Utah’s Plants and Animals

Environments

• Wetlands-land that is wet. Also called Riparian areas.

• Forests-areas covered by trees.

• Deserts-land that receives less than ten inches of rainfall a year.

Wonderful Wetlands

Riparian areas are found near streams and lakes

Fish are animals that live in water.

Insects have six legs.

Birds are animals that have feathers.

Cattails

Bulrushes

Beaver

Muskrats use cattails for food and building lodges.

In winter, frogs go into hibernation, an inactive, sleep-like state.

The Great Salt Lake

Invertebrates are animals without a backbone.

Migrate-moving to another place to find food.

Forests are large areas of land that are covered with trees.

Deciduous trees lose leaves in the fall and grow new ones in spring.

Coniferous trees are evergreens. They stay green all year.

A porcupine is a forest animal that eats the bark of trees.

Deer migrate during the winter to places where there is food.

Ponderosa Pine trees are found in the Colorado Plateau region.

Aspen trees are found in the mountains.

Spruce and Fir trees are found at high elevations in the mountains.

Squirrels keep busy gathering seeds and nuts.

A moose likes to live near water in the forest.

Hummingbirds are busy collecting nectar from the mountain flowers.

Deserts are areas that receive less than 10 inches of rain per year.

A Prickly Pear Cactus has a waxy covering and sharp spines.

Sagebrush is used by desert animals for food and shelter.

Juniper Pines

Pinyon Pine trees

Jackrabbits live in deserts. They use their ears to hear enemies.

Coyotes are one of the predators that live in the desert.

Reptiles are cold-blooded and they have scaly skin and backbones.

Lizards are reptiles.

The tortoise lives in the hot desert.

Classification

• Look at the outside appearance of an animal.

• Notice the size, shape, texture, and color.

Plants and Animals

Vertebrates have a backbone.Invertebrates do not have one.

Cold-blooded animals body temperature changes.

Warm-blooded animals body temperature stays about the same.

We can classify Utah’s animals.

• Birds

• Mammals

• Insects

• Fish

• Reptiles

• Amphibians