I love animals - Reading, videos and questions for small kids - Part 35 Octopus

The float through the water elegantly, almost in a dance with their 8 'arms'.  They can swim well and some can protect themselves by spraying ink at their predators.

Lets learn more about these very intelligent animals.

There are more than 300 types and they are mostly found in warmer water.  It will either belong to the 'finned' group or the 'unfinned' group.   The first ones you will find on the ocean of the floor and the second in shallow water.

The octopus have two eyes on the head that can flare out like a mantle and from here there are 8 arms or tentacles with suckers on it.  These suckers help them with holding on to something or when they are hunting and can help with movement.

An octopus have no skeleton, so they can squeeze into very small spaces.  They have not only one heart, but three.  They are seen as very intelligent invertebrates (that is an animal without a skeleton).

An octopus have different ways to escape their predator.  It can change colour and camouflage it against the rocks or the sand.  Another way to make sure they get away is to squirt some ink in the direction of the predator which will confuse it and then give the octopus enough time to swim away.

Have a look at some more ways in which the octopus protects itself.

An octopus can not only see very well, but their sense of touch is also highly developed.

A female octopus can lay on average about 200,000 eggs, however, fending for themselves only a handful of the hatchlings will survive to adulthood. 

Octopuses do not live very long - anywhere from 6 to 18 months.  The male dies after mating and the female will starve to death shortly after her eggs hatch which she looked after the whole time.

 She reproduces only once and puts her available energy into generating and caring for her eggs. She finds a den and lays her eggs there. After that she does not eat and spends her whole time caring for the eggs, cleaning them and aerating them 

Many people eat octopus or it is also used as bait to catch fish.

• Watch the story and answer the questions

1. What is this story about?
2. What treat did he see on the bottom of the sea?
3. What happened when the octopus took the final bite?
4. What did the octopus decide?
5. What came down from the ship?
6. How long did the octopus feel sick?
7. What did he see when the ship blew up?
8. What happened on day 22?
9. What do you think the octopus did with the cake his friend brought him?
10. Why do you think he gets sick every time?

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