Summary
A grasshopper mouse hunts scorpions and barely flinches at their stings. Deep Look reveals how a tiny difference in this mouse's body lets it shrug off venom that would send other animals running.
Viewer safety
This episode shows a predator eating real prey (a normal part of nature science) -- preview if that might unsettle your class.
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Most animals feel a scorpion's sting as terrible pain, but the grasshopper mouse has a slightly different body chemistry that blocks that pain signal. That variation lets it eat a meal other predators avoid -- an advantage in its habitat.
- Why can the grasshopper mouse hunt scorpions when other animals won't?
- How does a small difference in the mouse give it an advantage?
- How does being able to eat scorpions help this mouse survive?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: variation, venom, advantage, survive.
Try it: Think of a trait (like being ticklish or not). Write how being 'not bothered' by something could be an advantage, like the mouse.