Children's project: why do animals need tongues? Animal languages ​​- presentation. Locality: Blizhne-Pesochnoye, Vyksa city

-709295-129540 PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
MIDDLE SCHOOL OF GENERAL EDUCATION
"LIGHT MOUNTAINS"
Practice-oriented research project
"Why do we need pets"
The project was completed by:
students of 3 "A" class
CHOU Secondary School "Bright Mountains"
Scientific supervisors of the project:
Lukashova Elena Nikolaevna,
Kuznetsova Natalya Nikolaevna
2016
Project passport
Project title: “Why do we need pets” (slide 1)
Authors of the project: students of class 3 “A” of the private secondary school “Svetlye Gory”.
Scientific supervisors of the project:
Lukashova Elena Nikolaevna, teacher primary classes,
Kuznetsova Natalya Nikolaevna, teacher visual arts and technology.
Project type: practice-oriented research.
Object of study: pets of urban residents. Subject of study: the influence of pets on human health and mood
Relevance of the project (slide 2)
We often ask our parents to give us a pet, we dream of little friend- cat, bird, hamster. On the one hand, it seems good, we are learning to take care of someone, but on the other hand, parents don’t want unnecessary problems, because any pet means additional worries and expenses. What should I do? How can pets benefit us and our parents? How are the relationships between humans and animals built? These questions became decisive for the study.
We think that our research is relevant, because the question is whether to start or not pet, arises in almost every family with children. We will help parents decide whether to have an animal at home.
Research problems: (slide 3)
What kind of pets exist in the modern world?
Are Pets Human Companions?
Why do people have pets these days?
What is the impact of pets on human health?
Hypothesis (slide 4)
Pets not only bring material benefits, but also influence human health and bring happiness to communication.
Target:
Get to know the variety of domestic animals.
Find out what pets are for humans.
Find out why people have pets these days.
Consider the problem of the influence of pets on human health and mood.
Tasks:(slide 5)
Systematize information about pets.
Conduct a survey among students and teachers of our school.
Determine how pets affect human health.
Create a photo gallery of students in our class with their pets.
Create a collection of presentations from class students.
Publish a cool magazine “My Favorite Friend.”
Create a project presentation and defend it at a school conference
Expected resultsAfter completing the project, students will acquire the following skills:
Personal: 1. Hard work. 2. Careful relationship to animals. 3. Sense of responsibility.
Meta-subject: 1. Learn to define a task. 2.Able to build a sequence of actions to complete a task. 3. Learn to carry out self-control of design and research activities. 4.Will cooperate in solving problems. 5. Learn to competently plan their own activities.
Subject: 1. They will better know some types of domestic animals. 2. Learn about the influence of pets on human health and mood.
During the project, children, with the help of adults, learn:
observe your pet and record the results of observations;
photograph your pet in the most interesting situations;
write a story about your pet, its character, habits, games;
look for additional information on the project topic in different sources and prepare it in the form of a report and presentation;
present your project with a demonstration of photographs (slides);
organize a photo exhibition, an exhibition of drawings and crafts;
evaluate the results of your own work and the work of your comrades.
Research methods: search, reference and information, creative, generalization.
Implementation period: September 1 – October 31, 2016.
Introduction to the project (slide 6)
It would seem that urban life does not provide for the presence of our smaller brothers at all: there is not enough space, and time, and sometimes it is a pity to spend extra money on the maintenance of a creature that does not bring any tangible and concrete benefit.
In fact, in the village everything is simple and clear: the cow gives milk, the chickens give eggs, the dog guards the house, the cat catches mice. Here the animals are in their place, and in an important and honorable place.
Another thing is the city. What is the use of being a couch potato who requires constant care and expense? Who needs this burden, with wool, hay, sawdust, and smell everywhere?
Remember how the cat Matroskin complained from the good old cartoon “Prostokvashino”:
- Eh, no income from you Sharik... Only expenses...
And yet, often we, city dwellers, willy-nilly or not, suddenly become owners of a pet.
