117. What makes an animal good at moving?

0:00Hey there, everybody. Welcome to the No Sweat Nature Study Podcast. As always, I am so glad you're here today. You know, over the years, we've spent time together learning about all sorts of animals and the features that make each one special. We've considered where animals live, what they eat, how they protect themselves, and even how they communicate. But today, we're looking more carefully at something animals do so often that we may not give it much thought at all. What is that? Well, the fact that animals move. They run, climb, swim, fly, hop, dig, and slither. Some travel thousands of miles, while others may spend their entire lives in a very small area. However, they get around, their bodies must perform an incredible number of tasks to make every movement possible. Just think about a squirrel racing along a branch, its muscles pulling, and its joints

1:02bending, its claws gripping, and its tail helping it balance. All of that happens so quickly and so smoothly that we simply see a squirrel run past. Well, the same is true when a bird takes off from a fence. A cheetah races across an open land, or a fish changes direction in the water. The movement may look effortless, but many parts of the animal's body are working together. So what makes an animal good at moving? Well, that's the question we're going to explore together today. But first, it's time for our science knicker. And this one is about an animal that would rather be sleeping. Are you ready for the joke? What do you call a sleeping bull? What do you call a sleeping bull? A bulldozer. That bull may not be pushing dirt around,

2:11but he certainly is dozing. Well, let's let him sleep while we find out what happens when an animal begins to move. Every run, leap, flap, and swim begins with something that you and I have in our bodies too. Can you guess? The answer is muscles. Bend one of your elbows for a moment. A muscle on the front of your upper arm contracts and pulls your forearm upward. Now, straighten your elbow. A muscle on the back of your upper arm contracts to pull your forearm in the opposite direction. Muscles create pulling force, but they can't move an animal all by themselves. Just like humans, they need bones to support the body and joints that allow certain parts to bend. The brain and nerves are involved too. They send and carry the signals that tell the right muscles when to contract and how much force to use. You didn't have to stop and think about

3:14all of that before you bent your elbow. Your brain, nerves, muscles, bones, and joints worked together to make it happen. And the same thing is happening inside or running Chita, only much faster. A Chita is built for short bursts of incredible speed. Its long legs help it cover plenty of ground, but its legs aren't working alone. One of the Chita's most important features is its very flexible spine. As a Chita runs, it spined bends and stretches. When the spine stretches, the front and back legs extend far apart. Then the spine bends bringing the legs underneath the body for the next stride. That flexibility allows the Chita to cover more ground with every stride than it could if it's backward stiff. Of course, running quickly is only helpful when the Chita can control where it's going. During a chase, its long tail helps balance the body and

4:15control its position through quick turns. Think about how you might throw out an arm to steady yourself when you begin to lose your balance. The Chita's tail helps it make adjustments while the rest of its body is moving at high speed. Long legs, a flexible spine, a long tail, and of course those strong muscles work together, especially well for racing across open land. But now let's turn our attention to an animal that climbs head first down a tree. It needs a different combination of features. A squirrel's sharp curved claws grip rough bark. Even more surprisingly, though, its ankle joints can rotate so its hind feet point backward as it travels down a tree trunk. With its feet turned in that direction, the claws can grip the bark while gravity pulls that squirrel toward the ground. The next time you see a squirrel moving down a tree, watch the direction of its hind feet if you can. It's a small detail that's easy to miss when you don't know to look

5:22for it. Just like the Chita, the squirrel's tail is important too. It helps with balance as the squirrel runs along narrow branches, leaps through the air, and changes direction. Both the squirrel and the Chita use their tails to control movement, but each tail is part of a body suited for a very different way of life. Now, imagine trying to run through a swimming pool. Every step takes extra effort because the water resists your movement. Swimming animals feel that resistance too. Scientists have a name for the force that pushes against an animal as it moves through water. That name is drag. Many strong animal swimmers have streamed line bodies that reduce drag. Think about the smooth outline of a dolphin. Its body is widest near the middle and tapers toward the front and back, allowing water to flow around it more easily. That body shape helps,

6:24but the dolphin still needs a way to propel itself forward. It does that by moving its tail flukes up and down. But most fish move differently. They bend their bodies and move their tails from side to side. Their other fins help them steer, remain balanced, stop, or change direction. And I'm sure you know that body shape matters in the air too. Different wing shapes help birds perform different kinds of movement. An albatross has long narrow wings that are well suited for gliding over the ocean. It uses patterns in the moving air above the waves to travel great distances with very little flapping. Those long wings would make quick turns among crowded tree branches difficult though. And that's why many birds that fly among trees have shorter, broader, more rounded wings. Those wings help them take off quickly and maneuver around branches, but they are not as efficient for gliding long distances over something like the open ocean.

