TIGER STRIPES LAB
Purpose:
 To understand adaptations
 To understand the effect of environmental change on the process of natural selection
Materials: Markers/colored pencils, paper
Procedure:
Part I
1. Group is assigned an environment
2. Group will create an imaginary animals that would be adapted to their assigned environment
and sketch it (data/observation section).
3. Answer questions 1-8 for you animal (data/observation section)
Type
Desert
Mountain
Arctic
Ocean
Conditions
No water, too much sun, hardly
any food (some insects & plants),
hot days & cold nights
Very high altitude, tough footing,
plenty of plants & small animals
to eat, cold nights; there are
bigger animals & hunters.
Very cold, not much to eat (some
plants, insects, rodents, & fish),
storms are very severe, hunted by
man
Always in water, plenty of food,
but is always hunted by bigger
animals & man.
Special Notes
Needs to get water, needs to eat
(how does the animal get food?),
needs home.
Must have way of breathing thin
air, must be sure-footed, must
eat, needs to keep warms at
night, needs protection from
predators.
Needs to keep warm. What does
it eat? How does it eat? Needs
protection from storms & from
being hunted
How does it move? How does it
breathe? Needs protection from
predators
For your animal, answer the following questions:
1. Name of animal
2. Shape of body: is it big? Small? Fat? Skinny? Short? Tall?.....etc.
3. Does it have hair? If so, what type of hair? If not, what covers the body?
4. Does the animal have arms, legs, feet, hands, fins, etc?
5. How does the animal move and at what speeds? (faster speed requires more energy)
6. What does the animal look like? Describe it.
7. What and how does the animal eat?
8. Where does the animal live? Does it have a home/nest/den/nomadic?
Procedure:
Part II
4. Group’s environment changes (see chart on the back ). Will your animal will survive? Explain
in 3-4 complete sentences. Make sure you state WHY it will/will not survive in detail. (in
data/obs section)
Environmental Changes:
Type of Environment
Changes
Desert
The desert got a lot hotter; a new animal moved
into the desert & loves to eat your animal. Your
animals need to keep cool & stay away from the
predator. Can they?
All of the sudden the main food source of your
animal has died. It has also started to rain a lot
more. Your animals need to live & stay dry. Can
they?
Your animal’s main source of food got sick of the
cold weather & left. All of a sudden it got really
dark in the winter. Now your animals needs a
new food source. They need to see in the dark.
Can they?
More fisherpeople want to eat your animals. They
need to go deeper in the ocean, but it is colder &
darker down there. Your animals need to keep
warm & see. Can they?
Mountain
Arctic
Ocean
Conclusion:
For your conclusion, discuss evolution and natural selection. Can an animal change how they look
to adapt to an environment? If the animal is not adapted, what happens? (At least 5-7 sentences). Use
the following 3 prompts for your first three sentences
1. Can an animal change how they look to adapt to an environment?
2. If an animal is not adapted to a new environment, what happens to that animal?
3. Explain the term “natural selection.”
This will be done in your lab journal or on notebook paper. It should look like this
Title (5 pts):
Purpose(5 pts):
Materials(5 pts):
Procedure(5 pts)
Part I
Data/Observations (30 points)
Part I (sketch and questions 1-8 answered)
Procedure(5 pts)
Part II
Data/Observations (20 points)
Part II (explanation of whether your animal will live or not)
Conclusion Paragraph (w/ necessary info included) (25 pts)