Of course, children are closer to nature and therefore do not ask the question “Why?” They simply rejoice at the little animal, love it, and explore the world with its help. Adults, burdened with worries about themselves, children, family and daily bread, sometimes wonder: “What is the use of this cat?”
However, there are benefits, and considerable ones. Let's try to prove this.
All over the world, people keep pets.
There are more than 2 thousand species of mammals in the world, but there are only about 40 species of domestic animals. And if you exclude from the list of domestic animals beneficial insects/bee, silkworm/ and two species of fish/ gold fish and carp/, then there will only be 27 species of real domestic animals.
November 30 is World Pet Day.
Almost all the guys in our class (11 out of 13) have a pet, and often more than one. Every day one of us talks about the tricks of our smaller brothers. And we decided to find out as much as possible about them.
First, each of us wrote an essay about our favorite pets and took a photo of our four-legged friends. Some teachers also enjoyed taking photographic portraits of their favorites. (slide 7)
We created a photo gallery of students in our class with their pets. (slide 8, 9)
Research part
Questioning of adults and schoolchildren (slide 10)
Then we decided to find out what kind of pets the students and teachers of our school keep. To do this, we conducted a survey. The questionnaire asked the following questions:
1. Who are you? Student. Teacher, employee.
2. Where do you live? In the city. In the village.
3. Do you have a pet? Which?
4. Please name his three main “positive” qualities.
5. Who takes care of him?
6. Which family member is your pet most connected to?
7. Who is your pet for you?
8. Why do you need a pet?
9. Would you agree to exchange your pet for an expensive toy or thing?
Having processed 85 questionnaires, we made the following conclusions:
79 respondents have pets, and many have more than one. And only 6 people do not have animals.
The number of dogs and cats is almost the same - 82% dogs and 84% cats; fish in 3rd place.
Among positive qualities Pets won out over playfulness (43%), kindness (38%) and loyalty (33%).
To the question “Who takes care of the pet?” the most common answer is “I” (72%), followed by mom (47%) and dad (37%).
Most of all, a pet is connected with a child (43%), with a mother (30%), with grandparents (22%).
Our pet is first and foremost a friend (59%), a family member (42%), and a pet (16%).
We take an animal into our home primarily for pleasure, joy, comfort (45%), games, fun (24%), to protect the house (21%).
And finally, to the question “Would you agree to exchange your pet for an expensive toy or thing?” every single person answered “No.”
(Slides 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
Conclusion:
Judging by the results of the survey, cats and dogs are among the most popular pets and are a person’s friend and companion. Cats can entertain and treat people, and dogs serve people faithfully.
To confirm or refute our assumptions, we turned to encyclopedias and the Internet for information. (slide 16)
And this is what we found out. We began our work by familiarizing ourselves with the literature on the study of domestic animals. We found out that domestic animals have been living next to humans for thousands of years. A dog, for example, helps in hunting and guards the house, a cat catches mice, large and small livestock provides meat, milk, and skins for sewing clothes. It turns out that the history of domestication is very old. The idea of ​​taming an animal and placing it next to them came to people’s minds at least five thousand years ago. You can create more than one legend about who the ancient people tamed. However, taming does not mean domesticating. Who cares?
Huge: domesticated animals live next to humans from generation to generation, humans take care of them, without this care they may not even survive. And if you tame, say, a crane, a song thrush or a ferret (nowadays it is fashionable to keep them at home), these animals and birds will not become domesticated, they will still remain wild and, if necessary, will try to return to the wild.
No. Last name, first name of the student Subject of the message and presentation
1 Baranova Polina Laws of the Russian Federation on pets
2 Belay Zhanna Pet in the service of man
3 Belyaeva Sofya Why do we need pets
4 Saveliy Burenkov Pets in different countries
5 Gorbunov Egor Monuments to pets
6 Ivanov Sergey Agricultural pets
7 Anna Karpushina Pets are human companions
8 Kononenko Vladislav What animals are considered domestic?
9 Kulikova Maria Why does a city dweller need a pet?
10 Miroshnichenko Anastasia Devotion of pets
11 Pugacheva Veronica We are responsible for those we have tamed
12 Selyavina Taisiya Is any animal living in a house considered a pet?
13 Chorba Alexandra The influence of pets on human health
