4th Grade Science : Describe how animals respond to information
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for 4th Grade Science
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Life Science
Wolves have an incredible sense of smell used for hunting, marking territories, social relationships, and more. Wolves are territorial animals that mark the areas in which their pack resides. Every 100 yards or so, the dominant wolves will mark their territory to make other packs aware they are present. A wolf can smell another animal from up to almost two miles downwind. When wolves smell each other, scientists think they can tell the gender, age, and even if the other animal is sick. A wolves' sense of smell is said to be 100 times greater than that of a human. Once all this information is collected and processed, a wolf must respond to what it smells.
In what way might wolves respond if it smells the scent of a rival pack?
The wolves may mark over the scents to reclaim their territory.
The wolves may fight with the rival pack.
All of the answer choices are ways wolves might respond.
The wolves may move to another area if they think they are in danger.
All of the answer choices are ways wolves might respond.
Wolves are fierce animals that respond to information like scents through reflexes and learned behaviors. The main goal of the pack is to stick together and survive. Wolves may do any of the things mentioned in the answer choices if they smell a rival pack's scent in their territory. Wolves may fight, re-mark, or leave the area. Wolves can smell the age and even approximate size of another wolf based on the scent, so if there are more wolves or stronger wolves in the rival pack, they may choose not to engage because it is too risky. Wolves use these scent markers to learn about their packmates, enemies, and surroundings.
Example Question #1 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
How do animals use their perceptions and memories to make decisions?
Their perceptions allow them to see into the future so they can avoid situations.
They discuss with other animals what happened and make decisions about how to react.
They do not use perceptions or memories to make decisions.
They use memories they have stored to respond to current situations.
They use memories they have stored to respond to current situations.
Information that was collected in the past about situations and surroundings is stored in the brain as memories for use later on. If an animal is in a similar situation later in their life, they may recall what previously took place so they can choose an appropriate response. Animals respond to situations based on reflexes and learned behaviors. If a juvenile lion watches the rest of the pride hunt, it will learn the techniques and practices needed to be successful in the future when it joins the group.
Example Question #3 : Life Science
Animals are not able to use their perceptions and memories to respond to situations.
True
False
False
This statement is false. Animals do use their memories and perceptions to help them respond to situations. If an animal has been bitten or injured, it will remember that encounter and avoid that same dangerous place or animals. Older chimpanzees will teach the young monkeys about snakes and how dangerous they are. They will show them how to holler and hit them with sticks to scare them off. The babies remember this and not only apply it to their own life, but they teach it to their offspring too.
Example Question #2 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
Some species of moths drop to the ground when they hear a bat's echolocation chirp. If you go outside at night with a flashlight, the moths will flock to the light. You can shake a set of keys and observe many of the moths falling to the ground. This defense is to get out of the path of the bat, so they are not eaten.
What is this adaptation an example of?
Animals receiving information
Animals responding to information
Animals processing information
This is not an example of an animal adaptation
Animals responding to information
Over many years animals develop adaptations as a species to help them survive, mate, and reproduce. Animals collect information from their surroundings, process the data, and as in this example, they respond to it. This reaction to the bat's echolocation chirp is a response that the brain sends out once if processes that the bat is nearby. If animals did not respond to the nearby danger, they would be at risk for injury or being eaten.
Example Question #5 : Life Science
Platypus have a "sixth-sense" that allows them to hunt underwater: electroreception. To find meals in the mud, it uses its bill to detect movements and subtle electric fields produced by its prey. Receptors on the bill detect changes in pressure and motion. Two types of receptors track the electrical signals produced by small prey when they contract their muscles. The platypus moves its head side-to-side to determine the direction and distance of its next meal by collecting and processing this sensory information. The platypus has about 40,000 of these special receptors.
How does the platypus respond to the information it receives based on the passage?
It buries itself in the mud to find its prey.
This passage does not provide information on how the platypus responds to signals.
It contracts its muscles to send off electrical signals to scare predators.
It moves its head side-to-side to pinpoint where the prey is located.
It moves its head side-to-side to pinpoint where the prey is located.
The platypus is an odd and unusual creature. It is only one of five mammals that lay eggs, it is semi-aquatic, billed, and has 40,000 receptors to detect electrical signals. These animals collect information from the environment around them and process what is received. Once the information is obtained, it has to be responded to or reacted to. The platypus will move its head side-to-side to narrow down the exact location of its prey. They can gauge how far away it is and which direction to travel. This is how the platypus can effectively track down its next meal.
Example Question #7 : Life Science
Meerkats are animals that live in “clans” or “mobs” with a range of 20 to 50 members. They are great at digging and can have as many as five burrows for their clans to live and sleep in. Each clan has a sentry, or guard, who watches for predators while other meerkats search for food. Their excellent eyesight allows them to see very clearly to avoid both ground and aerial attacks. When the sentry becomes aware of an impending attack, it uses a series of whistles or barks to inform the mob of the threat’s urgency.
