🏜️ Desert animal reports, grades 3–4
9 sheets, one animal each, so every child in a group gets a different one. Pick another set or one animal.
My report: the red kangaroo
Osphranter rufus · Grades 3–4
| Length | not checked yet: look it up! |
|---|---|
| Height | 5.9 ft (1.8 m) |
| Weight | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
A red kangaroo uses its long tail like a fifth leg when it moves slowly, and for balance when it hops fast. A newborn joey is tiny, no bigger than a jellybean, and crawls into its mother's pouch to grow.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, How to Care for Wallabies, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/how-care-wallabies, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the meerkat
Suricata suricatta · Grades 3–4
| Length | 17 to 24 in (43 to 60 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 1.6 lb (725 g) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 10 years |
Read about it
A mob of meerkats lives in underground burrows that they dig with their long, strong claws. While the mob looks for food, one meerkat stands guard on its back legs and calls out if it sees a hawk or a snake. The others keep digging for insects with their noses to the ground.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Meerkat, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/meerkat, checked 2026-10-30
- Wikidata, from Suricata suricatta, wikidata.org/wiki/Q134015#P2067, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the fennec fox
Vulpes zerda · Grades 3–4
| Length | 21 to 28 in (54 to 71 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 2 to 3.1 lb (900 g to 1.4 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 11 years |
Read about it
A fennec fox's big ears give off extra body heat, which helps it stay cool, and they can also hear insects moving under the sand. It stays in a cool burrow by day and comes out at night. Thick fur on the bottom of its feet protects its paws from the hot sand.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Fennec fox, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/fennec-fox, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the pronghorn
Antilocapra americana · Grades 3–4
| Length | 3.7 to 4.6 ft (1.1 to 1.4 m) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 35 in to 3.3 ft (89 cm to 1 m) |
| Weight | 90 to 125 lb (41 to 57 kg) |
| Top speed | 55 mph (89 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 7 to 10 years |
Read about it
A pronghorn is not a true antelope, and it is not a deer: it is the only animal left of its own family. Its eyes sit on the sides of its head, so it can see far in every direction across open land. It has big lungs and a big heart, and light bones and long legs, built for running.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Yellowstone, home.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/pronghorn.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- National Park Service, Badlands, nps.gov/articles/000/pronghorn.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the ostrich
Struthio camelus · Grades 3–4
| Length | not checked yet: look it up! |
|---|---|
| Height | 8.9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Weight | 198 to 300 lb (90 to 136 kg) |
| Top speed | 43 mph (69 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 30 to 40 years |
Read about it
An ostrich is too big and heavy to fly, so it runs instead. Its long legs carry it across open land, and its big eyes spot trouble from far away. A male has black and white feathers, while a female is soft gray-brown.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, Ostrich, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/ostrich, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the greater roadrunner
Geococcyx californianus · Grades 3–4
| Length | 23 in (58 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Top speed | 20 mph (32 km/h) |
| How long it lives | not checked yet: look it up! |
Read about it
A greater roadrunner has two toes pointing forward and two pointing back, so its footprints look like an X. It runs after lizards, insects and even snakes, holding its long tail out for balance as it dashes. On chilly desert mornings it warms up by turning its back to the sun.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, White Sands National Park, nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/roadrunner.htm, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the gila monster
Heloderma suspectum · Grades 3–4
| Length | 22 in (56 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | not checked yet: look it up! |
| Weight | 16 oz (450 g) |
| Top speed | 1.5 mph (2.4 km/h) |
| How long it lives | 20 years |
Read about it
The Gila monster, said HEE-luh, has bumpy orange and black skin, a color pattern that warns other animals to stay away. It spends most of its time underground in a burrow or under a rock, out of the hot desert sun. Its tail stores fat, so it can live off its own body between meals when food is hard to find.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Saguaro National Park, nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/gila-monster.htm, checked 2026-10-30
- Smithsonian's National Zoo, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/gila-monster, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the mojave desert tortoise
Gopherus agassizii · Grades 3–4
| Length | 7.9 to 15 in (20 to 38 cm) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 3.9 to 5.9 in (10 to 15 cm) |
| Weight | 7.9 to 15 lb (3.6 to 6.8 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 50 to 80 years |
Read about it
Desert tortoises spend most of their lives in burrows they dig themselves, safe from the hot sun and the cold winter nights. Their flat front legs work like shovels. A tortoise gets water from the plants it eats and can store water in its body, so it can go a long time without a drink.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, species profile, fws.gov/species/desert-tortoise-gopherus-agassizii, checked 2026-10-30
My report: the coyote
Canis latrans · Grades 3–4
| Length | not checked yet: look it up! |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | 16 to 20 in (41 to 51 cm) |
| Weight | 25 to 35 lb (11 to 16 kg) |
| Top speed | not checked yet: look it up! |
| How long it lives | 6 years |
Read about it
A coyote eats almost anything, from mice and rabbits to insects and berries, so it can live in deserts, forests, farms and even big cities. Coyotes yip, bark and howl, and just a few together can sound like a whole crowd. A mother and father raise their pups in a den, and the pups grow up learning from their family.
Where it lives (its habitat):
What it eats:
How its body helps it live there:
My favorite fact:
A question I still have:
Where my facts came from
- National Park Service, Yellowstone, nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/coyote.htm, checked 2026-10-30