4th Grade Adaptation Project
Your mission: to create a living organism (plant or animal) with distinctive adaptations. You can create a completely new organism, or you can alter an existing organism. You should write a short report (the page Mrs. K. gave you for your science notebook) and create an example of the living organism. For your example, you can create your organism out of craft supplies or simply draw a detailed and colored diagram on paper.
Here are the requirements for your project (scroll to the bottom of this page if you need definitions and examples of adaptations):
1. Your organism must have a unique name.
2. Its home must be in Texas. Mrs. K. gave you example pictures of 12 different places in Texas during Science Lab; you can choose one of these places, or you can pick another Texas location. Your organism can migrate during the year, but its main home must be somewhere in Texas.
3. Your organism must have at least 3 inherited adaptations. (Your organism can have more than 3 but not less than 3 inherited adaptations.) You must also describe why these inherited adaptations are necessary for its survival.
4. Your organism must have at least 1 learned adaptation. (Your organism can have more than 1 but not less than 1 learned adaptation.) You must also describe why this inherited adaptation is necessary for its survival.
5. Look back at the physical adaptations of your organism. Classify each of them into one of the 4 physical adaptation categories (structural, protective coloration/camouflage, protective resemblance, or mimicry).
6. Explain whether your organism is a producer or a consumer.
7. Describe your organism's prey and main predator.
Here are the requirements for your project (scroll to the bottom of this page if you need definitions and examples of adaptations):
1. Your organism must have a unique name.
2. Its home must be in Texas. Mrs. K. gave you example pictures of 12 different places in Texas during Science Lab; you can choose one of these places, or you can pick another Texas location. Your organism can migrate during the year, but its main home must be somewhere in Texas.
3. Your organism must have at least 3 inherited adaptations. (Your organism can have more than 3 but not less than 3 inherited adaptations.) You must also describe why these inherited adaptations are necessary for its survival.
4. Your organism must have at least 1 learned adaptation. (Your organism can have more than 1 but not less than 1 learned adaptation.) You must also describe why this inherited adaptation is necessary for its survival.
5. Look back at the physical adaptations of your organism. Classify each of them into one of the 4 physical adaptation categories (structural, protective coloration/camouflage, protective resemblance, or mimicry).
6. Explain whether your organism is a producer or a consumer.
7. Describe your organism's prey and main predator.
Mrs. Karas's Example: the Poisonous Rio Oyster
*Note: I used a free website called Smore (click HERE to visit the website) to make the poster that you see above. You are not required to make a poster like that, and you are not required to include pictures of the organism's habitat in your report. However, if you do choose to display your project with a digital tool, I will feature it on our class blog!
More Examples
Download the project template to glue into your science notebook
Adaptations Project Template | |
File Size: | 70 kb |
File Type: |
Definitions
Adaptation: a change in body or behavior that helps an organism survive
There are 2 main types of adaptations: inherited and learned.
1. Learned adaptation: an adaptation the organism learned after it was born.
2. Inherited adaptation: An adaptation an organism was born with -- it inherited the adaptation from its parents
Adaptations can be physical (a change to an organism's body) or mental (a change in the way an organism thinks or acts). There are 4 main types of physical adaptations:
1. Structural adaptation: involves some part of an organism's body
Example: different types of bird beaks help birds eat their prey -- click here for a picture
2. Protective Coloration (Camouflage): the color of the organism is similar to its environment
Example: the octopus can change pattern, color, brightness, and texture to blend in with its surroundings when it
needs to. Click here to watch an amazing video of an octopus blending in with algae.
3. Protective Resemblance: the organism itself looks similar to its environment
Example: the walking stick insect looks like a tree branch or stick; this helps it blend in so that its prey doesn't
see it as easily. The leaf mimic katydid looks like a leaf and blends in on trees and other leafy plants.
Click here for a picture of the walking stick. Click here for a picture of the leaf mimic katydid.
4. Mimicry: the organism looks like something that is known for being dangerous or poisonous (like a copycat)
Example: the robber fly looks a lot like the bumblebee. Bumblebees are famous for their stingers, but robber flies
don't sting at all. If you were a predator, you would have a hard time telling the difference between the
two insects! Click here for a picture of a robber fly. Click here for a picture of a bumblebee.
There are 2 main types of adaptations: inherited and learned.
1. Learned adaptation: an adaptation the organism learned after it was born.
2. Inherited adaptation: An adaptation an organism was born with -- it inherited the adaptation from its parents
Adaptations can be physical (a change to an organism's body) or mental (a change in the way an organism thinks or acts). There are 4 main types of physical adaptations:
1. Structural adaptation: involves some part of an organism's body
Example: different types of bird beaks help birds eat their prey -- click here for a picture
2. Protective Coloration (Camouflage): the color of the organism is similar to its environment
Example: the octopus can change pattern, color, brightness, and texture to blend in with its surroundings when it
needs to. Click here to watch an amazing video of an octopus blending in with algae.
3. Protective Resemblance: the organism itself looks similar to its environment
Example: the walking stick insect looks like a tree branch or stick; this helps it blend in so that its prey doesn't
see it as easily. The leaf mimic katydid looks like a leaf and blends in on trees and other leafy plants.
Click here for a picture of the walking stick. Click here for a picture of the leaf mimic katydid.
4. Mimicry: the organism looks like something that is known for being dangerous or poisonous (like a copycat)
Example: the robber fly looks a lot like the bumblebee. Bumblebees are famous for their stingers, but robber flies
don't sting at all. If you were a predator, you would have a hard time telling the difference between the
two insects! Click here for a picture of a robber fly. Click here for a picture of a bumblebee.