Transcript Adaptations - Effingham County Schools

Adaptations
By: Cammie Goodman
A squirrel cannot live in a pond, but a
frog can. Frogs have features that help
them live under water. For example, they
have webbed feet that help them swim.
Squirrels have bushy tails that help them
balance on tree branches. Webbed feet
and bushy tails are adaptations. An
adaptation is a feature that helps a living
thing in the place where it lives.
Body parts that
are adaptations
 Look at the giraffe and the cheetah . These
animals live in a savannah . A savannah is
an open area with grasses and a few trees.
 The giraffe’s long neck lets it feed on the
leaves of the trees.
 Its long legs help it outrun predators like the
cheetah’s strong legs help it run very fast
over the open land. It must run fast to catch
fast prey like the giraffe.
Living things in other places
have different adaptations
• Polar bears live in cold arctic regions.
• Polar bears have a thick coat of fur over
their skin and a thick layer of fat under it.
• The fur and fat keep their bodies from
losing heat on snowy land and in icy water.
Fish, such as Georgia’s lake
sturgeon and grass carp, have
adaptations for living in water.
 Their gills let them breathe underwater.
 Their fins help them swim to find food.
 Birds have adaptations for life in the air.
They have wings and feathers.
 They have hollow bones that make their
bodies light enough for flight.
Did you know?
Alligators live in swamps. Alligators’ nostrils are
on the top of their snouts, so alligators can lie
mostly underwater and still breathe. Their
bumpy scales look like bumps on a log. These
adaptations help alligators hide from their prey.
Animals also have adaptations
for the kinds of foods they eat.
 Some birds, such as the northern cardinal, have short,
strong beaks for crushing seeds.
 Bald eagles have sharp, curved beaks for catching and
eating prey.
 Cheetahs and giraffes both have spotted coats that help
them blend in with the colors of the savannah.
 The white fur of an arctic fox makes it hard to see in
places where the ground is covered with snow.
 These adaptations are called camouflage. Camouflage is a
pattern of coloring that helps a living thing blend in with
its surroundings.
 Camouflage helps an animal hide form its predators or
prey.
Animals have adaptations
for defense, or protection
 Skunks have scent glands that let them
spray bad-smelling chemicals when they
feel threatened.
 Porcupines 'sharp quills protect them from
predators.
 Antelopes use their horns for defense.
Behaviors That
Are Adaptations
 As winter gets near, animals have a harder time
finding food. Then some animals migrate, or
move from one place to another in a pattern.
 Geese, monarch butterflies, and Georgia’s sea
turtles are some animals that migrate.
 In fall, many animals travel long distances to
warmer places, where they can find food.
 In spring, they migrate back to their warmweather homes.
 Some animals migrate to
lay their eggs in a certain
place. This behavior helps
them reproduce.
• When living things
reproduce, they make
new living things of the
same kind
Millions of red crabs living on Australia's Christmas Island make
their way to the sea to mate and, eventually, lay their eggs
As the weather gets colder, other animals eat
a lot and then hibernate.
 To hibernate is to go into a deep sleep-like state
during winter.
 When an animal hibernates, its heart beats much
more slowly. Its body temperature falls.
 A hibernating animal uses so little energy that it
does not need to eat. It can live off the fat stored
in its body until spring.
 Some animals that hibernate are gophers, bats,
frogs, snakes, and ladybugs.
Just like animals, plants have adaptations.
 For example, the sharp spines of a cactus keep animals
from eating it.
 Cactus plants live in deserts, where there is very little
rainfall.
 The plants’ roots spread out near the surface of the
ground.
 When rain does fall, the roots take in water quickly
before it dries up.
 Cactus plants store the water in their fat stems. The
stored water keeps the plants alive until the next rain.
Plants that live in shady rainforests have plenty
of water. But little sunlight reaches the ground.
 Plants in a rainforest tend to have large, wide leaves.
 Big leaves gather more sunlight than small leaves.
 Plants cannot move from place to place. But they can
grow toward sunlight, and their roots can grow toward
water.
 Plants that live in cold places have ways to survive
winter. They stop growing.
 Many drop their leaves.
 The plants save water and energy until spring.
Some adaptations help plants to
reproduce.
 Some plants have seeds or fruit with fluffy or
winged parts.
 These parts get carried by the wind, which
helps the plants spread their seeds.
 Examples of these plants in Georgia include
dandelions, cattails, milkweeds , and maple
trees.
Dandelion
Milkweeds
Cattails
Maple Tree leaves
Discussion Question:
A giraffe has long legs. How does
this adaptation help it survive in
the savannah? Do you think long
legs would help it survive in a
thick forest? Explain your answer.
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