Animal Adaptations

A WebQuest for 4th Grade

Introduction

All animals have certain features and characteristics that help them to catch food, hide from predators and live in their natural habitats. These features are called animal adaptations. If animals cannot change to adapt to their changing habitats, they will die out.

You will get a chance to choose an animal and learn more about it from books, the internet and other resources we have in the classroom. Now, just imagine what might happen if your creature had to adapt to life in a completely different habitat with different natural resources? This project will require you to place your animal in a different environment with different weather, predators and food sources. Think about some of the adaptations your animal will need to survive in this new habitat. Will it need to make changes in body form? Would changes in behavior help your animal find food or escape its predators? Will your animal need to migrate or hibernate? Maybe it will use mimicry or change the way it looks, so it will be camouflaged in its new home.

Task

Your animal will need to undergo a metamorphosis. You will need to come up with at least three adaptations that will allow your animal to survive in its new home. You may think of changes in appearance, body form and behavior. These adaptations can be realistic or imaginary, but they should be features a real animal could have, for example, you could put a claws on a fish, but you could not make it invisible. You will need to decide on a new name for this animal as well as how you want to introduce this creature to the class. During your presentation of this animal, your classmates will have an opportunity to ask you questions about this new animal, so you should be ready to fully describe its characteristics. Each of you will also create a drawing or painting that shows your animal living in its new habitat.

milk snake

Process

You may work individually or in pairs.

1. Choose an animal and fill in the first half of the worksheet on its habitat and any adaptations the animal has made that help it survive there.

You can visit these links to learn more about animal adaptations:

http://www.students.dsu.edu/birkela/Science/animal_adaptations.htm

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/adapt.htm

2. Choose a new and different habitat for your animal. Remember, it will be easier to think of changes your animal will need to make, if the new habitat is very different from its original habitat.

These web sites might help you pick one:

Desert: http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/gr2adapt5.htm

Arctic: http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/gr2adapt3.htm

African Grassland: http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/Bio96_97/P5/Biome-Grasslands/Biome-Grasslands.html

Information on other habitats:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

3. On the second half of your worksheet, you will write what types of changes your animal may need in order to survive in this new habitat.

4. Think of a new name for this animal and decide how you want to introduce it to the class. You can choose a story, poem, skit, dance or other creative representation.

5. Using your choice of art materials: crayon, markers, colored pencils or watercolors, create a picture of this new animal in the new habitat you have chosen for it.

6. You will present your new animal to the class. To get ready, you will fill in a worksheet called "presentation notes." The presentation should include these things:

Start with short introduction, which should last about 1-2 minutes.
Show the class the picture you created of your new animal and tell them the name you made up for it.
Tell the class which habitat you decided to place the animal in, its three adaptations and how they help it to survive in its new home.

The class will then have a chance to ask you any questions they may have. You may have your "Presentation Notes" with you. They will help you remember what you will want to tell the class about your new animal.

Evaluation

Below, you will find the guide I will use to evaluate how you did on this assignment. A score of 1 shows that a student did little work toward completing the assignment, a score of 2 shows some effort to complete the assignment, a 3 is satisfactory work on this assignment and a 4 means you went above and beyond what was asked of you on this assignment. I hope you all do your best, learn a lot and have fun too!

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4
Research	Student did not use the resources provided to obtain adequate information to complete this project.	Student used resources provided, but did not finish the research necessary to complete this project.	Student used all resources to complete research on the animal, its adaptations and habitat.	Student used all resources to thoroughly research the animal, its adaptations and habitat. Student went beyond required research fields.
Accuracy and Organization of Information	Student did not use the worksheet to record the required data. Information was not accurate. Most of the areas were left blank.	Student used the worksheet to record data from research. Portions of the information is missing or inaccurate.	Student filled worksheet out completely and carefully. All of the necessary information was completed accurately.	Student used care to fill in their worksheet carefully and accurately. Student recorded more details than were required.
Ideas for Adaptations for New Animal	Student did not come up with appropriate adaptations for their animal.	Student came up with one or two adaptations for their animal. They may or may not be appropriate for the new habitat.	Student came up with three adaptations for their animal that were appropriate for the new habitat.	Student came up with more than three appropriate adaptations for the animal and habitat being researched.
Creation of Illustration of the New Animal	Student did not create an illustration of their animal or created an illustration that did not show the animal they were attempting to represent. Art materials may have been handled carelessly and the work area left messy.	Student created an illustration that did not accurately represent their animal. Art materials may have been handled carelessly and the work area left messy.	Student created an illustration that accurately represents their new animal. Students treated art materials with care and cleaned up their work area.	Students created a detailed illustration of their new animal with the adaptations represented clearly and accurately. Students treated art materials with care and cleaned up their work area.
Presentation of New Animal to the Class	Student refused to present their project to the class.	Student presented their project to the class in a way that was unclear and lacked supporting details about their new animal.	Student presented their project to the class using a method that clearly represented the new animal.	Student enthusiastically presented their project to the class. Creative methods were used to clearly represent the new animal. Student described the animal and its adaptations to classmates with great detail.
Overall Completion of the Web Quest	Student did not finish the WebQuest. Large portions of the assignment were not completed.	Student completed some of the WebQuest. Parts may be incomplete or inaccurate.	Student completed all portions of the WebQuest. Work was neat and accurate.	Student completed all portions of the WebQuest with care, including many details. Student went above and beyond what was required.

Conclusion

Congratulations! In just a short time, you have created a totally new animal. Adaptations, like the ones you just created for your animal, usually take many generations, thousands of years or more, to show up in real animals.

Now that you have finished this WebQuest, you are an expert on animal adaptations. You know how animals must change in order to survive in their habitat. During your free time, check out these links below and visit some fun animal adaptation sites that offer cool games and more!

http://switcheroozoo.com/

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/adaptations/index.cfm

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/animalneeds/

http://www.activescience-gsk.com/games/index.cfm?module=2

http://place.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/tour/tour.htm?animals

Credits & References

Thanks to anyone who provided resources, help or inspiration, especially my Mentor Teacher, Lori Klaus, who graciously shared all of her materials with me.

Images used by permission from:

Camouflage frog photo from:
howstuffworks.lycoszone.com/ animal-camouflage.htm

Zebra photo from:
http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~kantner/zebras/pictures/zebra.gif

Milk snake photo from:
http://www.ricblairreptiles.com/MILKSNAKE%20BREEDERS.htm

King snake with coral snake on linked vocabulary page from:
www.mun.ca/biology/ scarr/Coral_snake_mimics.gif

Suggested Books

Animals by Design by David Burnie

Living Earth by Miranda Smith

Natural World by Steve Parker

The Magic School Bus Gets All Dried Up: A Book About Deserts by Suzanne Weyn

Back to Brenda's Home Page

To acquire the latest version of this template and training materials, go to The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns.

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