Transcript ADAPTATIONS - Jefferson City Schools

ADAPTATIONS
An exploration into the
miracles within nature
Jennifer McAuley
September 2002
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Definition
Inventions: an Analogy
for adaptations
Two basic categories of adaptations
Adapting to a changing environment
Examples of Adaptations:
Designs for a Purpose
An Adaptation Activity
Websites
INSECTS FOR DINNER
This activity will test the actual definition of an
adaptation; that is, whether or not these qualities
actually help the organism survive.
Lay down a sheet of newspaper. Cut out small squares
(1x1 inch) of red paper, white paper, and newspaper and
sprinkle them on sheet to be the “insects”. Ask a few
friends (hungry mockingbirds) to each run to the sheet 3
times and quickly grab the first square of paper they
see. Take inventory and plot the number of squares of
each color paper that was grabbed. If the camouflaged
insects (the newspaper squares) truly have an
advantage, then your results should look something like
this…
Results of Test
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Results of Insects for Dinner
14
12
Insects eaten
10
8
Red
White
Newspaper
6
4
2
0
Red
White
Newspaper
Color of Squares of Paper (“Insects”)
Insects for Dinner
Examples of Adaptations:
Design for a purpose
Defense and Protection
Defense
Reproduction
Locomotion
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Locomotion
Example:
Did you ever wonder how
snakes crawl practically
straight up a tree trunk?
Snakes bellies are designed
with the scutes, or rectangular
scales, which overlap like the
shingles of a roof and can grip
the bark, much as squirrels’
claws do.
Examples
Reproduction
Example:
Would you think of a type of seed Click
here
dispersal as an example of an
adaptation? Well, plants have amazing
ways of dispersing their seeds to more
fertile ground far from the mother plant.
Burrs are seeds covered in hook-like
projections so that they will attach to
passing mammals and fall off
elsewhere.
Guess what? An
inventor modeled his
idea for VELCRO
from this adaptation!
Examples
Example:
Defense
A very cool example of an offensive adaptation (a design
that helps an organism actively protect itself from harm)
is the relationship between the Mexican Bullhorn Acacia
tree and ants. The tree provides the ants with a shelter
(its hollow thorns) and the ants in turn protect the tree by
fiercely biting disturbers.
Click
here
Note that this is also a good
example of symbiosis, the living
together of organisms. Here the
relationship is a mutually beneficial
behavioral adaptation.
Examples
Defense and Protection
Two Famous Strategies:
Camouflage
Mimicry
Examples
Mimicry is different from camouflage in that while
camouflage hides an organism, mimicry advertises
it. It tries to look, sound, taste, or smell like a
different species. This may be to attract prey or a
mate, or to avoid becoming a predator’s next meal.
Example:
Many insects have eye spots on
their wings. These “fake eyes” may
trick a potential predator into thinking
that the moth is actually a formidable
predator itself. Big eyes must mean
big teeth!
Defense and Protection
Camouflage is an organism’s ability to
blend in with its environment, usually in
order to protect itself from dangers
such as predation and competition.
Example:
Living stones are an awesome
example of a plant’s camouflage.
Living stones are small pebblesized-and-shaped succulent
plants that live in the rocky
deserts of South Africa. Their
remarkable resemblance to
surrounding pebbles helps
protect them from thirsty
foraging animals.
Defense and Protection
There are two basic categories of
adaptations:
Behavioral
Adaptations
Morphological
Adaptations
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Morphological adaptations deal with an
organism’s physical structure.
Example:
Osprey, raptors found near water, hunt
mainly fish. The pads of their feet are
covered with tiny hooks called spicules
which help them grab & hold their slimy
prey. (Osprey foot pads feel like very
intense sand paper!) Raptors such as redtailed hawks that don’t
normally prey on fish lack
this physical adaptation.
By the way, can you think of an invention which
models this function? How about cleats on soccer
shoes, or rubber grips on gardening gloves?
Two Categroies
Behavioral adaptations deal with an organism’s
actions, either solitarily or as a group.
Example:
Many animals congregate in
groups. Wolves hunt in packs in
order to corner their prey. A wolf hunting singly would not be
nearly as successful a hunter. So, we can call group hunting
an adaptation since it increases the wolves’ chances of
survival.
Two Categories
Adaptations may refer to an organism’s ability to
change in order to cope with changing
environmental circumstances
For Example:
The fur of many species of
rabbits and hares changes to
match seasonal surroundings. In
winter, their fur is white to blend
in with the snow. As winter fades
and the snow melts away, their
fur changes to brownish grey.
In winter their fur is also much
thicker. Is this a morphological or a
behavioral adaptation?
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An invention is some tool people develop to aid in
accomplishing a task. For example, a screw driver is a
tool designed to accomplish the task of securing a
screw into an object. Without the screwdriver, a person
would have a difficult, if not impossible time, attempting
to secure a screw.
An adaptation is like an invention: it
is a tool an organism uses to help it
survive by accomplishing a task.
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DEFINITION:
An adaptation is some quality of an
organism which helps the organism
survive in its environment. Similar
adaptations are often shared by
organisms inhabiting a common habitat.
So basically an adaptation is the unique
way an organism is designed to
help it live.
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