Transcript Essential Lab Adaptations 2013

ADAPTATION
Keisha Kidd, Curriculum Support Specialist
Mary Tweedy, Curriculum Support Specialist
Millard Lightburn, PhD Instructional Supervisor
Department of Science
Office of Academics and Transformation
Big Idea 17
Interdependence
SC.5.L.17.1 (also assesses SC.3.L.17.1, SC.4.L.16.2,
SC.4.L.17.1, SC.4.17.4 and SC.5.L.15.1)
Compare and contrast adaptations
displayed by animals and plants
that enable them to survive in
different environments such as life
cycle variations, animal behaviors,
and physical characteristics.
Pacing Guide
2/19 – 3/1 (9 days)
Item Specifications
Benchmark Clarifications
• Students will explain, compare, and/or contrast
how adaptations displayed by animals or plants
enable them to survive in different environments.
• Students will distinguish plant or animal
characteristics that are inherited from those that
are affected by the environment.
• Students will identify characteristics of animals
that are inherited characteristics from those
shaped by learning.
• Student will identify ways in which plants
and/or animals can impact the environment.
Sample FCAT 2.0 Question
Sample Item 24 SC.5.L.17.1
Loggerhead sea turtles are large turtles that live in the
ocean and nest on the Florida coast. The female loggerhead
sea turtle lays more than 100 eggs in the beach sand. How
is laying so many eggs an important adaptation that helps
these turtles to survive?
A. Large nests of eggs help keep the eggs warm enough to
allow more turtles to hatch.
B. If many turtles hatch, they can help defend each other
against predators in large numbers.
C. The more eggs that are laid, the greater the chance that
more turtles will live to become adults.
D. A large number of eggs in one place makes it possible
for the mother to lie on the eggs until they hatch.
Sample FCAT 2.0 Question
Sample Item 24 SC.5.L.17.1
Giant pandas live in the mountain forests of China and eat mostly bamboo. The
giant panda has a sixth “finger,” while other bears have only five. The sixth
finger is a large wrist bone that giant pandas are able to bend and use as a
thumb. The picture below shows the paw of a giant panda with six fingers and
the paw of another bear with five fingers.
Giant Panda Paw Bear Paw with Six Fingers and another bear with Five Fingers
Sixth Finger
Which of the following statements best explains why the sixth finger helps the
giant panda survive in its environment?
A. It helps the giant panda hold the bamboo stalks it feeds on.
B. It helps the giant panda crush the bamboo stalks before it eats them.
C. It allows the giant panda to dig in the mountain forests to hide its food.
D. It allows the giant panda to climb to the tops of mountain forests to find
food.
NATURE WALK
• Take a nature walk and collect various leaf samples
from the school garden (waxy leaf, fuzzy leaf, and
uncoated leaf).
• Review and discuss the various characteristics of
the leaves (include similarities and differences).
Engage
• Hold your thumbs against your palms and
then untie and tie their shoes.
• If you don’t have laces, write your name on
a sheet of paper.
Were these tasks difficult?
Thumbs are an adaptation that help us do many
things. All animals have body parts and other
physical adaptations that help them to survive.
We will take a look at the physical adaptations
that plants have for survival.
Essential Question:
Explain how characteristics of
plants can be affected by the
environment.
Problem statement:
Which leaf surface adaptations,
waxy, fuzzy, or uncoated repels
water the best?
Hypothesis:
If I put the same amount of
water on each leaf, then the
___________leaf will repel water
the best.
Let’s Explore
Refer to Essential Lab #11
Part B
Adaptation!
Plant Survivors
Data Chart
Leaf Type
Wax paper
Leaf “Raincoat” (Ability to Repel Water) Ratings*
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Waxy leaf
Felt or wool
Fuzzy leaf
Construction
paper
Uncoated leaf
* Scale 1 – 5 with 1 being very wet, 5 being very dry
*Scale 1-3
1 = very wet, 2 = slightly wet, 3 = somewhat dry
REMINDER: Measure the remaining water to
help determine moisture of the leaf.
Average
Explain
1. What was investigated?
2. Was your hypothesis supported by the data?
3. Look at the leaf dryness ratings. What information
can you learn from the data you gathered?
4. What is the most interesting discovery you made
from the experiment?
5. List three questions that you can answer using the
rating results (make believe you are the teacher).
Why Adapt?
• When people hear the word adapt, one of
the first things that comes to mind is
“fitting in.” People are always having to
adapt or change to different situations or
places.
• For animals, adaptation is a matter of life or
death. If animals don’t adapt in certain ways
to their surroundings, they will not survive.
• In other words, adaptation means having
certain body parts or behaviors that allow
animals to survive and thrive in their
environments.
• In order for plants and animals to survive,
they must have structures, behaviors and
physiology that meet the requirements of
their environment.
• For example, in order for plants to survive
on land, they must have ways to get their
water and other nutrients from their
surroundings.
• Just as plants need these essential
components to survive, all animals have
specific characteristics that allow them to
survive as well.
Structural and Behavioral
Adaptations
• Now, let’s take a closer look at the definition of
structural and behavioral adaptations.
•
All organisms have adaptations that help them to
survive. Some adaptations are structural and some
are behavioral.
• Structural adaptations are physical features of an
organism like the bill on a bird or the fur on a bear.
• Other adaptations are behavioral. Behavioral
adaptations are the things organisms do to survive.
For example, bird calls and migrations are behavioral
adaptations.
What are
Adaptations?
• Adaptations are the result of
evolution. Evolution is a change in a
species over long periods of time.
• Adaptations usually occur because a
gene mutates or changes by
accident! Some mutations can help
an animal or plant survive better
than others in the species without
mutation.
• For example, imagine a bird species.
One day a bird is born with a beak
that is longer than the beak of other
birds in the species.
