Activity 1 - Feather adaptations

Materials

• feathers, eyedropper, hand lens, water, and oil
• Lab note -

Focus questions:

1. What benefit do feathers provide birds?
2. How are feathers a successful adaptation for birds?

Learning outcomes:

1. Explain how feathers they are and are not a beneficial adaptation for birds.

Exploration - feathers and water

1. Ask. What does a feather look like?
2. What kinds of animals have feathers? birds
3. Why do you think they have feathers instead of any other type of covering?
4. Have students collect feathers (either by looking in the environment or by purchasing them).
5. Have them look at their feathers, feel them, and identify their different characteristics. The feathers are long, soft, colorful, silky, fluffy, light in weight.
6. Have them put a drop of water on each feather and record their observations.

Invention

1. Share results.
2. Discussion their findings and how they think the water rolling off the feather can help the bird.
3. Have them hypothesize other reasons that feathers are important to a bird and record their hypotheses. Birds need feathers to fly, to keep warm, to protect them from the rain, and to keep their babies and eggs warm.

Exploration - feathers and oil

1. Have them hypothesize what would happen if they put oil on the feathers.
2. Have them experiment to find out how oil affects the feathers. Then have them see how water reacts to a feather that has been covered with oil. They should find that the oil saturates the feathers and that water will no longer roll off of the feathers.

Invention

1. Discuss. What happened to the feathers and why they think it happened.
2. Discuss how birds can be in danger if they get oil on their feathers because they won't be able to fly or keep warm in the winter.
3. Describe how feathers have a form related to their functions of protection.

Discovery

1. Identify characteristics of feathers that provide successful adaptations in their environment for birds. body covering for protection, light weight to be able to fly; substance to repel water, insulation to maintain temperature (warm or cool).
2. What characteristics do they have that are not adaptable for in the environment? oil ...

Activity 2 - Breakfast for the birds

Materials:

For each group of four:

• 1 small cup per student
• a couple of macaroni, raisins, small foam pieces, and marbles
• 1 clothespin
• 1 toothpick
• 1 spoon
• 1 pair of scissors, blunt tipped
• 1 plastic sandwich bag per student

Focus questions:

1. How do birds capture or pick up their food?

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe how different beaks provide different adaptations for getting food.

Exploration

1. Students should have some prior knowledge about birds and their different parts before conducting this experiment.
2. Ask. What is a beak?
3. Why do you think that birds have beaks?
4. Do different birds have different kinds of beaks?
5. Why do you think they may have different beaks?
6. We are going to find out how beaks can be used to eat with.
7. Give each student a plastic sandwich bag and a cup.
8. Explain that the cup is his or her stomach.
9. Tell. You are going to pretend to be birds, each with a different beak.
10. Show them how to hold and work each beak.
    • Clothespin- hold at very end so that it opens wide, use only one hand
    • Scissors- insert thumb and finger and hold scissors downward to use like forceps
    • Spoon- hold at end, use only one hand
    • Toothpicks- hold in one hand to carefully poke items
11. Have students get into groups of four and decide which beak each will have so that there is one beak of each type.
12. Show the students the "prey" they will put in their stomachs (the cups)
• Marbles- snails
• Macaroni (cooked)- worms
• Raisins- grubs
• Styrofoam "peanuts"- water bugs
13. Have them sit in a circle with their group on the floor or around a table with their cup beside each of them and have each of them hold their beak.
14. Scatter one type of prey in the center of each circle, when everyone is ready, signal for them to start collecting their prey with their beaks and put them into their stomachs.
15. Continue until all prey is eaten or after a predetermined time.
16. Have the students empty the contents of their cups into their plastic bags.

Invention

1. Recall and review.
2. Discuss which beaks were able to get more of each type of prey and why.
3. You may chart the information from each of the groups.
4. Review each kind of beak model.
5. For each beak type describe the kind of prey it would be used for.
6. For each kind of prey describe what kind of habitat it would be found in.
7. Describe how the beaks adapted for different environments.
8. Describe how beaks have a form related to the function of eating.

Discover

Have them research to find birds that have beaks similar to the utensil that they used and give a report on how the beak helps that bird to survive.

Match the bird and its beak picture to a habitat picture.

Activity 3 - Whiskers and antennas

Materials:

• 1 straw per student, several objects with different shapes, blindfolds
  
• Lab notes -

Focus questions:

1. How do animals use whiskers and antenna?

Learning outcomes:

• Describe how whiskers and antenna provide different adaptations to benefit the animal.

Exploration

1. Put learners in pairs.
2. Ask. What are whiskers?
3. What are antennas?
4. What are they used for?
5. What kinds of animals have whiskers or antennas?
6. Why do you think they are important for those animals?
7. Give each pair two blindfolds and two straws.
8. Tell them that they are cats and the straws are their whiskers.
9. Explain they will put on the blindfolds, take a straw, and use it to feel an object that is placed on a table between them.
10. Have them put on their blindfolds.
11. Put objects on the table between them.
12. Tell them to try to identify the objects with the straws.
13. Once they think they know what the object is, have them tell you what they think it is without taking off the blindfold.
14. Have them remove the blindfolds and look at the object in front of them.

