Week 5 - What Do We Know About Birds And Fish? 

Birds vary enormously, but they all have certain characteristics which are the same. They have feathers, beaks, 4 limbs (the back two are legs, the front two are wings) and they all lay eggs.

Most birds have a similar life cycle, although the stages may last for different lengths of time.

Below is a video clip about birds and their life cycles.

Fish:

The common characteristics of fish are:

Fish have gills to breathe.

Fish live in water.

Fish are cold blooded.

They lay egg.

They have scales.

Here is a diagram of the life cycle of a salmon. Many types of fish follow a similar cycle.

Activity: Compare the life cycles of birds and fish. Describe their similarities and differences in your written work. Can you research any birds or fish which have unusual life cycles? Not all animals neatly fit all the stages of the general lifecycle. There are always exceptions, such as the duck billed platypus. This creature is a mammal because it has fur and feeds its young with milk but it lays eggs!