Based on the passage, if a sentry were to spot an eagle overhead, which of the following would MOST LIKELY be its response?
The sentry would alert the mob of danger
The sentry would attack the predator to protect the clan
The sentry would hide in the burrow
The sentry would likely not see the predator until it’s too late
The sentry would alert the mob of danger
Because the job of a sentry is to guard the meerkat clan, if a sentry were to see an eagle overhead, the most reasonable answer choices would be to either alert the mob of danger or attack the predator, allowing you to eliminate the other two options. According to the passage, sentries use whistles and barks to tell the mob when there is a potential danger in the area. There is no mention of attacking predators; therefore, alerting the mob of danger is the correct response.
Example Question #3 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
The sentry’s response to danger by a bark or whistle is intended for which of the following?
Reproduction
Hunting
Survival
Fighting
Survival
The job of the sentry is to protect the mob, so its responses to potential danger by barking or whistling are intended for survival of the clan. The text has no mention of hunting, fighting, or reproduction - only alerting the mob of impending danger.
Example Question #2 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
If you’ve ever visited a beach, you may have seen an area of sand staked off with caution tape and a warning about disrupting sea turtle nests. We often don’t see sea turtle hatchlings in action because they usually hatch at night. When the hatchlings emerge, they work their way across the sandy beaches to the ocean, using the moon as their guide. Sometimes, other light sources can disorient the sea turtles, harming their chances of survival.
Suppose a nest of sea turtles began to hatch on an area of beach near a hotel. What would the hatchlings’ responses MOST LIKELY be if the hotel had lights shining toward the shore?
None of the answer choices reflect the turtles’ responses.
They wouldn’t be affected by the hotel lights if the moon is bright enough.
The hatchlings would travel in the wrong direction because they’d mistake the hotel lights for the moon.
The hatchlings would split, with half traveling toward the ocean and half toward the hotel lights.
The hatchlings would travel in the wrong direction because they’d mistake the hotel lights for the moon.
Because turtle hatchlings have the instinctive response to travel toward moonlight, light pollution from a hotel would potentially cause the turtles to travel in the wrong direction, harming their chances of survival. The type or brightness of the moon does not affect a turtle’s ability to follow it while competing light sources create disorientation that the turtles don’t know how to adjust to.
Example Question #3 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
In the 1960s and 70s, Konrad Lorenz studied the animal response of imprinting. Imprinting allows animals to find their mothers and follow her. It is common in animals like chicks or geese since baby birds don’t know who their mother is when they hatch. They typically imprint on the first moving object they see, which in most cases, is their mother, but sometimes is not - resulting in an incorrect imprint. This survival skill allows babies to stay safe and close to their mothers.
Suppose a duck’s egg hatched while the mother was away gathering food, and a child walked by the nest. According to the text, what would the baby duck’s response be in this situation?
The duck would imprint on the child because it was the first moving object the duck saw.
The duck would wait for its mother to return to imprint correctly.
The duck would be unable to imprint because it did not see a moving object of the same species.
The duck would see the child, but would not imprint because humans are a different species.
The duck would imprint on the child because it was the first moving object the duck saw.
Because the first moving object the baby duck saw upon hatching was the child walking by the nest, the duck would likely incorrectly imprint on the child. While the text says mothers are typically the first moving objects hatchlings see, when this is not the case, the baby bird will instinctively imprint on whatever it sees moving to survive.
Example Question #4 : Describe How Animals Respond To Information
Platypus have a "sixth-sense" that allows them to hunt underwater: electroreception. To find meals in the mud, it uses its bill to detect movements and subtle electric fields produced by its prey. Receptors on the bill detect changes in pressure and motion. Two types of receptors track the electrical signals produced by small prey when they contract their muscles. The platypus moves its head side-to-side to determine the direction and distance of its next meal by collecting and processing this sensory information. The platypus has about 40,000 of these special receptors.
Based on the passage, how would the platypus MOST LIKELY respond if two electrical signals were being produced in different intensities?
The platypus would redirect itself toward the more intense electrical signal.
The platypus will contract its muscles to determine if the signals are prey.
The platypus would redirect itself toward the less intense electrical signal.
The platypus would lose sight of the prey due to it being in the mud.
The platypus would redirect itself toward the more intense electrical signal.
The passage explains how the platypus uses electroreception to find prey in the mud. Two answer choices are immediately incorrect: “The platypus would contract its muscles to determine if the signals are prey” because the prey is giving off signals due to muscle contractions - not the platypus, and “The platypus would lose sight of the prey due to it being in the mud” because electroreception allows the platypus to “see” despite the mud. If the platypus detected two signals of differing intensities, it would most likely begin hunting the more intense signal as that would be the easier prey to hunt in the mud due to proximity rather than the less intense signal.
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