Mathematics Grade Prototype Curriculum Guide

Objectives

The students should be able to

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  distinguish between structural and behavioral adaptations;
  
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  investigate and infer the function of basic adaptations and provide evidence for the conclusion;
  
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  understand that adaptations allow an organism to succeed in a given environment;
  
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  explain how different organisms use their adaptations to meet their needs.
  

Materials needed

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  Picture of a familiar animal
  
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  Transparency with definitions of the terms structural adaptation and behavioral adaptation and pictures of some organisms, each of which displays one of these adaptations
  
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  Attached activity sheet
  

Instructional activity

Content/Teacher Notes

Structural adaptations, such as teeth, beaks, claws, and body coverings, are physical or functional characteristics that help animals meet their needs. These adaptations allow all organisms (animals, plants, fungi, protozoa, and bacteria) to find food, eat food, hide from predators, hide to surprise prey, flee, and maintain body heat. It is important to include organisms other than animals in teaching adaptations, as all living things must adapt to their environment or perish.

Behavioral adaptations help individual animals or groups of animals (and to some degree, all organisms) meet their needs. These are the things that organisms do to survive, such as migrate or hibernate. Living things adapt to a specific environment over a long period of time and many generations. If the environment changes, living things must also change to survive, or they must find a new environment.

Introduction

1. Show the class a picture of a familiar animal, and ask students to think of structural, or physical, features that help the animal survive. Allow the students a few minutes to discuss these features and the ways the features help the animal.

2. Introduce the term adaptation by explaining that all living organisms must change in the way they look and the way they behave in order to survive. These changes take place in the whole species and usually occur over a long period of time. All species on Earth are constantly changing to improve their odds of survival in their environment.

Procedure

1. Introduce the terms structural adaptation and behavioral adaptation by using the transparency. Ask students to give examples of both types of adaptations.

2. Divide the class into five groups, and assign each group one of the organisms shown on the transparency. If possible, provide each group with a picture of their assigned organism. Have each group write the name of their organism at the top of a sheet of paper and under the name, put two headings: “Structural” and “Behavioral.”

3. Instruct each group to record at least two structural adaptations and two behavioral adaptations for their organism under the appropriate heading. Explain to the two groups who were assigned plants that they must record at least two structural adaptations but no behavioral adaptations. (Although some plants do exhibit behavioral adaptations, understanding this is not essential at the fourth grade level.)

4. Give the students a few minutes to discuss their observations with their group.

5. Have the students share their observations with the class and explain how each adaptation helps the organism succeed in its environment.

Observations and Conclusions

1. Discuss with the class the difference between structural and behavioral adaptations.

2. Ask the following questions of students:

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  How are the two types of adaptation different? (A structural adaptation is how an organism looks or functions, while a behavioral adaptation is related to an organism’s activities.)
  
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  How are the two similar? (Both help the organism survive.)
  
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  Can organisms have both? (Yes, and they may have many examples of each.)
  
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  Do they have to have both? (No: Some, like many plants, have only structural adaptations.)
  
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  What structural adaptations do humans have? (Most any physical characteristic may be named. Our most significant structural adaptation is actually a functional one — our ability to think and reason.)
  

Sample assessment

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  Have students label each of the following as a structural or behavioral adaptation:
  

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  The color of an earthworm (structural)
  
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  The thorns on a rose stem (structural)
  
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  The owl’s nocturnal hunting (behavioral)
  
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  The giraffe’s long neck (structural)
  
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  The human’s wearing of a coat when he/she is cold (behavioral)
  
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  A dog’s response when called (behavioral)
  
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  Bears’ practice of hibernating in the winter (behavioral)
  
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  Birds’ migration (behavioral)
  
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  Fishes’ gills (structural)
  
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  Vines’ use of other plants or objects for support to climb and grow upward (structural).
  

Follow-up/extension

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  Use pictures of organisms taken from various sources (e.g., magazines, Internet) to assemble a library of organisms that can be used when studying the differences between adaptations.
  
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  Ask students if they can think of any structural adaptations in plants to keep animals from eating them. (Foul odor or taste, thorns, spines)
  
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  Discuss structural adaptations in some plants that attract animals, such as bees, to aid in pollination. (Colorful flowers, pleasant smell, and sweet nectar)
  
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  Have students create an original organism, using craft supplies. They might make a supporting habitat from a box, as well as provide the organism with a name, describe its structural and behavioral adaptations, and list its predators.
  
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  Give each student a sheet of paper on which three different sized large circles (or any arrangement of shapes) have been drawn. Tell students they have been given an opportunity to create a “classroom critter” that will live in your classroom habitat. Students must decide where in the room it will live, but the “critter” must be out in the open at all times. Students must use the adaptation of camouflage to hide the “critters”; for example, a “critter” may be colored to blend with the colors on the bulletin board, or a critter may live on the side of a desk if colored the same as the desk. After students have camouflaged and cut out their critters, have one student (the predator) leave the room while several of the students attach their critters to their habitat. When the predator comes in, have her try to detect her prey in the room. This may be repeated for other groups.