Pre-Visit Activities : Adaptations
Third - Fifth Grade Online Curriculum : Communities

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MAIN
Focus Questions
How do adaptations help animals and plants to survive in their habitats?

Activity Synopsis
Students will compare household objects to the adaptations of animals to determine how animals and plants survive in their habitats.

Time Frame
Two 45-minute class periods

Student Key Terms

Teacher Key Terms

OBJECTIVES
The learner will be able to:

STANDARDS

 

Grade Level

Standards

3rd Grade

3-1.1, 3-1.3, 3-2.1, 3-2.2, 3-2.3, 3-2.4

4th Grade

4-1.6, 4-2.2, 4-2.3, 4-2.5

5th Grade

5-2.4, 5-2.5
* Bold standards are the main standards addressed in this activity.

Third Grade Indicators

3-1.1 Classify objects by two of their properties (attributes).
3-1.3

Generate questions such as “what if?” or “how?” about objects, organisms, and events in the environment and use those questions to conduct a simple scientific investigation.
3-2.1

Illustrate the life cycles of seed plants and various animals and summarize how they grow and are adapted to conditions within their habitats.
3-2.2

Explain how physical and behavioral adaptations allow organisms to survive (including hibernation, defense, locomotion, movement, food obtainment, and camouflage for animals and seed dispersal, color, and response to light for plants).
3-2.3 Recall the characteristics of an organism’s habitat that allow the organism to survive there.
3-2.4

Explain how changes in the habitats of plants and animals affect their survival.

Fourth Grade Indicators

4-1.6

Construct and interpret diagrams, tables, and graphs made from recorded measurements and observations.
4-2.2 Explain how the characteristics of distinct environments (including swamps, rivers and streams, tropical rain forests, deserts, and the polar regions) influence the variety of organisms in each.
4-2.3 Explain how humans and other animals use their senses and sensory organs to detect signals from the environment and how their behaviors are influenced by these signals.
4-2.5

Explain how an organism’s patterns of behavior are related to its environment (including the kinds and the number of other organisms present, the availability of food and other resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment).

Fifth Grade Indicators
5-2.4

Identify the roles of organisms as they interact and depend on one another through food chains and food webs in an ecosystem, considering producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores), decomposers (microorganisms, termites, worms, and fungi), predators and prey, and parasites and hosts.

5-2.5

Explain how limiting factors (including food, water, space, and shelter) affect populations in ecosystems.

BACKGROUND
Key Points
This section will give you the main information you should know to teach the activity.

Detailed Information
Detailed Information gives more in-depth background to increase your own knowledge, in case you want to expand upon the activity or you are asked detailed questions by students.

The role an animal or plant plays in its community, the niche it fills, is often determined by the adaptations the organism has. Adaptations are an organism's body parts or behaviors that help it to survive in its environment. By looking at an organism's adaptations, one can determine what an animal eats, where it lives and how it moves around in its environment.

Each type of plant or animal has different structural adaptations that serve different functions. Blue crabs have claws that aid in defense and in the acquisition of food. Octopus have pigment-filled cells that can contract and expand, allowing the animal to be a master of camouflage. Male seahorses have pockets on their bodies in which to brood young. Plants have stems that transport water up from the roots. Such structural adaptations aid in survival and allow plants and animals, like those mentioned above, to respond to life needs. Likewise, plants and animals have behavioral adaptations that help them to survive in their environment. Plants bend towards sunlight to efficiently capture the energy from the sun. Hermit crabs quickly retreat to the confines of their shell if a shadow passes overhead.