Then each of us wrote a report on the project topic and made a presentation.
(slide 17)
From these reports and presentations we learned:
which unusual species domestic animals are found in different countries.
Many Indians prefer mongooses.
In the USA, keeping a skunk at home is very fashionable. Such an animal is affectionate, obedient and beautiful. Skunks attack enemies with foul-smelling weapons, but their breeders claim that animals in captivity do not use them. Anteaters are also very popular among Americans as pets.
The cricket is a favorite insect of the Chinese. Since the 12th century, cricket competitions have been popular in China - the insect whose singing was the loudest and most sonorous won.
The Chinese also adore songbirds. In the morning, in the parks of populated areas in China, you can see people walking their feathered pets.
In the UK, African pygmy hedgehogs are often kept in homes.
In France, the ferret, a domestic ferret, has won people's love. The animal is trainable.
The fret also serves as a living accessory for French fashionistas. A flexible and light ferret can be thrown over your shoulder, thereby decorating your outfit.
Many Canadians own the Sugar Flying Squirrel. This animal is classified as a marsupial. The flying squirrel can jump and soar in the air. The animal looks very cute and shows unpretentiousness.
Orangutans can often be found in Indonesian families, especially those without children.
The meerkat is not only an ideal pet in South Africa, but also a talisman.People South Africa They believe that the meerkat scares away werewolves and devils. (slide 18)
how animals affect the health of their owners.
All animals are bioenergetics. They are sensitive to negative energy that comes from your thoughts or your sick organs. In addition, they know how to transform it into a positive one. (slide 19)
Therefore, when you feel bad, have a stomach ache or a headache, our faithful friends will definitely react. They press against the sore spot, tug,
they purr, coo, dry tears with their tongues, make people laugh, distract them. (slide 20)
There is a branch of medicine called animal therapy, or animal therapy (zootherapy) - this is positive influence animals on human health.
What types of animal-assisted therapy are there?
Canistherapy This is the scientific name for therapy using contact with dogs.
A dog is a friendly and loyal creature. Therefore, dogs are very good at helping children with mental and mental retardation. physical development. Children with speech and hearing impairments are taught to talk in the presence of dogs. Dogs save you from headaches and even help you think better. It will be easier for you to write a text, prepare for exams, or do repairs if your four-legged friend is nearby.
Felinotherapy Treatment through contact with cats.
Cats don’t even need special training; in fact, they don’t do anything unusual. If they like a person, they rub against his legs, jump on his lap, caress, purr, lick his hands, thereby achieving reciprocal tenderness.
By the way, a cat’s purring speeds up the healing process of wounds and strengthens bones.
They save you from loneliness, relieve joint pain and headaches, and treat internal diseases.
By the way, if you notice that your cat is too obsessively affectionate towards you, jumping on your lap - if possible, do not chase it away. So it not only shows good relations to you, but also signals that your body is in danger of failure, it’s time to act.
Dolphin therapyTreating people with the help of dolphins.
Dolphins are sociable, intelligent, treat people well, and especially love children. It is only from the outside that it seems that the dolphin is simply playing with the child. In fact, he tests his body using ultrasounds. If everything is fine with the child, the dolphin calmly clicks; if the baby is sick, the dolphin purrs.
Ornithotherapy Feathered friends charge people with vigor and optimism. Watch the birds - and you will see that they never lose heart and are constantly busy with something. Bird watching is relaxing and saves you from... nervous breakdowns. And the melodious singing of birds has a beneficial effect on the psyche and helps prepare for sleep.
Hippotherapy is a therapy based on communication with horses.
When riding a horse, both physical and psychological sphere person. During active activities All the muscles of the body work, breathing is trained, and the circulatory system is toned.
Concentration also increases, memory and thinking improve. You need to memorize many new movements and repeat them in a certain sequence, you also need to learn how to care for horses and how to communicate with them.
about pets of famous people.
