Friday, March 25th, 2011

Today we are going to continue our discussions of Adaptations.

First it is important to fully understand what an adaptation is. An adaptation is a STRUCTURE (body part) or BEHAVIOR (something the organism does) that helps and ORGANISM (any living thing) to SURVIVE in it's environment. These adaptations can serve many purposes, such as: air, water, food, survival, reproduction, etc. Let's watch the following STUDY JAMS video to learn more about adaptations.

Now, grab the bag that you have in the center of your table. You and your group members are going to sort the thirty pictures of organisms that you have into the nine biomes that we learned about in class earlier this week. For a reminder these are: Marshes, Fresh Water, Marine/Ocean, Deciduous Forests, Tropical Rain Forests, Tundra, Taiga, Desert, and Grasslands. When you are finished please raise your hand and either Mrs. Kuykendall or I will come to you and check your work. Once you have solved them correctly, you need to flip each organism over and write an adaptation that it uses in it's environment.

Now, we have learned that organisms are any living things and are seperated into both producers (organisms that make thier own food) and consumers (organsims that get their energy from another organism). Consumers are then split up even further into three separate categories: Herbivores (plant eaters), Carnivores (meat eaters) and Omnivores (eat both plants and animals). These organisms have an adaptation that we sometimes overlook; and that is the shape of their teeth. Let's explore this further by going to Teeth and Eating.

Another adaptation that we often overlook is an organisms feet. An organism's feet can help them in many ways. By looking at their feet we should be able to tell if the organism lives in a wet/dry climate and possibly even what color/texture the ground in their environment is. Let's explore feet here.

Another adaptation that an organism has that can tell us alot about them are the beaks of some organisms. The shape and length and texture of an organism's beak can tell us what type of food they eat and how it is used. For instance, a short, wide, strong, pointed beak is often used for cracking seeds and nuts. A sharply hooked beak is used for tearing animal tissue. A long, spear-shaped beak with a wide base is used for spearing fish. Finally, a long, very narrow beak is used for probing flowers for nectar. In your same bag that your group was given earlier you will find a half sheet of pictures of birds, and a half sheet of a chart, take one of each and with a partner try to determine which bird species matches which beaks. Once you have figured it out glue them in the correct place and glue the completed chart in your composition book.