7:29Neither wing shape allows a bird to do everything equally well. Each makes one kind of flight easier while making another kind more difficult. That give and take is called a trade-off. Body features can affect more than how an animal moves though. They can also affect how much energy that movement requires. A kangaroo is a wonderful example. You might expect every hop to require an entirely new burst of energy from its muscles. Instead, a kangaroo's body reuses some of the energy from one hop to help power the next. And the secret is in its tendons, the tough bands of connective tissue that attach muscles to bones. When a kangaroo lands, certain tendons in its legs stretch somewhat like strong elastic bands. For a brief moment, they store up some of the energy from the landing. Then, as the tendons spring

8:30back into shape, they return that energy and help launch the kangaroo into its next hop. The kangaroo's muscles are still working, of course, but its spring-like tendons make repeated hopping more efficient. So, what makes an animal good at moving? Well, there isn't one feature that works for every animal. An animal moves well when the parts of its body work together in ways that suit where it lives and what it needs to do. Now, studying those parts can be tricky for us, because a moving animal rarely holds still long enough for us to examine its position. Naturalists sometimes solve that problem with quick action sketches, instead of trying to include every detail. They capture the curve of the body, the placement of the feet, or the position of the wings at one moment in the movement. Author and illustrator Jim Arnowski is especially skilled at showing movement in his nature drawings.

9:35And I'm excited to tell you that his book Drawing Life in Motion is the inspiration for our upcoming No-Sweat Nature Study video class. During class, we'll watch animals move and study what their bodies are doing as they run, fly, swim, and climb. Then we'll experiment with lines, shapes, positions, and other drawing choices that can make an animal appear to be moving rather than standing frozen on a page. You guys, this is going to be a wonderful combination of scientific observation and creative nature journaling. And I would love it if you'll join me. The Drawing Life in Motion class is included with a No-Sweat Nature Study membership. Members can join live, or families can settle in and enjoy the replay whenever it works best for them. One of the things families love about No-Sweat Nature Study is that kids of multiple ages can learn

10:35together. I teach the science and guide everyone step by step through a Nature Journal page. So for parents, preparation is usually as simple as gathering a few basic nature journaling supplies and making sure a device is charged. Every month, members of No-Sweat Nature Study can join me for two new live classes and explore a library of more than 200 recorded classes across animal science, botany, earth and space science, and even physical science. Best of all, you can try a complete No-Sweat Nature Study video class for free before deciding whether membership is right for your family. You'll find that free class and all the membership information linked in your show notes. Alrighty, let's see what you remember with today's 321 Challenge. Can you remember what part of a cheetah's body bends and stretches to help lengthen each stride? 321. The answer is the spine.

11:48The cheetah's flexible spine helps its legs extend farther apart so it can cover more ground with each stride. Good job if you remembered that one. And now it is time for the best part of the podcast where we get to hear from you. I've been asking what's the most interesting thing you've ever seen happen in nature. And I'm on the edge of my seat to find out. Are you? Let's go. Hi, my name is Mira and I'm 10 years old. I live in British Columbia, Canada and one time I followed an animal trail that was a deer or a coyote trail. Goodbye Miss Cindy. Hello Miss Cindy. My name is Hannah and I am 9 years old. I live in Ontario, Canada. The most interesting thing I've seen in nature is an osprey, which is a type of bird catching a fish in the woods. Bye, bye Miss Cindy. I love you under your podcast. Hello, my name is Abigail. I live

12:55in Ontario, Canada and I'm 11 years old. The most interesting thing I've seen in nature is the Robinness behind the shed. It wasn't my backyard and I saw it in this year, 2026, in the summer. Bye, bye Miss Cindy. I love you under your podcast. Thank you to everyone who contributed to today's episode. You all are amazing. And if you haven't called in yet, now it's your turn. Call in with your answer to the question. What's the most interesting thing you've ever seen happen in nature? All of us are excited to hear about it. You can use the voice recorder linked in the show notes or visit our journeywestward.com slash podcast and scroll to the bottom of the page. Thanks for learning with me today, you guys. I'm Miss Cindy. I hope you have a great week and happy nature exploring.