Teaching overview

Learning points

  • The pygmy three-toed sloth only eats mangrove leaves, which are low in nutrients and don't provide much energy. As a result, the sloth moves around very slowly.
  • Most sloths spend the majority of their time in trees, staying out of sight of animals that might attack them.
  • Because the pygmy three-toed sloth has no predators on the island where it lives, it can safely swim from one mangrove patch to another in search of food.

Curriculum keywords

  • Animals
  • Habitat
  • Food

Spark a discussion

  • Why do pygmy three-toed sloths move so slowly?
  • Do you think the pygmy three-toed sloth would behave differently if there were predators on the island where it lives? If yes, how?
  • What do you think would happen to you if you only ate one type of food? Why?

Twig Science: A Complete Pre-K–8 Program for the NGSS

Immersive Investigations with High-Quality Multimedia

  • Investigating, designing, building, and understanding phenomena
  • Hands-on, digital, video, and print investigations
  • Synchronous/asynchronous distance learning