It's always interesting to learn about the details of your personal life powerful of the world this. Especially if these details concern their pets. Pets famous people They often purchase them themselves, but even more often they receive them as a gift. (slide 21, 22)
Vladimir Putin
Favorite pets are Labrador Connie Polgrave, toy poodle Tosya and her son Rodeo.
In 2010, after Russian-Bulgarian negotiations, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov gave Putin a Bulgarian Shepherd Karakachan puppy directly at a press conference. Later, a competition was announced, and a five-year-old boy came up with a name for the puppy - Buffy. As a sign of gratitude, the Japanese authorities also gave the dog to the president for helping the Akita region affected by the tsunami. The dog Yume (of the Akita Inu breed, like Hachiko) also lives with the president.
Among his pets, Putin also has a white goat, Skazka, which was given to him by ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov.
The pony given to Putin by the then President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev is named Vadik. Dmitry Medvedev
Cat Dorotheus. This is an animal of the Nevsky Masquerade breed. The Russian President bought this cat himself, however, they say that he actually loves dogs more. And at one time, as they say, he dreamed of a Labrador, but his family insisted on a lapdog. In the end, they actually brought the cat home.
Eventually former president Russia was given a dog after all: a white and black English setter puppy, the cat Dorofey seemed to have found a common language with him.
George Bush
Scottish terrier Barney, black cat India, cow Ophelia.
Bill Clinton
Sox the cat, Buddy the labrador.
Abraham Lincoln
Pig, goose and turkey.
George Washington
Horse Nelson.
Queen Elizabeth II
Several corgi dogs, several Labradors, a flock of flamingos.
Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair
The cat Humphrey, common to three British prime ministers, then the cat Larry.
Winston Churchill
The parrot is still alive and is believed to be over 100 years old.
We learned that people often erect monuments to pets as a sign of gratitude for their loyalty and devotion. (slide 23)
For a long time, dogs have lived next to humans. Guards his house, protects him, helps herd the herd, hunts the beast. There are all kinds of dogs - service, hunting, decorative and even mongrel. All of them serve man faithfully. A dog is man's friend. We love dogs very much, but they love us more than themselves.
The merits of dogs to people are enormous. As a token of gratitude to our true friends monuments were erected in Russia and in many other cities of the world. In France there is a monument to St. Bernard Barry. He found and saved forty freezing travelers in the mountains.
The Italians set bronze monument a dog named Faithful. For fourteen years in a row, every day he met his owner, who died in the war, at the station.
A monument to guide dogs has been erected in Berlin.
Our works
We made an electronic version of our class magazine “My Most Beloved Friend”, which included our essays, reports and others interesting messages about pets. In classes on extracurricular activities we made it using origami and cut applique techniques teamwork « Fun walk” and use the technique to decorate the collective work “Street of Cats”.
Conclusion
As a result of the research, we:
got acquainted with the variety of domestic animals;
found that pets in modern life most often they are a person’s companions, friends and even family members;
people get pets for warmth, comfort, the joy of communication, so as not to be lonely;
Pets have a beneficial effect on human health and mood. The presence of any animal in the house has a beneficial effect on nervous system, relieves stress, helps recovery, improves mood. (slide 24)
Our hypothesis was confirmed.
As we have found out, animals have a great positive impact on our health and development.
Additionally, the decision to have a pet has an impact on the entire family. If the whole family takes care of their pet, it becomes much friendlier and more united.
Pets make us closer to nature, teach us love and compassion. We learn to have a careful and caring attitude towards the entire world around us. (slide 25)
Literature.
1. Encyclopedia for children. Volume 24. Pets.: M., “Avanta+”. 2004
2. T.A. Shorygina “Pets. What are they? M.: "GNOM and D". 2008
N.P. Batsanov. Your family four-legged friends. Saint Petersburg. Lenizdat.1992
Dmitriev Yu. D. Man and animals. Book 2.- M.: Det. lit., 1975
Our pets are celebrating. Cat and Dog - 2000. - No. 9. - P. 6.
Cats and kittens. M.:ROSMEN.- 2000
V. Chaplin. We have a cat at home. M.:Malysh.- 1990
Internet resources.
https://zverki.orghttps://health.passion.ruhttps://vashaibolit.ruhttps://ocheninteresno.com
http://orenwiki.ru/index.php
http://miranimashek.com/photo/animacija_animashki/40http://mirgif.com/koshki5.htm

