Primary One Term 1 Unit 1

Let’s Go to the Farm! Ducks Singular – Duck Plural - Ducks

• Ducks are a type of bird. • Ducks go ‘quack’. • The male duck is called a drake and the baby duck

is called a duckling. • Ducks have very good eyesight. They can

see both near and far well. • Ducks have waterproof feathers and

webbed feet. They can adapt to the cold because their webbed feet do not have nerves that will make them feel cold.

• Ducks preen to get rid of dirt and dust on their feathers.

• Some ducks are useful to farmers because they help to eat insects that eat the farmers’ crops.

• Feathers on the duck are useful for stuffing pillows.

Geese Singular – Goose Plural – Geese

• Geese are a type of bird. • Geese go ‘honk’. • Baby geese are called goslings. • Geese are usually bigger than ducks. They usually

have longer necks too. • Geese have webbed feet. • Many geese are usually grey, black or white. • Goslings grow up fast. Their eyes are opened when

they hatch. They can swim soon after they hatch. • Feathers on the geese are useful for stuffing pillows.

Horses Singular – Horse Plural – Horses

• Horses are mammals. • Horses go ‘neigh’. • When a horse gallops, it moves very fast.

All its four feet will leave the ground at the same time. When a horse trots, it moves quite quickly with each front leg moving at the same time as its opposite back leg.

• An adult female horse is a mare. A young female horse is a filly. An adult male horse is a stallion. A young male horse is a colt.

• Horses have long tails and short hair. • Horse also have hooves. • Horses are herbivores. This means that they do not eat other animals. Horses usually

eat grass. Farmers sometimes feed them oats, barley and hay. • A pony is not a young horse. It is an adult horse that is smaller in size.

Donkeys Singular – Donkey Plural – Donkeys

• Donkeys go ‘hee-haw’. They bray. • Some farmers ride on donkeys to take them

to places. • A male donkey is a jack. A female donkey is

a jenny. • Donkeys have a big head with long and thick

ears. • Some farmers train their donkeys to protect

their livestock. • Donkeys usually eat grass. They can eat a

large amount of grass every day. • Donkeys prefer to be in groups than to be alone. • Some people drink donkey’s milk instead of cow’s milk.

Turkeys Singular – Turkey Plural – Turkeys

• Turkeys are a type of bird. • Baby turkeys are called poults. • Turkeys are usually kept on farms for their eggs and meat. • Although they are birds, they cannot fly well. They can only fly a little and not very

far. • Male turkeys make a gobbling sound. They are sometimes called gobblers. Male and

female turkeys also make other sounds like purr, whistle and cackle. • Male turkeys have sharp spurs on their legs for fighting. Females do not have spurs. • Turkeys have a snood. This can be white, pink, blue or red. It is found on

top of the beak. Some turkeys have longer snoods than others. A short snood might stand upright and look like a horn. A longer snood might dangle down below the bill.

• They do not have teeth. Each mouthful of food goes into a stomach chamber that uses acid to soften the food. This softened food then goes to the gizzard. Specialised muscles in the gizzard will smash the food into smaller pieces.

• Turkeys have good eyesight. They can also see some colours like ultraviolet light that we cannot see.

• Turkey babies can move about on their own when they are born. They can even get their own food.

Chickens Singular – Chicken Plural – Chickens

• Chickens are a type of bird. • Male chickens are called roosters or cockerels and female chickens are called hens. • Chickens are commonly kept on farms for their eggs and meat. • Each hen looks after its own brood of chicks and they sometimes live together in a

coop. • Free range hens are

those that are allowed to move about freely on the farm.

• It is common to hear roosters crowing at dawn each day.

• Roosters perch on higher ground when they sleep at night. This is called roosting.

Sheep Singular – Sheep Plural – Sheep

• Adult female sheep are called ewes (pronounced ‘you-s’) and adult male sheep are called rams. The young of sheep are lambs. Rams usually have horns.

• Sheep have a special vision so they do not need to turn their head to see behind them.

• Sheep eat grass, plants and vegetables. They graze in fields called pastures. This means that they feed on the grass that is grown there. When there is little grass in the cold season, farmers sometimes feed them hay.

• A sheep has four chambers in its stomach that help it to break down the food it eats.

• Sheep are raised on farms mainly for their fleece or wool, meat and milk. The milk from sheep is usually used to make cheese.

• A sheep is sheared for its wool once it is old enough.

• Sheep like being in a group, also known as a flock. When they are frightened, they will huddle together for protection.

• Sheep were the first animal to be domesticated in Asia. This means that they were the first to be kept by man. Although some sheep live in the wild, most of them live on a farm.

• The country with the largest number of sheep is China.

Owls Singular – Owl Plural – Owls

• It is easy to recognise a barn owl. It has a white heart-shaped face and large dark eyes.

• Besides farmlands, it can also be found in other parts of the world such as grasslands.

• The barn owl is a nocturnal animal. This means that it is active at night. • It has excellent eyesight and a good sense of hearing which makes it easy for it to

find its prey. It can even detect the slightest sounds made by its prey. It has powerful talons or claws that help it to catch its prey. It is difficult for the prey to hear the barn owl because the barn owl has feathers that do not make much sound when it flies.

• It eats mainly shrews, mice and voles. (A vole is a small animal that looks like a mouse. A shrew is like a mouse with a long and pointed nose.)

• A barn owl swallows its prey whole. Any part of the prey that cannot be digested will be regurgitated in the form of a pellet.

• Barn owls are useful on farms because they help to control the number of rodents there.

• Barn owls make a screeching sound. Sometimes, they might hiss. They do not hoot like other owls.

Pigs Singular – Pig Plural – Pigs

• Another name for a pig is a hog. A female pig is called a sow and a male pig is called a boar. The young of a pig is a piglet.

• Pigs are mammals. They are warm blooded, have hair and they give birth to live young. Piglets will also drink milk from their mother.

• Most people think that a pig is dirty because it is covered in mud. However, a pig rolls in the mud to keep itself cool. If it is in a cool environment, it will not be covered with mud.

• Farmers keep pigs in a pen. The group of pigs in a pen will snort and grunt to communicate with one another.

• Pigs have a sharp sense of smell. There is cartilage at the end of their snouts. This makes the end of their snouts flexible but strong. They can then root about in the ground. This means that pigs in the wild will help to loosen the soil and help new plants to grow.

• Domesticated pigs eat mostly corn but pigs in the wild can eat rodents and fruits. The corn that pigs on a farm eat are ground into tiny pieces. We call this a meal. (A meal is grain that has been crushed into powder.)

• Farmers keep pigs for their meat. However, some religions and cultures do not eat the meat of pigs.

Cows Singular – Cow Plural - Cows

• Female cows are usually called cows. Male cows are called bulls. The young of a cow is called a cattle.

• Some cows have spots or patterns. No two cows will have the same pattern or spots.

• Cows are herbivores. This means that they eat vegetation such as grass. In winter, when there is little grass for them to graze, they usually eat hay.

• A cow has four compartments in its stomach. It has a good digestive system and it can digest food like stems or seed coverings that other animals cannot.

• Farmers usually keep cows for their meat and for dairy products. Dairy cows will provide milk and beef cows will provide the meat. Farmers will usually milk dairy cows twice a day. Most farmers use a machine to milk the cows today. Many people drink the milk from a cow. The milk can also be used to make cheese and butter.