The adaptations of individual plants and animals are suited to the environments in which they live. Fish have fins that propel them through water. Birds have feathered wings that enable flight in air. Clues to the environments in which plants and animals live are often provided through close observation of an organism's body parts and body design. Take, for example, the beachside plant, the sea rocket. This plant has succulent, thick, fleshy leaves that help the plant to conserve water. The leaves of the plant are silvery to reflect harsh sunlight and have a waxy covering that protects the plant from salt spray. On the other hand, the leaves of deciduous trees located in less harsh environments (than the dune environment of the sea rocket) are thin and broad and lack the succulent, waxy nature of those of the coastal sea rocket; deciduous trees are not found in the harsh, dune environment and, therefore, do not need added protection from excessive sunlight or salt spray. Consider the delicate body of a jellyfish. Would you expect to find this animal in rushing currents, amongst a rocky reef or moving around on land? The delicate, watery body of the jelly is designed for life in the open ocean, where buoyancy is crucial and boundaries do not exist. Jellies, as members of the plankton community, are at the mercy of the currents. Those that are pushed close to inshore beaches, often meet their death where waves and sandy beaches meet; they are not adapted to survive in the immediate nearshore environment.

Animals that live both in water and on land have adaptations that help them to survive in both environments. The life cycle of amphibians clearly demonstrates the link between adaptations and their function(s). Baby frogs, or tadpoles, are strictly aquatic and quick observation easily reveals adaptations for life in an aquatic world: lack of limbs and a "fish-like" tail fin. However, as tadpoles morph into their adult form, their adaptations become suited to terrestrial life: lack of a "fish-like" tail fin and four limbs. Some animals, like the green sea turtle, have lives tied to land only for reproduction and the adaptations of the animal reflect a primarily aquatic life. Female green sea turtles lumber their huge bodies across a stretch of sandy beach to lay their eggs. The huge size makes movement on land quite laborious. However, in water the huge size is an advantage to not becoming a meal. The presence of four limbs enables movement on land. However, the flipper-like appendages are far more efficient in a watery world.

Individuals in a population of any species vary in many traits that are inherited from their parents. Since members of a species have the potential to produce far more offspring, or young, than the environment can possibly support with space, food, water and other resources, a constant struggle for existence among the varied members of a population is inevitable. Charles Darwin calculated that in just 750 years a single pair of elephants would have 19 million living descendants, provided that every descendent along the way lived to be 100 years old and had just six surviving offspring. But elephants and most other populations remain stable because most of the young animals generated by a species die without reproducing. The "winners" of this constant struggle for existence are those individuals with adaptations best suited to the local environment. Adaptations are body part or behaviors that help an organism to survive in its environment. Because of their special, inherited traits, some individuals are likely to be better able to avoid predators, to find food or mates or to deal with climatic pressures. These individuals will tend to survive longer and leave more offspring than others in their species that have different and less successful adaptations.

So, take time to look closely at the plants and animals in the world around you. Encourage your students to do the same. Your observations will reveal an entire world full of adaptations in action!

PROCEDURES
Materials
We have included several examples of household items that can be used to represent adaptations in living things. After each listed item we have included ideas for specific adaptations that each item may represent. We are sure that you can think of many other ways these household items, and others, can be used to represent specific adaptations.

Other materials

Procedures

Part I

  1. Ask students how they prepare for a day at the beach, cold weather, or eating pizza. Do they wear winter coats to the beach, shorts during cold weather or eat with their toes? Discuss responses and explain that students adapt to their environment.
  2. Ask a student to wear a coat that you have in the classroom. Discuss how it is used for protection/survival. Introduce the term adaptation and explain how organisms have adaptations that aid in survival.
  3. Show the class one household item and ask the students, "What does this item do?" and "How is this item useful to the people living in your home?". Record their responses on the board.
  4. Ask students if they can think of an animal or plant body part (an adaptation) that is used to do something similar to that of the household item. Encourage students to use similes during this activity. They often help students to link a new concept to something that they already know or to something familiar. A few examples are provided below: The suction cups on the tube feet of sea urchins are like a bathroom plunger. Both things use suction to grab hold of other things. The fur on a river otter is like a winter coat. Both things are used for warmth. The shell of a turtle is like a hard hat. Both things are used to protect something soft underneath.
  5. Divide the class into groups of five. Give each group a plastic bag/storage container containing five different household items.
  6. Explain that students should decide how the items are useful to humans and record their ideas. They should discuss their ideas as a group.
  7. In their groups, students should discuss how the household items can be compared to adaptations used by animals or plants. Students should use similes to relate each household item to a plant or animal adaptation.
  8. Students should record their similes. Discuss the responses.

