Animal
Adaptations
A WebQuest for 4th Grade
Designed by Brenda LeCarno
Introduction
This lesson was created to be implemented during a unit on animal adaptations. The students will have an opportunity to take what they have learned about how animals change to adapt to their environment and apply it to an animal of their choice. They will have the opportunity to be creative and thoughtful as they choose a new habitat for their animal and, from their original animal, add three adaptations to synthesize a totally new animal that could survive there. Students will then present their new animals to their classmates.I would like to encourage educators to use this WebQuest as a way to allow students to research a topic that is interesting to them, use their creativity to make the project fun and memorable and individualize their presentations to reflect their personal areas of strength. Computers are social tools and students should be expected and encouraged to collaborate on these projects.
Learners
This WebQuest was designed to cover science frameworks on animal adaptation, for a fourth grade unit. It also contains an expressive art extension. This lesson would be appropriate for students in 3rd through 6th grades as well, if they are covering this unit of study.Before beginning this web quest, an introductory lesson or two on animal adaptations would help the students get off to a quicker start, by knowing what animal adaptations are and providing them with a basic understanding of terms such as: habitat, predator, prey, mimicry, migrate and hibernate. In case some of these terms are still unclear, or as a reminder to students, there is a link provided to a vocabulary page.
Curriculum Standards
This WebQuest was designed to foster the higher level
thinking skills of: application
of knowledge about animal adaptations and how they help animals survive
in a changing habitat, analysis
of how these changes could relate to the animal they have chosen to
place in a new and different habitat and the synthesis of adaptations they
create and apply to their existing animal and its new habitat, to form
a completely different species.
Oregon Standards
Addressed:
Common Curriculum Goal:
Science Benchmarks:
Gr. 5- Describe basic... animal structures and their function.
Associate
specific structures with their function and the survival of the
organism.
Gr. 5- Describe the relationship between characteristics of
specific habitats and the organisms that live there.
Explain the
relationship between animal behavior and species survival.
Describe the living
and nonliving resources in a specific habitat and the adaptations of
organisms to their
habitat.
Gr. 5- Describe how adaptations help a species survive.
Describe changes to the environment that have caused
the population of some species to change.
Common Curriculum Goal:
Apply artistic elements and technical skills to create,
present and/or form works of art for a variety of audiences and
purposes
Art Benchmark:
Gr. 5- Create, present and/or perform a work of art, using experiences, imagination, observations, artistic elements and technical skills to achieve desired effect.
Carrer-Related Learning
Skills:
Personal Management-
Identify tasks that need to be done and initiate action to complete the tasks.
Plan, organize and complete projects and assigned tasks on time, meeting agreed upon standards of quality.Communication-
Speak clearly, accurately and in a manner appropriate for the intended audience when giving... reports.
Process
Students may choose to work individually or in pairs.1. Each will choose an animal from the books and other resources that are available to them. Teachers will distribute an "animal adaptation worksheet" for them to begin record their information. Students should be instructed to fill in the first half of their worksheet on their animal's natural habitat and any adaptations the animal has made that help it survive there. Teachers might want to provide a basket or folder to organize students' work and keep it together, in one area. This part of the project should take one block of 45-60 minutes.
2. Students will then choose a new and different habitat for their animal and complete research to identify its resources and come up with three adaptations their animal will need to survive there. Students will record their animal's adaptations to its new habitat on the second side of their worksheet. Students can visit the links provided to learn more about animal adaptations and resources and features of different habitats.
Teachers should provide blocks of time for each student or group to have their turn at the computer(s). Because of different levels of reading skills and previous computer experience, the amount of time necessary to thoroughly complete this portion of the task may vary greatly among students. Some students may need to be paired with teammates that can provide the scaffolding necessary to complete their research. If you have limited access to computers or the internet, provide books and other resources in the classroom to allow students to complete their research. This part of the Web Quest should take 2- 3 blocks of 45- 60 minutes to allow each student or group access to the internet and other materials.
There is a lot of information for students to sift through on these sites, so allow them ample time. There are links provided that may entice students to wander through the rest of the web sites. Teachers should keep an eye open to help students stay focused on the tasks at hand, while allowing them to gain enjoyment from the freedoms of independent research. The research is the most time consuming part of the project. If necessary, students could be allowed to complete their research during periods set aside for such, during their free time, when they finish their work early at school, or even at home or the library after school.
3. After students have completed their research and filled in
their worksheets, It will be time for them to work on their
presentations. Students should think of a new
name for their animals and decide how they
want to introduce them to the class. Encourage creativity and support
students' multiple intelligences, by allowing them to choose a story,
poem, skit,
dance or other creative representation of their new animal. You could
suggest they write a couple of
paragraphs they could read, that would describe their animal. If they
do
this, remind them to use vivid, descriptive words and phrases. Suggest
to students that they could show the class
how their animal moves (if that is one of the behavioral adaptations
they have chosen) by creating a dance to represent the animal.
Some students might prefer to write a poem or song about the new animal
to
share with the class. Give
each student or group a worksheet called
"presentation notes" to fill out about their animal, to use if needed
during their presentation. This part
of the project should take one 45- 60 minute block. If time is
an issue, students could be allowed to work on this section at home.
5. Finally, students will present their new animal to the class. Each presentation will probably only last about 3- 5 minutes. The presentations should include a brief introduction. Encourage students to use one of many creative ways to do this. Encourage students to have fun! The emotional connections students create while working on this project will help them to better remember what they have learned. After the introduction, students will show the art that was created to represent the new animal, along with the name that was made up for it, the new habitat the animal was placed in, its three adaptations and how they help it to survive in its new home. The class will then have a chance to ask a few questions they may have. Presenters should be ready to answer their questions. Students may want to have their "Presentation Notes" available to refer to. Teachers should be ready to monitor the timing of the presentations, especially the question and answer session, which is likely to run longer than the time allotted. Let students know if they are running low on time, so they will have an opportunity to wrap up their presentations. This part of the project should take about 30- 60 minutes.
Resources Needed
- Computers with internet access, at least one computer per 2- 3 children would be preferable
- Books, posters and other materials on animals and their characteristics, their habitats, and examples of adaptations to the environment
- Animal Adaptation Worksheet and Presentation Notes worksheets
- Art materials: crayons, markers, watercolors, colored pencils, magazines with pictures of animals students can cut out and paper or poster board
- Volunteer(s) to assist any students who need help with
their
research using the computer, or any other parts of this assignment,
would be helpful.
Evaluation
Below is a rubric developed to assess student performance on
this project. Students have a copy of this rubric on their WebQuest
page as well, so expectations are clearly spelled out for them. Student
assessment should be continual throughout this activity. Teachers
should observe and note student behavior and engagement during each
step in the WebQuest. If teachers want a more formal assessment of
student performance, scores can be given to each section of the rubric
below and averaged for a final score.
| |
Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
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 the research on the animal and its
adaptations to its new 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 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 creative methods 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 WebQuest
|
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. |
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.Image used with permission by:
King snake with coral snake on linked vocabulary page from:
www.mun.ca/biology/ scarr/Coral_snake_mimics.gif
Suggested Book List
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
To acquire
the latest version of this template and training materials, go to The WebQuest Page
and the Design Patterns.
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is
hereby granted for other educators to copy this Web Quest, update or
otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original
author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of
this Web Quest. On the line after the original author's name, you may
add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it,
please let me know and provide the new URL.
Last updated on November 29, 2004. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page