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Animal Themes
Invertebrates
Freshwater

Snails

Snails
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.33

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    delicacy, incoming, locomotion, ribbon-like, singular, aspect, retreat, mucus, personally, lining, harmless, species, eaters, meaning, vegetation, unlike

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Snails   
1     Snails are true nomads! Unlike most animals, snails are in no rush to head back home. They simply go to wherever they wish. Well, snails can afford to do that, because they carry their houses right on their backs!
 
2     Snails' homes are hollow, spiral-shaped hard shells. Snails rely on their shells to protect them from hungry predators like birds. Underneath their coiled protective gears are their soft, slimy bodies. When snails are on the move, they stick out their heads revealing two pairs of tentacles. At the tips of the taller pair of tentacles are usually where snails' eyes are located. Snails use their lower pair of tentacles for the sense of smell and touch. Once alerted to incoming dangers, snails quickly retreat into their shells.
 
3     With over 50,000 different species in the world, snails take up residence in the sea, in fresh water, and on land. They can be found everywhere except the Arctic and Antarctica. Snails living in water have two modes of transportation - swimming or drifting with currents. Land-dwelling snails like to crawl on their large, flat, muscular foot. Whenever snails pass by, they leave a trail of mucus or slime that helps them to glide along. Snails are famous for their slow locomotion. Garden snails, for example, creep at an average speed of only 0.03 miles per hour.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
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