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Wonderful through its gills and fills its body. When the octopus breathes in, water comes in sends blood to the rest of its body. When gills, on two of its arms. The third heart blue, to its organs for breathing, called Two of its hearts send blood, which is light other organs, the octopus has three hearts. inside, too. Along with its stomach and but it cannot hear at anything all. octopusThe far see very can distances, help the octopus grab and things. coveredare suckers. with suckers These head near its mouth. octopus’s The arms eight attached are to arms its rubbery because it has no bones its in body. Its squeezecan into small very spaces and shaped soft is like abag. octopus The other . Its body, called the , foundbe the every in in world! of octopus,different and they types can amazing octopus. over There are 300 stands out above the It rest. the is that livecreatures the in ocean, one the andOf strange all wonderful The octopus’s body is amazing on the octopusThe has abodyany unlike The Weirdand darted away. The octopus can also change predator to track the octopus once it has temporarily. This makes it difficult for the to become blind and lose its of smell by squirting ink at a predator, causing it miles. An octopus can also protect itself technique, can travel many is called . Using this and push itself backwards. This a predator, it can shoot water out of its octopus wants to move quickly to escape to defend itself from predators. When an out of the tube called the siphon. the octopus breathes out, the water comes The amazing octopus has many ways

© 2010 by Lucy Calkins and Kathleen Tolan, from Units of Study for Teaching Reading: A Curriculum for the Reading Workshop, Grades 3–5 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann). This page may be reproduced for classroom use only. © 2010 by Lucy Calkins and Kathleen Tolan, from Units of Study for Teaching Reading: A Curriculum for the Reading Workshop, Grades 3–5 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann). This page may be reproduced for classroom use only. has avaried diet, including , fish, predator. It hunts mainly at night. It away, and then grow a new one later. sleeve. It can break off its arm, swim the octopus has one more trick up its manages to grab an octopus by the arm, to its surroundings. And if a predator in blend to chameleon a like colors its with itswith poison. blue-ringed ahuman octopus, kill can ofOnly octopus, one the Australian type injects it apoison with that paralyzes it. octopus bites it its with tough and beak by grabbing To its with arms. it, kill the octopuses. octopus An catches its prey and small even , otherturtles, The amazingThe octopus a also is

feeling. An octopus is usually pale in change color depending on how it is Scientists believe that an octopus can octopuses may have emotions, too. catch them again. Research shows that circular currents in the water and then “playing” games. They throw objects into octopuses in tanks have been observed between shapes and patterns. Some taught octopuses to learn to distinguish physically. It’s smart, too. Scientists have the octopus. land, or the in air, none quite is like brightly colored when it is angry or scared. color when it is relaxed. It becomes The octopus isn’t just amazing Of all ofOf the all thein sea, on