Animal Food Habits

• Herbivores eat only plants — for example, cows and goats.
• Carnivores eat only meat — for example, lions and tigers.
• Omnivores eat both plants and meat — for example, bears and humans.
• An animal's teeth often match what it eats.

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: Animals are grouped by what they eat: plant-eaters, meat-eaters, or both.

Symbolic: Herbivore → plants only; Carnivore → meat only; Omnivore → plants + meat.

Visual: Draw three columns — plants, meat, both — and place animal pictures in the correct column.

Level 2 — Going deeper

Herbivores like cows have flat teeth for grinding grass. Carnivores like tigers have sharp teeth for tearing meat.

NCERT anchor

NCERT Looking Around 3 discusses different animals and the food they eat as part of observing nature.

A goat eats only grass and leaves. What type of eater is it?

Step 1 — Goat eats only plant material
Step 2 — Animals eating only plants are called **herbivores**
Answer: Goat is a **herbivore** ✓

A bear eats berries and also fish. What type of eater is it?

Step 1 — Bear eats plants (berries) and meat (fish)
Step 2 — Animals eating both are called **omnivores**
Answer: Bear is an **omnivore** ✓

• What does a herbivore eat?
• Give an example of a carnivore.
• What is an omnivore? Give one example.
• Stretch: Why might a lion's teeth look different from a cow's teeth?

Revision tip: Sort five animal names into herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Animal Food Habits.