Nomination "First discoveries"

Hello! My name is Varvara!

I am a very active, cheerful and inquisitive girl, and I also love animals! I like to watch them, notice their habits and learn something new. My mother and I read a lot of books about animals, go to exhibitions and the zoo.

Recently my mother read me a fairy tale by Vitaly Valentinovich Bianki, called “Tails”. And I started thinking, why do animals actually need tails?

Purpose of the study: I decided to find out why animals need a tail and how they use it.

Research objectives:

1. Find out from the children in my group if they know why animals need tails.

2. With the help of your mother, collect information about animal tails and why they need them.

3. Based on the results of the research, together with your mother, create a book with a selection of poems, fairy tales and stories about why animals need tails.

4. Introduce the project to the children of my group.

Hypothesis: I think that animals need tails not only for beauty.

Object of study: use of the tail in the animal world.

Subject of study: tail.

Research methods:

• work with literature (encyclopedias, fiction)
• working with video materials (transmissions and documentaries about animals);
• work on the Internet;
• survey;
• observation.

And the work began to boil... First, I decided to ask the children in my group if they knew why animals need tails. A total of 20 children were interviewed.

Here's what happened:

• 5 children said they didn’t know anything;
• 2 children said that the tail is needed for beauty;
• 5 children said that the tail is needed to ward off flies;
• 5 children said that the tail is needed to cover tracks;
• 3 children said that the tail is needed for communication.

Then we observed a lot, searched on the Internet, watched, read, and this is what we managed to find out...

Result:

1. There are a lot of different tails in the animal world! They differ from each other in color, shape, are long and short, bare and fluffy, thick and thin. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals have tails. Many animals got their name due to the structural features and use of their tail. For example, the saw-tail shark, the stingray, the crooked tail, the lyre bird... You can really list them all!

True, it should be noted that animals use them in different ways...

2. Animals use the tail as: support, arm, motor, steering wheel and brake, balance beam, parachute, protection, offensive weapon, lungs, blanket, pantry, decoration, beacon, means of communication.

Animals use their tail in different ways. Some need it to fly, others need it to defend or attack, and some move with the help of the tail. One thing is clear: all animals need a tail.

3. Mom and I also found funny poems and stories about animal tails. We collected them in a small book, selected illustrations, printed them and brought them to kindergarten. The children were very interested. Now everyone knows why animals need a tail!

There are all sorts of languages ​​in nature. It will be unique for each animal species. For what animals do we need a language and what exactly is it?

Speech is truly the “gift of tongues,” says Harvard psycholinguist and author of the bestseller “Language as Instinct,” Steven Pinker. Together with the lips, larynx and palate, the tongue is involved in the production of a variety of sounds. But only people can speak, and yet many animals have the organ responsible for this ability. At what stage of evolution did language appear and what was its original purpose?

Biologists call the tongue “a muscular growth in the oral cavity that performs the functions of transporting and tasting food.” But this organ did not appear in animals right away; in the early stages of evolution, living beings managed just fine without it. For example, the lancelet still pushes food through microscopic cilia, but it doesn’t seem to need to taste. And fish have a fold sticking out in their mouth, but this is not a real tongue, since it is devoid of muscles (and therefore cannot be used to make sounds), but it is good at “delivering food.” It doesn’t even have taste buds: sensitive cells capable of distinguishing taste are scattered throughout the fish’s body.

The next stage in the evolution of animals - the emergence of amphibians from the water - turned out to be fateful for the tongue: land dwellers had to hide taste buds in their mouths - on the walls and tongue - in order to protect it from drying out. True, scientists believe that amphibians themselves are indiscriminate in their tastes, and their tongue receptors only allow them to sense the position of food in their mouths. However, it was in amphibians that the tongue became muscular, which made it easier to push food into the esophagus.

Reptiles: tongue - analyzer

A full-fledged language first appeared in reptiles, namely lizards and snakes. For them, it is mobile and capable of extending far outward; moreover, many have a forked tongue at the end, and in the old days they thought that this was nothing more than a poisonous sting. Of course, there is no poison on it. Reptiles stick it out and hide it in order to “taste” everything. The snake, having touched the object lying in front of it and thus taking a “sample”, then retracts its tongue and applies its tips to the sensitive pits located on the inner surface of the mouth. The surrounding air, saturated with odors, also serves as a source of information. The smallest amount of a substance from the outside is enough for the reptile to do a “microchemical analysis” and take the trace of the victim, find a partner in mating season or found a way to a water source.

The chameleon's tongue is a skillful trapping device with a sticky trap in the form of an expanded glandular field at the end.