Invention

1. Discuss the difference between seeing and touching to interpret their surroundings.
2. Describe different ways whiskers and antenna can by animals to get information about their environment that is beneficial for them.
3. Have students discuss why animals’ whiskers or antennas are so important to their survival.
4. Describe how whiskers and antenna have a form related to their functions of protection.

Discovery

Research how different animals use their whiskers and antenna to get information about their environment and how it is beneficial for them.

Activity 4 - What is that smell?

Materials

• One small containers for each student.
• Cotton balls to soak in each scent
• Scents such as: vinegar, perfume, lotions, peppermint, shampoo, body sprays, alcohol, ...
• Place 1 soaked cotton ball in each container, by making pairs of the same scented container so that each person will have a matching pair. If there is an odd number of students, make one set of three.
  
• Lab notes
  

Focus questions:

1. How do animals match scents?

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe how matching scents are beneficial for animals survival.

Exploration

1. Put learners into groups.
2. Ask. Can someone name the five senses?
3. Do animals use the same senses that people do?
4. What are some ways that animals use their senses for survival?
5. Give each group a canister.
6. Explain to them that they are going to pretend to be dogs; therefore they won’t be able to talk.
7. Tell them that they will be searching for their sibling(s) that has the same scent that they do.
8. When you give the signal, they may begin to move around the room and touch the canister of another dog that they want to sniff.
9. The other dog opens the canister and allows them to sniff.
10. When they find a match, the pair or group may sit down together.
11. When everyone has found their match, have the class come back together for a discussion on how they used their sense of smell to identify and communicate with the other dogs.

Invention

1. Ask. Was it difficult not to use their sense of sight or use their voices to communicate with the other dogs.
2. Why is a dog’s sense of smell is so important to their survival?
3. How are other animals’ senses important to survive.
4. Discuss this as a class and then record their thoughts.

Discover

Research how animals sense smells.

Activity 5 - Which way will the mealworms move?

Materials:

• For each group: five mealworms, one shoe box with lid, three paper towels, small amount of water, small amount of vinegar
• Lab notes

Focus questions:

1. How do meal worms sense where to move?

Learning outcomes:

1. Explain adaptations are related to senses and how that is important for an organisms

Exploration

1. Organize learners into pairs or groups of three.
2. Ask. What are mealworms?
3. Do you think animals can adapt to an environment by moving to an environment that is more suitable to them?
4. Have one person in each group gather the materials.
5. Have them put the lid on the shoe box leaving a 1-inch opening at one end (light - dark).
6. Have students put the mealworms in the open end of the box where light will shine on the opening.
7. Observe for several minutes.
   
8. Record what they see.
9. Have them remove the mealworms and cut a paper towel into two pieces. Wet one piece with water and leave the other dry.
10. Put the paper towels in the shoe box separated so the mealworms can be placed between the two pieces of towel. Place the mealworms between the two pieces of paper towel and quickly cover the box completely.
11. Remove the lid and observe every 30 seconds to see if the worms have made a choice as to which paper they prefer.
12. Record their observations.
13. Have them remove the mealworms and the paper towels.
14. Have them cut the other paper towel in half and dampen one with vinegar and leave the other dry. Repeat steps 9 - 10.
15. Record their observations.
16. Discuss as a class the observations they made in their groups and why the mealworms behaved the way they did.
17. Tell. There are two types of adaptations
• Innate are adaptation is how an animal evolves over time in response to its environment and
• Learned adaptations are how an animal learns to survive in its immediate environment.
18. Is the behavior of the mealworms innate or learned adaptation to their environment?

Invention

1. Discuss how organisms use their senses to move through their environment.
2. Mention that an adult beetle lays eggs in the meal, so there is food for they larvae - mealworm. So if the mealworm doesn't have to seek food, why does it need to move? escape predators, and environmental factors that might be detrimental.
3. Review environmental factors: temperature, water - dry - moist - wet, light-dark, acid-neutral-base, food, air - oxygen, carbon dioxide,
4. Discuss how adaptions help living organisms survive.
5. Describe how mealworms have different functions to adapt to their environment for survival.

Discover

Research adaptations for other animals, evolution of humans, what makes us human? and read How to Build a Human!

Activity 6 - Where did they go?

Materials

• one box of colored toothpicks, one box of regular wooden toothpicks
• Lab notes -

Focus questions:

1. How does camouflage help organisms avoid predators?

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe how camouflage helps organisms avoid predators.

Exploration

1. Organize learners into groups or pairs.
2. What does it mean to be camouflaged?
3. Why do you think some animals use camouflage?
4. What would happen to some animals if they couldn’t blend in with the environment?
5. Tell. You are going to be predators and collect toothpicks, which are going to be the prey.
6. I have scattered toothpicks that are ...... list colors, and wood, outside.
7. Which would will be easiest to find?
8. Why?
9. Which would be the hardest to find.
10. Why?
11. Take the class to where the toothpicks are scattered.
12. Tell. You will have five minutes to collect those you can find.
13. Give them five minutes to collect as many toothpicks as they can find.
14. Take the toothpicks into the classroom and sort them by colors.

Invention

1. Discuss the results.
2. If equal numbers of each color are not found, ask. Why were some colors harder to find?
3. Ask. What animals have colors on them that are hard to see in their surroundings?
4. What advantage is this? helps them to escape predatory animals and aids in their survival.
5. Describe how camouflage is a form related to the function of protection.

Discover

Research organisms and describe how they blend with their environment.