Animals are classified into groups to facilitate scientific study. The main groups are mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Each group shares common characteristics - mammals have hair and are warm-blooded, fish live in water and breathe through gills, birds lay eggs and have feathers, reptiles lay leathery eggs and have scales, and amphibians live on land and in water. The document provides examples of characteristics and behaviors for each animal group.

1. Classification

15. Resources http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/ http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/vertebrates.htm http://www.edhelper.com/AnimalReadingComprehension_1_1.html http://www.edhelper.com/animals.htm http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/index.html http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/links.htm http://www.dowslane.org/reptile.html http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-bytes/index.htm http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/critters/critters.html http://www.quia.com/servlets/quia.activities.common.ActivityPlayer?AP_rand=785616651&AP_activityType=14&AP_urlId=1130&AP_continuePlay=true&id=1130

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