Y05W25RC Animal Navigation

This week, you are exploring how animals find their way without maps or GPS. In this reading, you will discover different navigation methods and compare how various animals travel. You will also practise noticing important science words in context. Keep wondering how an animal can know where to go.

Informative — Information report

An information report is a piece of writing that gives organised facts about a topic. Writers use it to inform you by explaining what something is, how it works and what its key features are. You will often see headings, grouped sections, examples and short lists that organise information clearly by category. Instead of telling one story, it builds knowledge by gathering related facts and details. As you read, you should notice what each section is about, compare the examples and track how the facts fit the main topic.

Before You Read

  • Read the title carefully and notice that it suggests animals can travel successfully without human tools.
  • Think about how people often use landmarks, signs or directions, and how animals might need their own natural clues.
  • Look at the headings and get ready to move through different animal groups and compare their methods.

While You Read

  • Use the headings to keep track of which animal group each section is describing.
  • Pay attention to the feature lists, because they show the important navigation clues for each animal.
  • When you meet a word like 'migrate', 'landmark' or 'magnetic field', use the nearby explanation and examples to work out its meaning.
  • Pause after each animal section and notice whether that group uses the sky, land, smell, water or another signal.
  • Look for places where the report compares animals directly or shows that some use more than one clue at once.

Read With Purpose

  • Notice the different ways birds, sea animals and insects find direction.
  • Pay attention to how some animals combine several clues instead of relying on one.
  • Watch for facts that help you compare one animal group with another.

Now read

The information report

~4 min read · ~537 words

Animal Navigation Without Maps

What Is Animal Navigation?

Animal navigation is the way animals find their path from one place to another. Some animals travel short distances to reach food, shelter or water. Others ‘migrate’, which means they move over very long distances at certain times of year. They do not use street maps or GPS. Instead, they use natural clues from the sky, the land, the sea and even the Earth itself.

Birds

Many birds are excellent navigators. Some birds travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres during migration. They may use the sun during the day and the stars at night. They can also notice shapes in the land, called ‘landmarks’, such as rivers, coastlines or mountain ranges.

Example: Shearwaters

  • travel long distances across the ocean
  • use the sun, stars and ocean patterns
  • may also sense the Earth’s ‘magnetic field’, an invisible force around the planet

Example: Homing pigeons

  • return to a home loft from unfamiliar places
  • use landmarks when flying over land
  • may also use smell and magnetic clues

These methods work together. A bird might follow the coast for part of the journey, then use the position of the sun to stay on course.

Sea Animals

Sea animals face a special challenge because the ocean can look the same in every direction. Even so, some sea animals are very skilled at finding their way. They may use water temperature, ocean ‘currents’, smell and magnetic clues.

Example: Sea turtles

  • hatch on beaches, then travel far out to sea
  • return to lay eggs in places close to where they were born
  • may use the magnetic field to help guide them across huge distances

Example: Salmon

  • are born in freshwater rivers, then travel to the ocean
  • return later to the same river system
  • use smell to recognise the water they knew earlier in life

For sea animals, navigation often means combining more than one signal. If one clue becomes harder to use, another clue may still help.

Insects

Insects are small, but some are amazing travellers. Their journeys show that size does not decide navigation skill. Insects often use light, smell and memory of nearby features.

Example: Monarch butterflies

  • travel in large groups over long distances
  • use the sun as a guide
  • adjust their direction as the day changes

Example: Ants

  • remember nearby landmarks such as rocks, sticks and shadows
  • use scent trails left by other ants
  • can find their way back to the nest after searching for food

Example: Bees

  • learn the position of flowers and the shape of the area around them
  • return to the hive using landmarks and the sun
  • share information with other bees about where food can be found

Feature Summary

Birds often use:

  • sun
  • stars
  • landmarks
  • magnetic field

Sea animals often use:

  • magnetic field
  • smell
  • currents
  • water patterns

Insects often use:

  • sun
  • landmarks
  • scent
  • memory of routes

Conclusion

Animal navigation is not based on one magic trick. Different animals use different systems, and many use several clues at once. Birds may watch the sky, sea animals may follow smell or magnetic signals, and insects may remember a route using light and landmarks. The more scientists learn, the more impressive these journeys seem. Animals may not carry maps, but many of them are expert travellers.

Check your vocabulary knowledge

migrate v.
move from one place to another at set times
landmarks n.
easy-to-notice features that help with direction
magnetic field n.
invisible force around Earth that some animals can sense
currents n.
moving flows of water in the ocean
route n.
the path taken to get somewhere