Author:
Kristin Robinson
Subject:
English Language Arts
Material Type:
Homework/Assignment
Level:
Middle School
Tags:
License:
Creative Commons Attribution
Language:
English
Media Formats:
eBook, Graphics/Photos, Text/HTML

Education Standards

Escape Artist

Escape Artist

Overview

Find out more about the octopus, a smart and resourceful creature.

Escape Artist

What has eight arms, two eyes, and a beak? You guessed it. The octopus. It doesn’t have a nose, ears, or fingers, but each arm is covered with a double row of white suction cups called suckers. It uses these suckers to explore its world. Each sucker moves by itself like the way we wiggle our toes or fingers. And a sucker not only grips objects, it tastes them. An octopus has a beak like a bird, and a tongue—called a radula—that’s covered with razor-sharp teeth. These teeth are able to cut through crab and snail shells like a buzzsaw. An octopus will often carry a crab back to its den for dinner. Then, after it’s finished eating, the octopus will deposit the shells just outside its den. Very tidy!

Photo of an octopus hiding in coral.
An octopus can hide is small places and change color to blend into its surroundings.

The octopus is the great shape-shifter of the sea. It can make itself big and wide like an umbrella, or long and thin like a piece of rope. It can squeeze through cracks under a rock or flatten itself against the walls of a cave. The octopus is also a master of disguise. Its skin can change color instantly, acting as a camouflage to protect it from sharks and other predators.

When it comes to brains, the octopus goes to the head of the class. It is the smartest of all invertebrates. It can find its way through a maze, or figure out how to unscrew the lid of a jar and remove the tasty fish that’s inside. The octopus is a very curious creature, and can actually die of boredom if kept in a tank with no world to explore and nothing to entertain it.

It can be pretty sneaky, too. Scientists at an aquarium were baffled by a mysterious disappearing act. Every day they’d place new fish in a tank, but when they returned in the morning, the fish would be gone. Finally, they set up a video camera to see who was stealing the fish. They watched in amazement as an octopus in a tank across the room waited for the museum to close, then squeezed its way out of its tank, slid across the floor, slipped into the fish tank, and ate all the fish. Then it crawled back into its own tank and took a nap!

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