Introduction
By the end of this week, you will be able to :
!. Describe how, when the environment changes, differences between individuals allow some plants and animals to survive and reproduce while others die or move to new locations.
2. Compare and contrast adaptations displayed by animals and plants that enable them to survive in different environments such as life cycles variations, animal behaviors and physical characteristics
Task
Throughout this week, you will be given resources that will guide you through the process of...
1. Defining adaptation
2. Explaining why adapations are beneficial (helpful)
3. Identifying adaptations in animals
4. Creating your own animal with unique characteristics that help it adapt to its surroundings
5. Looking at real world situations and determining how they affect animals and plants
6. Search for ways in which the adaptations animals possess allow them to survive when their environment changes.
Process
Day 1. Read from your Fusion science book What is an Adaptation? p.421-431
Complete a graphic organizer or a table that iists the adaptations you read about and their purpose
Day 2. Visit this website http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/.
Choose 5 animals to explore and list as many adaptations as you can find about each animal. Add this information to the table you started yesterday.
This link will only work on a device with Flash installed (usually a computer)
Explore some amazing animals on this site and discuss their adaptations with your group. Add to the table in your science notebook as necessary.
Day 3
- Polar Bears Listed as Threatened
- http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/threats-to-animals-environment/polar-bears
- Create a new T-chart listing the changes in this ecosystem and its effects on polar bears in your science journal.
Watch this video to discover another amazing animal adaptation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2_9EURKjEk
Discuss with a partner how this animal is able to survive.
Day 4-5
Here is a short video about National Geographic Explorer Mireya Mayor who discovered the Mouse Lemur
(Video: The Smallest Lemur).http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/mammals-animals/monkeys-and-lemurs/lemur_mouse/
- You each are about to join an expedition of scientists and explorers whose mission is to discover a new animal species. See your teacher for your assigned team.
Today, you will "discover" (create) a new animal species. As the explorers who discovered the new species, you will also have the honor of naming your newly discovered animal species. You will need to document your discovery through a science journal entry that includes the following:
- Habitat: include a map showing the location of the discovery, details about the climate, and the challenges this habitat presents.
- The adaptations that ensure its basic needs of food, water, shelter, air, and predation are met.
- Predators , prey, and symbiotic relationships
- A colored illustration of the animal with the structural adaptations labeled.
- Name of the animal and a rationale for the name.