Transcript Create your own creature

adaptations - are features organisms have to enable them to
survive (and reproduce).
behavioral adaptations - how they act in response to things
(what does a cat do when threatened)
structural adaptions - how their body parts function (what
body parts can a cat use to fend off an enemy?)
Some protective adaptations are
locomotion - ability to move from place to place.
mimicry - is the ability to appear to be or to imitate something
other than what you really are
warning coloration - color and patterns that make organisms
more noticable or stand out to warn off others.
camouflage - colors and/or patterns that blend in with its
surroundings in order to become less noticeable or hide.
skunk
Spray foul smelling scent. Sharp claws. Warning coloration
(black with contrasting white stripes).Hisses, stamps feet,
raises tail to threaten.
moose
Stay quiet and still. Males can fight with antlers?(Drop off in
winter) . Strong legs and sharp hooves to kick. Run fast. Keen
sense of smell. Good hearing (ears swivel). Color may be
camoflauge in woods. May charge and kick/trample enemy.
opossum
Plays dead. Grimaces. Clings to things.
rabbit
Seasonal color change for camoflage.
rosebush
Thorns.
cat
Hisses, spits. Arches back, puffs up fur, sticks tail up to look
bigger (more threatening). Sharp claws, teeth.
turtle
Most can withdraw into shell. Sharp beak. Scales on
legs. Hissing. Some squirt water, body wastes, emit foul
smells. Snapping turtles lunge and bite. Some Bury eggs
on beach. Hatchlings head immediately for sea.
birch tree
Drops leaves in winter to avoid snow loading and
damage. Strong flexable wood/roots avoid wind
damage.
fir tree
Needle leaves are sharp. Cone shape of tree and needle
leaves don't hold snow or catch much wind.
seahorse
Looks (color and shape) like seagrass beds on reefs.
(camouflauge and mimicry?)
vice-roy butterfly
Color and wing pattern makes it look like toxic monarch
butterfly (mimicry) so birds won't try to eat it.
fox
Quiet and quick to catch prey. Sharp teeth (canines) are used for
piercing and holding onto prey. Strong legs fast/quick for catching food.
Camouflage coloration (arctic fox is white) for hiding from enemies or
hunting prey. Arctic fox decreased basal metabolic adaptation to food scarcity
in winter.
moose
Long legs which are suited for ploughing through deep snow, walking
over bushes and logs, and wading through muskeg. Close off nostrils to
feed underwater. Big muscular lips to pull up plants. Tilts head back to
put antlers along back to aid in running through brush, trees.
robin
Finds worms by keen eyesight (not by hearing!), quick movemens to pounce
on them and a beak to pull them up. Beak to crush seeds, small insects. Some
store food for later. Some break food against ground, rocks. Parent
regurgitates or bring food to young in nest.
eagle
Keen eyesight. High flight. Sharp claws (talons) and sharp hooked beak.
birch tree
Root system. Broad large leaves on high up branches to catch sunlight
for photosynthesis. Vascular system to bring sap from root to leaf.
pitcher plant
Leaves form pitchers (water holding jugs) to drown and dissolve/digest
insects for nutrients. Down pointing hairs inside to prevent insect
escape. Color, smell to attract insects. (Grows in poor soils - simple
roots!)
spider
Spin sticky web catch insects. Venom (bites) to paralize. Venom
preserves/digests inside of prey, spider drink it out. Wrap and store
insect. Move quickly.
bread mold
Floats in air (as a spore) until it lands on food. Secrete digestive
enzymes (fluids) to dissolve food then absorbs the nutrient products.
Grows through the food.(Can't make their own food- not plants so
don't need light!)
Create your own creature
Design-a-Saurus
Students create a drawing of a real or imagined
prehistoric creature and name the creature after a
place of discovery, an honored person, or an
adaptation.
1. Review. Think of the different adaptations we
have discussed or seen in the films. The three ways
scientists name something that is living or was once
alive—after a person, a place, or an adaptation.
Paleontologists often draw animals that they study.
2. Start Activity. You are going to create a profile of a real or
imagined prehistoric creature (land or marine). To
complete the assignment, you should:
• Draw the real or imagined animal.
• Label three adaptations, noting how it helped the animal
survive in its environment.
• Explain where it was found and who first discovered it.
• Name the prehistoric creature. If it is an imagined animal,
create a name after an adaptation, a place, or a person. If it
is a real animal, explain the origins of its name.
• Write paragraph about the animal, where it lived, how it
survived, what adaptations allowed it to be successful or
unsuccessful (physical and behavioral), when it became
extinct.
Student Presentations: Share your work with
the class. Introduce your animal by name,
describe the animal (including its body parts –
adaptations and behavioral adaptations) and
how those adaptations helped it survive in its
environment, and determine if the animal is
named after a person, a place, or an adaptation.
Bird Feet Adaptations
coot - lives in marshy areas foot padding serves to keep it from sinking into the soft
ground. Claws for digging for food (roots, etc..) Can paddle in water. Long strong legs
digging, wading in shallow water.
heron - long foot for balance, long legs for wading along rocky, sandy or muddy
shorelines.
duck - webbed feet for propelling along water surface. Short legs, muscular for
swimming.
ptarmigan - fur covered for winter warmth, helps widen foot for snowshoe effect.
Clawed for digging.
eagle - strong leg foot for grasping prey. Talon (sharp claws) killing and grasping
prey.Rough feet bottom to hold slippery fish prey.
sparrow - foot shaped to perch (grasp and hold a branch), talons to dig for insects.
pheasant - strong foot with extra talons for digging. bird lives on surface, foot is good
for running.