Part II

  1. Review the term adaptation. Show the students an item that hasn't yet been discussed. Ask them to explain how the object depicts an adaptation in an animal or plant.
  2. Divide students into teams of five. Give each group of students an Adaptations Observation Record. Have the students look at the pictures and decide what adaptation(s) each animal or plant has. They should record their observations on their worksheets.
  3. Next, discuss the habitat of several of the organisms. Ask students to explain how the adaptations allow it to live in its habitat.

ASSESSMENT
Introduce students to one of South Carolina's ocean inhabitants, the porcupinefish, by simply showing students a picture of the animal. Ask each student to look closely at the animal pictured. Have students write a paragraph (click here for a sample, blank worksheet) about the porcupinefish that includes the following:

  1. A description of three adaptations they think the porcupinefish might have based on their observation of the animal (1 point per adaptation; 3 points total); credit all rational observations.
  2. A description of how they think each adaptation helps the porcupinefish to survive in the ocean (1 point per description; 3 points total); Teachers should credit all descriptions even if the explanation of the function of the adaptation is not biologically correct; the goal of this assessment is to determine if students can observe an animal, look at its body parts and come up with a possible guess as to how those body parts might help an animal to survive and not whether or not the guess is accurate.
  3. Creative Writing (2 points total)
    • 0 points- student just provides a list of adaptations and functions
    • 1 point- student provides descriptions in complete sentences to create a simple story
    • 2 points- student infuses imagination and creativity while providing descriptions in complete sentences to create a story
An example of a paragraph that would receive the full eight points appears below.

This is a story about Spike, the porcupinefish. Spike has a small mouth that helps him to eat little jellyfish in the ocean. Spike loves to eat jellyfish! He has to swim around in the water to catch his food and Spike uses his fins to move. Spike is called Spike because his mother likes the name Spike and because he has pointy things all over his body. Spike uses his pointy things to scare other fish away so that they won't eat him.

Note that porcupinefish do have small mouths, but they use them to eat snails, crabs and shrimp, not jellyfish. However, the student who wrote the paragraph above received full credit.

RESOURCES
Teacher Reference Books
Ballantine, Todd. Tideland Treasures. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1991.
A wonderfully simple introduction to the plants and animals of the salt marsh, sandy beach and ocean habitats of the eastern united states.

Barry, John M. Natural Vegetation of South Carolina, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1980.
A look at the vegetation communities of each of the regions of South Carolina and the abiotic factors that influence them.

Godfrey, Michael A. Field Guide to the Piedmont, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1997.
A look at the characteristics and wildlife communities of the Piedmont region that stretches from New York through South Carolina to Alabama.

Kovacik, Charles F. and John J.Winberry. South Carolina: The Making Of a Landscape, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1987.
Information on the geology, ecology and cultural history of the different landforms and regions of South Carolina.

Martof, Bernard S. et. al. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1980.
A content-rich field guide to the reptiles and amphibians of South and North Carolina and Virginia.

Meyer, Peter. Nature Guide to the Carolina Coast, Avian-Cetacean Press, Wilmington, NC, 1998.
An informative look at the characteristics and wildlife of the Coast and Ocean regions of South and North Carolina.

Rhodes, Fred C et. al. Freshwater Water Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1994.
A content-rich field guide to the fresh water fishes of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.

Ruppert, Edward E. and Richard S. Fox. Seashore Animals of the Southeast. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1988.
A content-rich field guide for the identification of shallow-water invertebrate animals of the Atlantic coast of the southeastern United States.