Long longitudinal muscles and transverse circular muscles, alternately contracting, either compress the tongue in the mouth, or instantly lengthen and push it out.

The protruding tongue of the lizard is elastic due to its filling with blood, and its length can reach 10 cm, which is comparable to the size of the individual itself.

Birds: tongue is a trap

Bird tongues are very diverse, the shape of which surprisingly corresponds to the way they feed. Some ducks, which obtain food by filtering water and bottom silt, have a fringe along the edges of their tongues, which helps retain crustaceans, insect larvae, and small fish. In hummingbirds and honeybirds, this organ curls into a tube and helps pump out flower nectar. The tongue of parrots is fleshy, with a hard horny coating - an ideal tool for crushing small nuts: taking a seed into its mouth, the bird presses on it with its tongue, pressing it firmly against the inside beak until the shell cracks. Lorikeet parrots have a tongue at the end with a brush, with which they collect the juice of fruits crushed by their beak. And probably the most amazing one is found in woodpeckers. Looking for insects in the bark and trunks of trees, the woodpecker hollows out a hole with its beak, but the beak is not long enough to reach the larvae hidden in the wood. Here a flexible tongue with horny hooks at the tip comes to the rescue: the woodpecker launches it into a tree passage and, having groped for prey, deftly picks it up. Although this “tool” in woodpeckers is long, it is not capable of contracting much; its length is regulated differently: it extends from the oral cavity with the help of a long ribbon that goes around the entire skull and is attached to the nostril. The entire apparatus, in turn, is driven by contraction of the sublingual muscles.

The ends of the tongues of most birds are keratinized, but on the soft parts at the base there are taste buds that can recognize sweet, bitter and salty. Their structure is exactly the same as that of humans, but they have nothing to do with bird singing. The sounds made by birds are formed not in the upper part of the trachea, as in humans, but in the lower and even at the base of the bronchi, which is very far from the tongue.

Animals: tongue is a piston

The language of mammals has gone through a number of improvements, as a result of which its capabilities have been fully revealed. Having been freed from bones and having complicated muscles, this organ has become soft and mobile in all directions, which makes it possible to use it for many types of food. For example, predators tear their prey into pieces, turn it in their mouth, moving it towards one teeth or another. Mammals have different teeth: the incisors are used for biting off small pieces, the fangs are for tearing meat into large pieces, the “carnassial” teeth are for crushing bones, and the back teeth are for subsequent chewing. To move food from one “machine” to another, the tongue must be very agile! It’s even better when it has a horny “grater” installed on it, such as in cats, which allows them to rip meat from the bones of the victim. Or in ruminants: animals tightly grasp tufts of grass, leaves or branches with it, just as a person would do with his hand, and then, tearing them off, deftly put the food into the mouth for chewing. The anteater's tongue has turned into a sticky rod up to 60 cm long, which it either launches into the anthill or pulls into its mouth with a frequency of 160 times per minute.

But food is not everything, because land animals, unlike aquatic animals, need to drink, and their mechanism for consuming liquid food is completely different than solid food. Most mammals drink by lapping, that is, scooping up small portions of water with the tip of their tongue. Analysis of frames of accelerated filming showed that the dog at the same time turns its end up, and the cat, on the contrary, bends it down. Animals with a narrow mouth can drink by sucking water, in which case the tongue works as a piston. But the main thing that every baby has to do is suck mother’s milk: here this organ turns out to be the most important, the existence of the entire class of mammals depends on its capabilities.

