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What Is a Camel?

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Look First

A graphic illustration shows a man in a light blue tunic walking and holding a rope connected to a dromedary camel carrying baskets and bundles on its hump across a desert. Sand dunes fill the background, a large yellow sun is in the light blue sky, and a few plateaus are on the horizon on the left.
  1. What can you see in the picture?
  2. What is on the camel's back?
  3. What are the camel and the man doing?

Before You Read

Words You Need

Learn

Read and Listen

A camel is a large animal that can live in hot, dry places. Many camels live in deserts in Africa and Asia. They have long legs, wide feet, and one or two humps on their backs.

A camel’s wide feet help it walk on soft sand. Its long legs keep its body away from the hot land. A camel can also close its nose when sand is in the air.

Camels can live for a long time without drinking water. They do not keep water in their humps. The humps have fat. This fat helps the camel when food is hard to find.

People have used camels for many years. Camels can carry people and heavy things across the desert. Some people also get milk from them. Camels are strong animals, and their bodies help them live in dry places.

Quick Check

Understand It

  1. Many camels live in hot, dry places.
  2. A camel keeps water in its hump.
  3. A camel’s wide feet help it walk on water.
  4. What is inside a camel’s hump?
  5. What can camels carry?

Focus On

Language

  1. A camel can have one or two .

  2. Camels have wide .

  3. A camel uses its long to walk on sand.

  4. Some camels carry heavy across the desert.

Build

Chunks

Place

  1. The hump is

  2. The long legs are

  3. The wide feet are

  4. The nose is

at the front of its head on the sand on its back under its body
Wide crop of a camel showing its hump on its back, long legs under its body, wide feet on the sand, and nose at the front of its head.

Repeat

on its back
The camel has a hump on its back.
under its body
The camel has long legs under its body.
on the sand
Its wide feet are on the sand.
at the front of its head
Its nose is at the front of its head.

Now Try

Use It

Complete the Sentences

A camel is...
Its wide feet help it...
People use camels to...

Answer the Questions

What do you usually carry on your back?
Are there camels in your country? Where are they?
Have you ever seen a desert?
Do you think camels are beautiful or strange?
Would you like to ride a camel? Why or why not?

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