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External Features of Organisms
How do animals survive in the wild?
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Activity One
Activity Two
Activity Three
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S4L2 Students will identify factors
that affect the survival or extinction of organisms such as adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation), and external features (camouflage and protection). a. Identify external features of organisms that allow them to survive or reproduce better than organisms that do not have these features (for example: camouflage, use of hibernation, protection, etc.). b. Identify factors that may have led to the extinction of some organisms. Rational
This website is designed to teach
students about organisms and how they use external features such as
camouflage and protection to survive.
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1.
Camouflage Field Book The students will be exploring the website below to look at animals that have camouflage in their natural environment. 2. PLO - The students will identify animals that have natural camouflage in their natural environment. 3. Materials Computer with Internet connection Camouflage Paper Pencil 4. Procedures Teacher will introduce the students to the website. The students will click on each of the habitats and decide which animals will blend into the environment using natural camouflage. The students will chose the animals and click on them. If they are correct, the student will need to click on the magnifying glass and find out more information about the animal. The students must take notes on the animal and why they have natural camouflage. 5. Product: When the students are done, they will turn in the notes they took. There should be information on eight animals in all. They will then look at their notes and write a story about one of the habitats from the view of an animal that must use camouflage. The teacher will check for accuracy and to make sure the information is correct. Activity Two 1. Book of Camouflage 2. PLO - Students will identify why it is important for animals to be camouflaged. 3. Materials Computer with Internet connection Nature Works Paper Crayons Pencil 4. Procedures Teacher will introduce the students to the website. The teacher will tell the students to read through the information on the websites. The students will look at each type of camouflage and draw a picture of an animal representing the camouflage. Once they are done, the students will need to write some information about each picture. They need to answer these questions for each. "What type of camouflage is this animal representing?" "What does this camouflage do?" "Why might the animal need to blend into the environment?" 5. Product: When the students are finished, they will put their pictures into a personal book. The students will then share their finished books with the class. They will turn these books in for the teacher to check for accuracy. Activity Three 1. Walking with Beasts 2. PLO - The students will manipulate animals in an environment and identify which camouflage works best for survival. 3. Materials Computer with Internet connection Beasts Paper Pencil 4. Procedures The teacher will introduce the students to the website. The students will then choose a background such as jungle, plains, or tundra and then choose a predator or prey. They pick different fur colors, shadings, and patterns to see which is the best camouflage. They can work alone or with partners to see which is the best. 5. Product: The students can write a summary about what they learned or realized as they were going through the game. When they are done, they can discuss with their partners or other people that did the activity and see what they came up with. They can turn their products in to the teacher to be graded for completion. |
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 Title of software program: Microsoft Office Word Published by: Microsoft Corporation Description of Use: The students can use this software to type the final story about animals in the habitat they choose. The product would look professional and be easier for other students to read. Evaluation: The students will turn their printed story into the teacher and the teacher will check for spelling and grammar. Problems: The students may not know how to use the features and may spell it wrong and not know.  Title of software program: Microsoft Paint Published by: Microsoft Corporation Description of Use: The students can use the paint tools to create an imaginary organism and camouflage it to any background they choose to make. Evaluation: The students can print out the pictures that they create and turn them in to the teacher with a written explanation about what the animal is and why it uses camouflage. Problems: Some students may not be able to use the program well. Another problem would be printing in color. Most classrooms do not have a colored printer.  Title of software program: Flying Colors 2 Deluxe Student Edition Published by: Magic Mouse Productions Description of Use: There are 3000 clip art images and backgrounds to correspond. The students can look through this and pick out animals and backgrounds that they can blend in to using their camouflage. Evaluation: They students can then print the teacher their pictures. They can also have the teacher come by and look if their is limited ink. Problems: The students may not be able to put the background with the animal. They also may not be able to find specific animals that have camouflage.  Title of software program: Seeing Through Camouflage Published by: Public Broadcasting Description of Use: Students can use this software to learn about the four different kinds of camouflage. They can decide which animal fits that kind of camouflage and drag the picture of the animal on top of it. If they are correct, the animal's name appears. Evaluation: The students can write which animal matches which camouflage scheme. They will turn in this to the teacher to make sure that they understand the concept. Problems: The students can just play around with it until they get the answer right. They may not get anything out of it.  Title of software program: I Can Be an Animal Doctor Published by: Macmillan Digital Publishing Description of Use: Each environment has a game or two to play. These games are wonderful for learning math, animal life stages, animal trivia, animal camouflage (find the animals naturally camouflaged in their desert habitat), and creating some animal art. The students can play the games to learn more about animal survival and facts. Evaluation: The students can write down which animals they found. They can also write down some answers to trivia that they learned. Problems: It may be hard for the students to find specific games. They may just have to play through it in order to find things. |
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