South Carolina Wildlife magazine, published by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
This award winning magazine regularly features articles and photography on the habitats and wildlife of all of the regions of South Carolina.

Teal, John and Mildred. Life and Death of the Salt Marsh, Ballantine Books, New York, 1969.
An in-depth look at the characteristics and organisms found in the salt marshes of the Coast region.

Teacher Reference Websites
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
http://www.enc.org/
This website is sponsored by the United States Department of Education. An entire section is dedicated to lesson plans and activities for teachers. Within the lesson plan section underneath the heading of science topics, teachers can fin an array of activities on adaptations.

Frank Potter's Science Gems
http://www.sciencegems.com
A plethora of science resources can be accessed at this terrific site. Under the Life Science II heading, teachers can access the "Biology of Plants" and the "Biology of Animals" sections. Both sections contain a wide variety of information, resources, and lesson plans related to plants and animals.

Nature Scene
http://www.picketfence.com/naturescene/Congaree/landforms.html
Information on land forms, climate, and geography in the Congaree Swamp region of South Carolina.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
http://www.dnr.state.sc.us/
Information on the wildlife and geology of all of South Carolina.

Student Reference Books
Eyewitness Books: Pond & River. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York, 1988.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about the plants and animals that make freshwater habitats their home.

Eyewitness Books: Ocean. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, New York, 1995.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about the plants and animals that make ocean habitats their home.

Eyewitness Books: Amphibian. Clarke, Barry and George Brightling. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789457547.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about amphibians.

Eyewitness Books: Bird. Burnie, David and Kim Taylor. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458004
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about birds.

Eyewitness Books: Butterfly and Moth. Whalley, Paul and Kim Taylor. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458322.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about butterflies and moths.

Eyewitness Books: Eagles and Birds of Prey. Parry-Jones, Jemina and Frank Greenway. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458608.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about birds of prey.

Eyewitness Books: Fish. Parker, Steve and Dave King. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458101.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about fish.

Eyewitness Books: Reptile. McCarthy, Colin and Colin Keates. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789457865.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about reptiles.

Eyewitness Books: Sharks. MacQuitty, Miranda and Dave King. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789457784.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about sharks.

Eyewitness Books: Insects. Mound, Laurence et. al. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458160.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about insects.

Eyewitness Books: Tree. Burnie, David and Peter Chadwick. Dorling Kindersley, Inc. New York, 2000. ISBN 0789458209.
This book uses photographs, illustrations and text to teach the reader about trees.

Look Closer: Swamp Life, Dorling Kindersley, New York, 1993.
Using photographs, illustrations and text this book teaches the reader about the plants and animals that live in swamps.

Matthews, Downs. Wetlands, Simon & Schuster Books, New York, 1994.
This book describes different types of wetlands and the plants and animals found there.

Student Fiction Books
Cannon, Janell. Stellaluna. Harcourt Brace and Company, New York, 1993.
This book describes the frustrations and discoveries of a bat raised to behave like a bird. The author provides notes on the natural history and adaptations of bats.

Curricula
Aquatic Project WILD
Aquatic Project WILD is an interdisciplinary curriculum for K-12 teachers on aquatic wildlife and ecosystems. The activities cover a broad range of environmental and conservation topics. For information on signing up for workshops, call the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at (803) 734-3814.

For more information click on:
www.dnr.state.sc.us/cec/educate/edu1.html#teacher

Project WILD
Project WILD is an interdisciplinary curriculum for K-12 teachers on a broad range of environmental and conservation topics. For information on signing up for workshops, call the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources at (803) 734-3814.

For more information click on:
www.dnr.state.sc.us/cec/educate/edu1.html#teacher

If you are aware of other books, videos, websites, curricula, fieldtrip destinations or other materials that would make excellent resources for this activity, please e-mail them to us for inclusion in this list at: Education@scaquarium.org