain direction. Birds' tails are very important rudders too.
• keep it warm - a little squirrel or fox wraps its tail around it like a blanket to keep warm!
• chase away flies - a cow or horse can swish their tail to get rid of flies.
• warn others of possible dangers - some deer flash the white underside of their tails to other deer to warn them of possible danger.
• communicate - dogs show their emotion in their tails. If they are happy to see you they wag their tails. A burglar is not always met with the same wagging tail!
• protect - an armadillo has an armoured tail to protect itself. They can roll up into the ball, with their tail protecting them.
• distract predators - if a lizard is attacked it will drop its tail and get away while the predator goes after the wriggling tail.
