Animal Migration · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Animals on the move: migration

Science · Animals of the World · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Only birds can migrate.

    Circle one:   True   False

  2. Which of these is a real migration?

    • A squirrel hiding nuts in a tree
    • A herd of wildebeest crossing the Serengeti every year
    • A butterfly flying to a nearby flower

  3. Which animal migrates the farthest of all?

    • Humpback whale
    • Arctic tern
    • Monarch butterfly

  4. Which animal flies from the North Pole to the South Pole every year?

    • Wildebeest
    • Arctic tern
    • Polar bear

  5. A salmon swims upstream every year to lay its eggs in a safe place. Which of the three migration reasons explains the salmon's journey?

    • To find food
    • To keep its babies safe
    • Because the weather is changing

  6. Mia says a rabbit hopping to the next field for lunch is migrating. What should you tell her?

    • A migration is a long journey made again and again, not one short hop
    • She is right, every trip is a migration
    • She is right, but only for rabbits

  7. Which animal swims between cold feeding waters and warm breeding waters?

    • Humpback whale
    • Monarch butterfly
    • Wildebeest

  8. The lesson's bar chart shows migration distances in thousands of miles. About how many thousand miles is the monarch butterfly's journey?

    Answer: ______________

  9. Leo says the wildebeest would still cross the Serengeti even if rain never fell there again. What is wrong with what Leo said?

    • Wildebeest do not really migrate
    • Nothing, wildebeest never eat grass
    • Without rain no new grass grows, so the herds would have no food to follow

  10. Zara lists four reasons she thinks animals migrate: to find food, to keep their babies safe, to find a quieter pond, and because the weather is about to change. How many of her reasons are real reasons animals migrate?

    Answer: ______________

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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Animals on the move: migration W1-mt_bK84sPehyP-s1

  1. False · Whales, butterflies, and big herds of land animals migrate too, not just birds.
  2. A herd of wildebeest crossing the Serengeti every year · A migration is a long journey repeated again and again, like the wildebeest's yearly trek across the Serengeti.
  3. Arctic tern · The Arctic tern flies about 44,000 miles a year, farther than any other animal on Earth.
  4. Arctic tern · The Arctic tern makes this pole-to-pole trip every year, the longest migration of any animal.
  5. To keep its babies safe · The salmon travels so its eggs and babies have a safe place. That is the safe-babies reason.
  6. A migration is a long journey made again and again, not one short hop · One short hop to the next field is not a migration. Migration means a long journey repeated again and again.
  7. Humpback whale · Humpback whales feed in cold, polar waters, then swim to warm, tropical waters to have their calves.
  8. 3 · On the chart, the monarch's bar reaches 3, so its journey is about 3 thousand miles.
  9. Without rain no new grass grows, so the herds would have no food to follow · Wildebeest follow the rain because rain makes new grass grow. No rain means no grass and no reason to travel.
  10. 3 · Food, safe babies, and changing weather are the three real reasons. A quieter pond is not one of them.
Worksheet · LightMySky