A Need to Survive!
• The longer beak helps the bird catch more food.
Because the bird can catch more food, it is
healthier than the other birds, lives longer and
breeds more. The bird passes the gene for a
longer beak on to its offspring. They also live
longer and have more offspring and the gene
continues to be inherited generation after
generation.
• Eventually the longer beak can be found in all of
the species. This doesn't happen overnight. It
takes thousands of years for a mutation to be
found in an entire species.
A Need to Survive!
• Over time, animals that are better adapted
to their environment survive and breed.
Animals that are not well adapted to an
environment may not survive.
• The characteristics that help a species
survive in an environment are passed on to
future generations. Those characteristics that
don't help the species survive slowly
disappear.
Plants adaptations allow them to live in
specific environments.
Some adaptations are only helpful
because of the environment in which a
plant lives.
Click on this link to explore a web site and
learn about plant adaptations in different
environments.
Group Discussion
Round Table:
Beginning with the tallest
person in your collaborative
group, take turns going
around the table in a
clockwise direction telling
one adaptation made by a
plant which allows it to
survive in its environment.
Like plants, animal adaptations allow them to
live in specific environments.
Some adaptations are only helpful because
of the environment in which a plant lives.
Click on this link to explore a web site
and learn about animal adaptations in
different environments.
Group Discussion
Round Table:
Beginning with the tallest
person in your collaborative
group, take turns going
around the table in a
clockwise direction telling
one adaptation made by an
animal which allows it to
survive in its environment.
An ADAPTATION is a characteristic
or trait that helps an organism
survive in its environment.
Here are some examples of adaptations:
Camouflage is a type of adaptation that allows animals to blend in with
their surroundings. During summer months, the Arctic fox has a brown
coat. During winter, the coat of the Arctic fox is white, matching its icy,
snowy surroundings.
In drier, temperate deciduous forests
a thick bark helps to limit moisture
evaporation from the tree's trunk.
Since this is not a concern in the high
humidity of tropical rainforests, most
trees have a thin, smooth bark. The
smoothness of the bark may also
make it difficult for other plants to
grow on their surface.
Guided Practice
1. Some plants have thick and waxy layers on top of
their leaves. This reduces water loss from evaporation.
Where would a plant without waxy leaves grow
successfully?
a.
b.
c.
d.
where it is very cold at night
where it is very hot during the day
where there is plenty of water available
where there is very little water available
A. Plants without waxy leaves may not grow successfully where it is very cold
at night. Being very cold at night does not mean that overall evaporation
rates would be low. Deserts, for instance, may have hot days and cold
nights.
B. Plants without waxy leaves would not grow successfully where it is very
hot during the day. Areas that are very hot during the day will have high rates
of evaporation and, therefore, be likely to have plants with thick, waxy layers
on their leaves.
C. Plants without waxy leaves would not grow successfully where there is
very little water available. Plants in dry areas are likely to be adapted to limit
water loss by having thick, waxy layers on their leaves.
2. The snowshoe rabbit has white fur in the winter and
brown fur in the summer. Which of the following can
you infer about the snowshoe rabbit?
a.
b.
c.
d.
It has adapted to blend in with its environment.
It has a disease.
It travels south for the winter.
It was brought from another country.
B. This fur color change is typical of healthy snowshoe rabbits.
C. The white fur helps the snowshoe rabbit blend in with the snowy winter
environment in the north.
D. The snowshoe rabbit is adapted well to the environment from which it
originates.
3. Koala bears eat leaves from eucalyptus trees. If very
cold weather killed most of the eucalyptus trees, which of
the following would probably NOT happen?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Koalas would compete for leaves that were left.
Koalas would move farther away to look for food.
The number of koalas in the area would be less.
The number of koalas in the area would be more.
A. It is true that the koalas would have to
continue to compete for a limited food supply.
B. As food became more scarce, koalas would
begin to wander further in search of food.
C. Because of the limited food supply, some
koalas would not survive.
Science Journal
What adaptations of organisms
allow them to thrive in their
environments?
Check your understanding!
1. Polar bears have adapted to live in very cold
places where it snows often. Which of the
following adaptations helps polar bears to
survive?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They eat plants.
They are food for other large animals.
They have small tails.
They have fur that appears white.
2. The nuttall rabbit has adapted to live in the
desert. Which of the following is it likely to eat?
a.
b.
c.
d.
cactus
corn
seeds
smaller animals
3. During long periods of dry weather many
plants have a special adaptation that helps to
keep them from losing water. What is this
adaptation?
a.
b.
c.
d.
They make seeds.
They grow more leaves.
They get shorter.
Their leaves curl up.
4. The camel has a special adaptation that
makes it easier it to live in the desert. What is
this adaptation?
a.
b.
c.
d.
It stores water in its body.
It has large hooves.
It has a long neck.
Its body is covered with fur.
Evaluate
 Create a class data table, identifying the average
results of each of the “raincoat” ratings from the
different groups in the class. Compare and contrast
all the data.
 Analyze whole class data.
 Discuss why some data are the same and why
some data are different.
 Discuss what constant variables could have
affected the results.
Journal Writing
Reflection
Choose a plant or an animal. Write
a first person paragraph explaining
how YOUR adaptations (as the
plant or the animal) have helped
you survive in your environment.
Extension
•
Have the students repeat the experiment with real leaves.
•
Use hand lens to observe and record plant adaptation characteristics.
•
Include similarities, differences and summarize findings in science journals.
GIZMOS
•
•
Pond Ecosystem
Water Pollution
References
Polk County Public Schools
Plant Adaptation Site
www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html
Animal Adaptation
http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/h
omework/adaptation.htm
http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?v
ideo_id=93830
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyja
ms/jams/science/plants/plantadaptations.htm