Animals: tongue is a taster

As an organ of taste, the tongue of mammals is unsurpassed. It diagnoses four well-known tastes - sweet, salty, bitter, sour. Recently, two more types of receptors were discovered: sensitive to the taste of fat and to a special, “blood” taste. Fat taste receptors have been found and studied so far only in rats; thanks to them, these rodents distinguish and prefer high-calorie foods. People also have blood taste analyzers: we owe them our sympathy for glutamate, a meat simulator. In mammals, and only in them, taste buds cover the entire surface of the tongue, which makes them gourmets: the taste of food for animals is especially great importance. After all, what is taste? This is the sensation that occurs when exposed to certain soluble chemical substances to taste buds - sensitive cells. As a rule, these cells are collected in bundles and, together with special supporting cells, form the so-called taste buds. In higher vertebrates, including humans, these bulbs are located on the walls of the taste buds, which have different shapes. Look at your tongue in the mirror: near the tip on the sides you can see smooth round plaques - these are mushroom-shaped papillae, in cross-section they look like puffball mushrooms. And at the very root of the tongue there is a transverse row of large rounded convexities with an annular groove - these are the groove-shaped papillae. The rest of its surface is covered with leaf-shaped and conical papillae. Each contains 300–5,000 taste buds. They are short-lived, living only 10 days: new ones grow to replace the old ones. Differences in their shape do not in any way affect their functions; papillae of the same type can react to different chemical stimuli. But the linguistic surface itself is heterogeneous: the basal part is responsible for the perception of bitter, the front edges of the tongue react to salty taste, the deep edges react to sour, and only its end reacts to sweet. Therefore, you should not stuff sweets deeply or stuff your mouth full with them: the pleasure from this will not be greater.

There is a strict connection between the quality of taste sensation and chemical properties there is no substance. We find it sweet not only sucrose, but also alcohols, saccharin and lead salts. We consider many alkaloids and compounds with a nitro group to be bitter, and the anions of chlorine, bromine and iodine to be salty. In low concentrations salt seems sweet to us. And only sour taste is universal; it is caused by free hydrogen ions in solution, the concentration of which determines the strength of taste.

Animals: tongue is a musical instrument

Mammals use their tongues not only to transport and taste food, but also for many other purposes. For example, as a hygiene product. Remember how carefully cats and dogs lick their fur or lick their wounds. It's not just cleaning: recently, growth factors for the epidermis (in other words, integumentary cells) and fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) have been discovered in the saliva of mammals, which accelerate healing.

In some animals, the tongue has become an important organ of thermoregulation, such as in dogs. These animals have few sweat glands in their skin, and it is difficult for them to regulate their temperature in the usual way for land creatures - through evaporation. The main role in the evaporation of moisture is played by the lungs and rapid breathing. By sticking out their tongue, richly moistened with saliva, dogs increase the surface area of ​​evaporation and thereby significantly increase its effectiveness. Another one important function This organ closes the airways during swallowing, which prevents food from entering the windpipe.

And finally, it was among mammals that language became one of the means of extracting sounds. Primates who have oral apparatus similar in structure to humans, they make many different sounds, including using the tongue. But this is not yet speech: since animals cannot use sounds arbitrarily, their different combinations do not lead to the emergence of new meaning. All attempts to teach great apes to speak, and there were many of them, suffered failure. In order for the “vocals” of animals to turn into speech, freedom of movement of the linguistic organ is not enough. This requires a change in the structure of the larynx so that the vocal cords descend to the very bottom of the vocal tract and make it possible to modulate sound, and the development of the cerebral cortex, especially on its left hemisphere.

Came to the right place

In the process of evolution, the tongue took on the functions of delivering food to the pharynx and analyzing taste. Although in most simply organized aquatic animals there is no division of receptors into taste and olfactory, both of them are combined general concept"chemoreceptors" or "chemical sense organs". They can be located anywhere on the animal’s body: on the head, on the sides of the body, on its outgrowths.

Pushing food can also occur without the tongue. After all, worms, mollusks, crayfish, insects, in general, all invertebrates, of which there are much more on Earth than vertebrates, survive without it. However special education They also have ones that help to capture food and move it deep into the mouth. In many corals, jellyfish or squids, tentacles are responsible for this. They are not at all similar to tongues, but if we take into account that cells sensitive to chemical irritants are more densely concentrated on the tentacles, then the similarity is obvious.

What, then, is the uniqueness of language? After all, it is not necessary either for transporting food or for taste analysis - other organs can cope with this. The key point, apparently, was the combination of these two functions in one device and its successful proximity to the respiratory tract. When these changes occurred, the human tongue emerged - a multifunctional organ that allows us to eat, taste and communicate.

Elena Krasnova, Candidate of Biological Sciences

Elena Anatolyevna Susikova, primary school teacher, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 15

Educational project

Animal communication

Subject, group

The world around us, 2nd grade

Brief summary of the project

Big role in environmental education and the education of schoolchildren, including younger ones, plays a role in practical, research work in

natural conditions. Theoretical knowledge gained in lessons should become the basis for independent assessment of what is happening in nature

processes and phenomena to conduct their own research, observations, the ability to summarize the results of their observations, to contribute

environmentally conscious behavior that is safe for nature and one’s own health.

