Lesson 3 What Is an Animal Adaptation?

Transcription

1 Lesson 3 What Is an Animal Adaptation? STUDENT SKILLS: observing, sorting, communicating, identifying, comparing, describing, synthesizing

2 Lesson 3: What Is an Animal Adaptation? Activity 3A: Animal Adaptations SUMMARY: Students will investigate the different physical and behavioral characteristics of animal that aid in survival. KIT MATERIALS: 1 set of large plastic animal models Animal adaptation cards Anteater story Plastic tub Small bolts Soil Magnets Paper clips Toilet paper rolls Pipe cleaners TEACHER PROVIDES: Copies of MySci Journal page Colored markers or crayons NOTE TO TEACHER: Six different animals are provided for you to hide in the classroom. Look at colors and patterns. Be creative where and how you hide them. ENGAGE Divide the class into groups of four. Tell the students that they will play a game. Let the students know that there are six animal models hidden in the room. Tell the class they have one minute to find all six animals. Each group must move as a pack looking for the animals. After one minute is up, have the student groups sit with any animals they found. Reveal any animals they were unable to find. EXPLORE Discuss the following questions: What made some animals easy to hide? What made some animals difficult to find? Ask what students might change to make any animals more successful at hiding. 48 What Is an Animal? TM

3 Lesson 3: What Is an Animal Adaptation? EXPLAIN Camouflage is one form of adaptation. On the board, write the word CAMOUFLAGE. Explain to students that animals in nature hide their young to protect them from predators. Camouflage is the "art of concealment or hiding." It involves disguising an object, in plain sight, in order to hide it from something or someone. Animals use color to blend in with their habitat so that they're almost invisible. They can also use a combination of color, shape, and behavior to help them appear like something in their habitat. They are simply mistaken for something else. Some animals have special markings that help to disguise their shapes. Ask the students for examples of animals that use camouflage Discuss the concept of adaptations anything an animal has or does to help them survive in their habitat. Explain that there are two different kinds of adaptations. Draw a T-chart on the board. On one side write HAS, and on other write DOES. Explain that anything an animal is born with in or on its body is a PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTIC. Animals have no choice about their physical characteristics just like kids have no choice about having a stomach and thumbs. Ask your students for examples of things a wolf is born with in or on its body. Write those things in the HAS column. Now explain that anything an animal does is called a BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTIC. These are actions animals choose to do, like running or flying. Ask the students for examples of behaviors that they know wolves can do. Take out the adaptation cards for Activity 3A and show your students the pictures. Start with the cheetah cards. One card shows a cheetah s paw, and the other shows a cheetah running. Ask the students which card shows a physical characteristic that a cheetah has and which shows a behavioral characteristic that a cheetah does. When the students answer correctly, tape the cards in the correct columns on the T-chart. Do the same for all the other adaptation cards. ELABORATE Read the anteater story to the students and look for behavioral and physical adaptations. Display the plastic tub filled with small bolts and soil. Explain to the students that the bolts represent ants. Draw their attention to the fact that there are small ants inside the dirt. Explain to them that they are now anteaters. At this station is a bag containing toilet paper rolls, pipe cleaners, paper clips, and magnets. Each group is to use the materials in the bag to build a snout that they can shove down in the holes and bring ants up through the tube. Allow time for the students to assemble and pick up ants. Remind the students that the ants cannot be picked up or moved by hand and that the ants must come all the way up through the tube to count. Ask the students how such a snout might aid an anteater in its survival. Is the snout a physical or behavioral characteristic? Was eating ants a physical or behavioral characteristic? TM What Is an Animal? 49

4 Lesson 3: What Is an Animal Adaptation? EVALUATE Have students choose one of the six animals that was hidden in the room previously. In their MySci Journal, students should write the name of the animal and list any special adaptations it has to help it in its environment. Older students can discuss what problems the animal might face if it did not have these special adaptations. 50 What Is an Animal? TM

5 Lesson 3: What Is an Animal Adaptation? Activity 3B: Build a Bird SUMMARY: Students will apply the relationship between habitat and animal adaptations by building birds to survive in certain habitats. KIT MATERIALS: 1 bird poster 1 beak chart 1 claw chart 1 feather chart Beak, body, and claw templates Feathers Craft feathers TEACHER TO PROVIDE: Scissors Glue Paper NOTE TO TEACHER: Feathers are included. Be careful of bird allergies. ENGAGE Show the students the feathers of real birds. Have them make predictions about what they are used for. Ask the students to notice the different kinds of beaks, feathers, and feet the birds have on the bird posters. Refer to the poster and the beak, claw, and feather charts included in the kit. Ask them how they think the different physical characteristics help that bird survive in its habitat. EXPLORE Explain that the students may come to the bird station and pick the parts of a bird to build. They choose 1 beak, 1 set of feet, and one body shape. Ask the students to create a bird from the parts, coloring it as they think would help its survival. Have the students color and glue their bird together. They may also add feathers from the kit. EXPLAIN Explain to the students that feathers provide warmth and camouflage; they help the birds attract a mate through their color. Beaks help birds gather food and eat; they can crack nuts or reach inside small openings for food. Claws help birds perch, walk on soft mud, and capture food. 52 What Is an Animal? TM

6 Lesson 3: What Is an Animal Adaptation? ELABORATE Allow the students to observe birds in their schoolyard or at their homes. Have them create a habitat for the bird they created and draw it in their MySci Journal. Older students can choose a bird from the posters and research it. EVALUATE Have the students name their bird and write/draw in their MySci Journal how the bird uses its beak, claws, and feathers to survive. They need to demonstrate its basic needs and specialized adaptations. NOTE TO TEACHER: This activity is a culminating activity for adaptations and physical characteristics. TM What Is an Animal? 53

7 MySci Journal Drawing Page Name Date

8 MySci Journal Graph Page Name Date

9 MySci Journal Drawing and Writing Page Name Date

10 MySci Journal Writing Page Name Date