Every animal has a body covering that protects it. Mammals such as dogs, monkeys, and bears are covered in hair or fur, which keeps them warm. A polar bear has thick white fur and a layer of fat under the skin. A yak in the cold mountains of Ladakh has long shaggy hair, while a camel has short hair to stay cool in the desert. Some mammals have very little hair. An elephant and a hippopotamus have thick, wrinkled skin, and a whale has smooth skin with a thick layer of blubber to keep warm in cold seas.
Birds are the only animals with feathers. Feathers are light, keep the bird warm, and shape the wings for flying. Ducks have oily feathers, so water rolls off and they never get soaked. Fish and reptiles such as snakes, lizards, and crocodiles are covered in scales. A snake sheds its whole skin in one piece as it grows, and you can sometimes find the empty skin on the ground. A tortoise carries a hard shell made of bone. Frogs have thin, moist skin and can even breathe through it, so they must stay near water. Insects have a hard outer skeleton instead of skin, and a crab or a prawn has a shell that it must shed to grow bigger.
Example: Collect and compare coverings you can safely find: a feather, a fish scale from the kitchen, an eggshell, a shed snake skin if you are lucky, and a strand of your own hair. Look at each one with a magnifying glass and draw what you see.