Experience shows that students junior classes participate with pleasure and great interest in such work, naturally at an accessible

level for them.

IN younger age children have a predominant sensory, figurative perception of the world around them, which was taken into account when developing the methodology

working with children.

The developed project “Animal Communication” was tested in primary school schools.

It involves children performing research work, conducting observations, summarizing research results in the most

Guiding Questions

Fundamental question:

How do animals communicate?

Problematic issues:

Does a person need to know about animal communication?

Can a person determine what an animal wants?

Could knowledge about animal communication be useful?

Study questions:

What do the actions and habits of animals mean?

How did signs associated with animals appear?

Project plan

1. Search and research stage

Project work planning

Research work on the project

Let's find out whether there is a language of communication between animals.

2. Practical stage project

We draw up rules for communicating with animals

3. Final stage of the project

Some animals are very proud of their tongues and what they can do with them. Animals use their tongue not only for its intended purpose: to help with chewing, swallowing and to determine taste, but with the help of their tongue animals can do completely different things.

Spotted Woodpecker Here is a woodpecker in the forest tapping its beak on the bark and listening to whether there are passages inside the trunk with pests, bark beetles and wood borers. So the sabotage secret passage has opened. Where is the loot? She hid and went deeper into the trunk. No problem! The woodpecker's tongue is long and very sticky. The woodpecker launches it into the passage and looks for prey in the farthest corners.

The giant anteater uses its tongue very similarly to a woodpecker. The anteater wanders day and night in search of food, and when it finds a termite building or an anthill, it breaks through the strong walls with a blow of its front paws. Then he pushes it through the gap narrow muzzle and with its long tongue reaches the middle of the nest. The length of the tongue is more than half a meter, and the anteater can retract and release it often, often - 160 times per minute. The tongue is sticky and covered in saliva, so insects easily stick to it. An anteater can lick up to 30 thousand ants and termites in a day.

Snakes Snakes have a tongue like a spear - forked at the end. It is often mistakenly called a sting. Snakes can detect taste and even smell with their tongue. Instead of using their tongues to chew food, snakes use them to sniff. A kind of fork on the tongue gives the snake all the information about the presence of other animals in the area. Some Poisonous snakes, use language to warn. Waving it threateningly in front of the enemy.

Chameleon The prehensile and surprisingly long tongue of the chameleon can extend twice the length of the chameleon's body and move faster than the human eye can follow. The tongue is a long tube with a sticky ball at the end. This sticky mucus at the end of the tongue helps the chameleon hold, pull up and send into the mouth not only “shot” insects, but sometimes even small birds and lizards.

Turtle This turtle's tongue looks like a large red worm, with which it lures prey. When a turtle wants to eat, it lies down on the bottom, opens its mouth and begins to wave its worm-like wriggling tongue - bait. The fish, attracted by this, swims straight into the turtle’s mouth - ah! The turtle closes its mouth and eats the prey.

A cat's tongue is designed in such a way that when it scoops up liquid, the tongue becomes like a spatula or spoon. The cat dips its tongue into the water and scoops it up. Hook-shaped growths on a cat's tongue, which help her digest food when she eats, retain water when she drinks. And the cat, having collected the liquid into the resulting spoon, returns it back to its mouth

Tongue length: round lip bat longer bodies. This mouse needs such a long tongue to extract flower nectar. She has many hairs on her tongue that absorb nectar and carry pollen from tree to tree. Such a tongue does not fit in the mouth, so a special place is reserved for it in the chest.

Some geckos (a family of lizards) use their tongues to wipe dust and debris from their eyes. The tongue can be a “pump” for extracting nectar from a flower, like a hummingbird. The largest tongue is blue whale. Its tongue can fit 50 people. The whale uses its tongue as a ladle, scooping up water and filtering food from it.

We learned that each animal species has its own language special structure and a certain length. It is very important for animals, and without it they will simply die. Animals can do a variety of things with their tongue. It can serve as a prey catcher, a bait, a warning. They use their tongue to sniff and clean the skin. Why do we need language?