Crocodiles (In the Wild) by: Claire Robinson (Nonfiction)

People hunt and kill crocodiles to use their skin for making leather.  Female crocodiles lay eggs and the baby crocodiles swallow their food whole until they can finally chew.  To hunt, crocodiles keep their entire body in the water except for their eyes, ears, and nostrils.  Crocodiles swim by moving their tails and love to bask in the sun since they are reptiles.  They have scaly skin and do not usually run unless they are afraid of danger. Crocodiles have teeth that are all the same shape.  Female crocodiles give birth once a year and look after their young by teaching them how to hunt.  They break their food apart with their teeth to swallow in smaller pieces but cannot chew their food.  The book gives a lot of basic information on crocodiles.

I would use this book in teaching Grade 4 to integrate science and literature.  The NCSCOS for 4^th grade indicates students learn about animal behaviors and adaptations, and this book would be helpful for a student who wanted to find out more information about crocodiles.  I would use this book, along with other nonfiction texts that give information about animals, to provide resources for the students to do a project.  I would have them each choose a different animal to research and create a power point presentation using multiple nonfiction literature sources.  Afterward, they could all present to the class so the class gains a wider range of knowledge regarding animal behaviors for many different animals.  I could also use this book for teaching Grade 5 where the students begin to understand the interdependence of plants and animals.  This book encompasses specific examples of how the food chain plays out in the grand scheme of a crocodile’s ecosystem.

AR Book Finder Book Level 3.1