Internal Adaptations
Purpose: To explain how internal adaptations help organisms survive in
different environments.
Background Information:
Birds don't look much like humans on the outside. As you might expect, their
insides are also different, even though their internal organs carry out the same
basic functions human organs carry out.
It makes sense. Birds and humans have some things in common, but in general
they don't move around the same way, eat the same things, or live in the same
types of shelters.
Specialized internal organs are adaptations that meet a bird's specific needs and
make bird life better, giving the bird the highly efficient respiratory system it
needs for flight, the digestive system it needs to feed on the go, and the
elimination system it needs to keep its body temperature regulated and get its
wastes out of its system quickly.
Here's a quick comparison of bird body basics and human body basics.
Function
Breathing
What You Have
What Birds Have


Lungs
Air flow regulated by diaphragm movement



Lungs
Air sacs
Air flow regulated by sternum and rib
movement
Heart

Four-chambered

Four-chambered
Digestion


Teeth for chewing food
Stomach that digests chewed food

Beak for tearing or swallowing food
whole
Gizzard that grinds up swallowed food



Sweat that evaporates to cool the body
Kidneys
Urine and feces excreted separately

Elimination



Water loss through mouth and nose to
avoid overheating
Kidneys
Uric acid that mixes with feces before
being excreted
Internal Adaptations
Procedure:
1. Choose one of the habitats described below and an animal species that would live in that
environment.
2. Create an internal adaptation that occurred over many generations. This should make
survival easier for your animal. The adaptation should be somewhat possible for your
animal. Be clever, but not over the top.
3. Draw the environment and the animal on white typing paper using color. The animal
must be large enough to show the adaptation.
4. On notebook paper, write a one page paper that describes the parts of the environment,
the adaptation, and why they are beneficial to the animal. Also, at the bottom of the
notebook paper, draw a food chain for your environment. Start your food chain with the
sun and end with a scavenger or decomposer.
5. Get a piece of construction paper, and glue both papers on the front on the construction
paper.
6. Neatness and attention to detail matter!
Habitat 1: Tundra
 Very cold temperatures
 Fairly flat with a few hills
 Ground is hard and frozen
 Mosses, lichens, small bushes
and shrubs grow low to the
ground
 Marshes, lakes, and bogs appear
during the warmer months
 Low number of organisms
Habitat 3: Desert
 Dry, little rain
 Hot during the day, cold at night
 A few species of cactus live on
the bare rocks
 Large birds nest on the rocks and
protect their eggs from the sun by
standing over the nests with
outspread wings
 There are snakes and lizards
Habitat 2: Rocky Shoreline
 Many tide pools surround the
beach
 Wave action is somewhat
sheltered by the rocks
 Tide pools contain barnacles,
oysters, sea urchins and crabs
 The current is quite strong
 Fresh water is available
Habitat 4: Island
 The island is an extinct volcano
 Plant life changes with the
altitude moving up the volcano
 Grass grows at the base with
larger shrubs as you go farther up
 The top half of the island has
frequent rain showers
 Many lush tropical plants and
small ponds
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
Animal Mutation Islands Rubric
Writing Assmt
15 points: Environment described
15 points: Adaptation described
15 points: Benefit described
15 points: Food chain
Drawing
10 points: Island environment drawn
10 points: Animal adaptation drawn
20 points: Overall neatness and appearance