Animals (junior)

Where can I find facts and information about different animals?

Junior Primary (Years 1-4) Senior Primary (Years 5-8)

Image: [no title] by Jack Merlin on Unsplash.

Contents

Animal facts Wild animals New Zealand animals Books Related Entries

Entry last updated: 16/06/17

Introduction

The world has a number of different kinds of animals. They include mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. Some animals are pets, living with people at their home or on their farm. Other animals normally live in the wild. If animals can only be found in a certain country these are native animals.

Animal facts

There are some great websites with information on all sorts of animals.

DKFindOut!

This website has some really cool pictures and facts about animals.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are.

Brittanica School - Primary

Another good place to look is the Epic resources. It’s put together especially for New Zealand school students has some really good information on all sorts of topics. You might need a password from your school library to access it.

  • Select the Primary level.
  • Use keywords to search for the animal you are looking for, like 'cats'.

Kids Info Bits

This is another of the EPIC databases with information on lots of topics.

  • Go to Animals and then choose the sort of animals you are looking for, like Pets and Farm animals.
  • The articles with the green dot will be easiest to understand.
Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online. Some EPIC databases may also be available through your public library.

Wild animals

These websites have lots of facts and information about wild animals.

National Geographic kids

This site has lots of fact sheets about animals.

  • You may need to enter something into the search box in the middle of the page.
  • Try entering the name of the animal you are looking for, like lions, or whales.

San Diego Zoo

This site has information on most wild animals or groups of animals in the world.

  • Most pages have a description of the animal, threats, photos, videos and sound recordings and fun facts.
  • It also has information about New Zealand and Australian animals.
Tips: Websites that have .org or .net in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website, if you can find one. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

New Zealand animals

If you are looking for information on New Zealand animals or animals that are native to New Zealand try these sites.

New Zealand Birds and Animals

This is part of a series of factsheets put together by Christchurch City Libraries.

  • Because it is put together by librarians the information should be reliable.
  • There is some good information for New Zealand animals here.
Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!

Te Ara The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa.

  • Either enter a keyword in the search box at the top, or
  • scroll down to the The Bush section for information on native animals.
Tips: If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Books

There are lots of books about different types of animals - check out your local public or school library to see what they have.

Some recommended titles are:

You might be interested in some of our other Many Answers entries:

Topics covered

animals New Zealand animals native animals Science Living World wild animals pets
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