Hibernation LEVELED BOOK • M

A Reading A–Z Level M Leveled Book

Word Count: 453

F•I• M
Written by Kira Freed

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Hibernation
Written by Kira Freed Level M Leveled Book
© Learning A–Z Correlation
ISBN 978-1-61515-038-0 LEVEL M
Written by Kira Freed
Fountas & Pinnell L
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 19
www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com DRA 24
 Table of Contents A deer eats bark.

Food Is Scarce................................... 4
Food Is Scarce
What Is Hibernating?....................... 5
Many places have cold winters.
How Do They Stay Alive?............... 7 Some animals in these places have
trouble finding food in the winter.
Where Do Animals Hibernate?...... 8
Food is scarce during this time.
Who Hibernates?............................ 13 Some animals migrate to warmer
places to find food and return in the
Glossary........................................... 15
spring. Other animals hibernate to
Index................................................ 16 survive the winter months.
Hibernation • Level M 4
 Hedgehogs must gain weight to hibernate. Groundhogs are warm-blooded animals.

Snakes are cold-blooded animals.

What Is Hibernating?
Hibernation is like a very sound When a warm-blooded animal
sleep. Not even loud noises can hibernates, its body temperature
wake the animals up. Hibernating drops until it is almost as cold
animals sleep for days or weeks as the temperature outside. A cold-
at a time. Hibernating animals blooded animal’s body temperature
breathe very slowly. Their hearts always matches the temperature
beat slower, they are using little outside. When a cold-blooded
energy, and they do not need to eat. animal gets too cold, it hibernates.
Hibernation • Level M 5 6
 Raccoons collect food.

Some snakes hibernate together.

How Do They Stay Alive?

Where Do Animals Hibernate?
Hibernating animals eat lots of food
before winter. They store the food Hibernating animals also need a safe
in their bodies as fat. Their bodies place to sleep. They need to be away
live off this fat while they sleep. from the cold and hidden from
It takes very little energy to keep hungry predators. Some animals,
hibernating animals alive. like bats, hibernate in caves.
Hibernation • Level M 7 8
 frog snake burrow A black bear is safe in its den.

turtle

Many people think of bears when

they think of hibernation. But a
bear is not really a hibernating
animal. A bear often wakes up
Hibernating snakes sleep and moves around in winter. Also,
underground in burrows. Frogs a bear’s body temperature doesn’t
and turtles sleep in mud at the get as cold as that of other warm-
bottom of ponds. Some mice blooded hibernating animals. The
hibernate in winter nests. Some bear’s sleep is called a torpor. A
animals, like squirrels, store food torpor is a deep sleep, but not as
where they hibernate. deep as hibernation.
Hibernation • Level M 9 10
 A bear’s den is just big enough for the bear.

Many kinds of insects hibernate, too.

Like birds, some butterflies fly

to warmer areas in winter. But
Like a hibernating animal, though, many insects hibernate. They need
a bear prepares a place to sleep for a safe, warm place to sleep just
winter. It fills its winter den with like other hibernating animals.
leaves and tree branches. This bed Some hibernate in holes in the
helps keep the bear’s body heat in ground. Others hibernate under
while it sleeps. Layers of snow on tree bark. Some insects, like many
the den also keep the heat inside. ladybugs, hibernate in buildings,
This helps keep the bear warm. including houses!
Hibernation • Level M 11 12
 Gila monster

A prairie dog wakes up.

Badgers are warm-blooded animals.

Some animals like bats, some
squirrels, and some mice hibernate
Who Hibernates?
all winter long. Some animals wake
Warm-blooded animals like up to eat, as bears do. Raccoons,
groundhogs, chipmunks, and prairie badgers and skunks might wake up
dogs hibernate. Cold-blooded to eat on a warm winter day. In the
animals like snakes, frogs, turtles, spring, all the hibernating animals
insects, and lizards hibernate. wake up.
Hibernation • Level M 13 14
 Glossary Index
burrows (n.) holes in the ground body temperature, 6
dug by animals burrows, 9
(p. 9) caves, 8
migrate (v.) to move from one cold-blooded animals, 6, 13
place to another, food, 4, 7, 9
usually to eat or to heart, 5
breed (p. 4)
hibernate(s), 4–6, 8, 9, 12–14
predators (n.) animals that hunt hibernating, 5, 7–12, 14
other animals (p. 8) migrate, 4
scarce (adj.) hard to find (p. 4) nests, 9
sound (adj.) deep; undisturbed predators, 8
(p. 5) sleep, 5, 7–12
survive (v.) to stay alive (p. 4) spring, 4, 14
stored fat, 7
torpor (n.) a deep sleep, when
torpor, 10
body functions slow
down, but not as warm-blooded animals, 6, 10, 13
deep as hibernation winter(s), 4, 7, 9–12
(p. 10)

Hibernation • Level M 16