Most animals have to move to find their food and to avoid predators and other dangers. Many of these animals have muscles to help them move. Muscles help fish to swim, birds and insects to fly and many animals to walk and run.
Plants move by growing in different directions. When water is in short supply, plant roots grow deeper into the soil to find it. Shoots grow taller to find more sunlight. Plants also need to move their pollen and seeds. Pollen and seeds are ‘dispersed’ – spread around – from their parent plant so that they have their own space to grow. They may be carried by animals, water or the wind.
Most snakes get from place to place by throwing their bodies into curves. When a snake moves, waves of muscular contraction flow from head to tail. Its sides also push against irregularities on the ground (represented by the orange arrows in the diagram).
Virtually every part of a cheetah’s body has been adapted to maximize its running speed.
Climbing plants, like ivy, use walls for support, and grow towards the sunlight.