3rd Grade Life Cycles & Traits Name______________________________ Vocab and Definitions Vocab and Definitions Vocab and Definitions Life Cycle Game Rubric Excellent – 10 pts. Good – 7 pts. Poor – 5 pts. Content All information in the game Most information is correct, is correct and relates to and relates to your life your life cycle. cycle Some information made for the game is correct, and relates to life cycles. CATEGORY Attractiveness Creativity The game board, all game The game board, all game pieces, and any other game pieces, and any other game related object is colorful, related object is colorful, unique, neat, and has neat, and has visual appeal. wonderful visual appeal. Some of the game related pieces are colorful, neat and a somewhat appeal. Thought and great effort Some thought and some Minimal effort was put into were put into making the effort were put into making making the game interesting game interesting and fun to the game interesting and and fun, but some of the play as shown by creative fun to play as shown by things made it harder to design, game pieces and/or creative design, game understand/enjoy the game. game objective. pieces and/or game objective. Knowledge Gained Students in the group could Students in the group could easily and correctly state easily and correctly state all of the facts about the 75% of the facts about the topic used for the game topic used for the game without looking at the without looking at the game. game. Students in the group could easily and correctly state 50% facts about the topic used for the game without looking at the game. Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling No errors on board, rules, directions, cards, or any other part of game. 1-3 errors on board, rules, directions, cards, OR any other part of game. 4-8 errors on board, rules, directions, cards, OR any other part of game. Rules Rules and directions were typed up and were understandable so that all could easily participate. Rules and directions were typed up and were mostly understandable so that all could easily participate with little confusion. Rules and directions were written up and were somewhat understandable so that players could participate with some confusion. Name_____________________ What is My Adaptation? Complete the chart. Mark the correct boxes and then write to explain how it helps the organism to survive. Come up with three traits of your own at the bottom to complete the chart. Traits I have legs to run away from predators. I communicate by song. I smell sweet. I can make my own food. I migrate during my life. I need clean water and air. Roots help to hold me up. I have covering on my body. I use camouflage to protect myself. Plant Animal Human How does it help me survive? Name_____________________ Wild Krats Exploration 1. Complete the table after exploring habitats on the webpage. Ecosystem Fact 1 Fact 2 Fact 3 2. Complete the table after exploring the Creaturepedia on the webpage. Organism Unique Trait Unique Trait How does the environment impact the organism’s traits? 3. Select one of the organisms above and find another organism from the same species that lives in a different habitat. Draw a picture of these two organisms on the back of this sheet. List four similarities and four differences between the two organisms. Then explain how the differences are influenced by the environment. Name_____________________ Types of Beaks Answer the questions as you complete this activity. 1. What type of beak did you select? Why did you select that type of beak? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Which type of food do you think that your beak will be most successful in collecting? Why? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. Record your results in the table. Marbles Trial 1 Trial 2 Trail 3 Total Average Pennies Toothpicks 4. Which type of “food” were you most successful in collecting? What data supports this conclusion? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Why do birds have different types of beaks? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 6. Was one type of beak more successful in collecting food than the other beaks? What would that mean for that organism in their ecosystem? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. What other examples do you have of organisms of the same species that have variations? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Name______________________ Peppered Moth Activity Starting Population Number Picked up Trial Background Newspaper White 1 white 30 30 2 white 30 30 3 newspaper 30 30 4 newspaper 30 30 White Newspaper Analysis 1. What did the experiment show about how organisms select what to eat? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. What moth coloration is the best adaptation for a dark (newspaper) background? How do you know? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. How does the simulation model how variation helps organisms to survive? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Name_________________ Trait Variation Game 1. How long did it take for your team to collect the needed food? __________________________ 2. How long did it take for your team to open and consume the food? __________________________ 3. What was the total time it took your group? __________________________ 4. What mutation will your group experience? __________________________ 5. Do you predict that this mutation will be beneficial (help you collect food) or be a detriment (slow down your food collection)? Explain your reasoning for your prediction. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 6. After the mutation, how long did it take for your team to collect the needed food? __________________________ 7. How long did it take for your team to open and consume the food with the mutation? __________________________ 8. What was the total time it took your group? __________________________ 9. Following the experiment, reflect on your mutation. Did it impact your group in a positive or negative way? If you were an organism in an ecosystem, what might this mutation mean for an organism? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 10. What is a variation that we did not see today that you could experience that might make it easier for you to collect food? Why would that variation be helpful? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ 11. What is a variation that we did not see today that you could experience that might make it more difficult for you to collect food? Why would that variation be hindering? _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________
