SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
II. Structural and Behavioral Adaptations
Lesson #4: Structural Adaptations of Animals
Unit: Change as Part of Our World
Time: 1 class session
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Expectation:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals
and plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates,
and be protected in specific land and water habitats.
3. Give examples of ways animals benefit from camouflage.
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Concept:
1. Plants and animals have physical and behavioral adaptations that allow them to
survive in certain environments. Adaptations are passed from parents to offspring.
Individuals that happen to be bigger, stronger, or faster can have an advantage over
others of the same kind for finding food and mates.
2. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for getting food.
Structural adaptations include things such as specialized teeth for tearing
meat or grinding grasses; specialized beaks for cracking seeds, snatching
insects, tearing meat of spearing fish; sharp claws for grasping,; keen sense of
smell, or long, sticky tongues for reaching food. Behavioral adaptations include
actions such as following herds of prey animals, spinning webs, or stalking.
3. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for protection from
predators. Some animals have camouflage that that allows them to stay
concealed by blending in with their surroundings; some animals look like
other animals to avoid being eaten. Structural adaptations include things such
as sharp quills, hard shells, or antlers. Behavioral adaptations include actions
such as staying absolutely still, producing a bad odor, appearing or sounding scary,
or fleeing.
4. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for surviving harsh
environmental conditions. Animals that live in cold climates have insulating
body coverings such as blubber, down, or thick undercoats that keep them
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
warm. Animals that live in hot climates keep cool by releasing heat from big
ears or by panting, or by living underground.
Student Learner Background:
-
Student should be able to take notes on a topic.
-
Students need to understand the word adaptation.
-
Student should understand there are two different types of adaptations; structural and
behavioral.
Student Learning Objective(s):
Students will be able to:
1. Identify external features and structures that enable different animals to get food, water, and
sunlight, find mates, and be protected in specific land and water habitats.
3. Give examples of ways animals benefit from camouflage.
Assessment:
-
Science notebook should contain a clear definition of structural adaptations. Student
should have written or drawn examples of different structural adaptations.
-
Check to make sure that students understand that physical and structural have the same
meaning.
Resources:
-
Structural Adaptation PowerPoint (on wiki)
Suggested Learning Activities:
-
Review natural selection from Lesson 3. Ask the class about the word advantageous.
What does it mean that some adaptations are advantageous to survival?
-
Share the PowerPoint on structural adaptations. Make sure to note that structural
adaptations are also called physical adaptations.
-
Students should take the following notes:
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
o Structural Adaptations are body structures that allow animals to find food, protect
itself from predators, and survive in its environment.
o Examples of structural adaptations (from GLCs):
-

Specialized teeth

Specialized beaks

Sharp claws

Keen sense of smell

Long, sticky tongues

Camouflage

Mimicry (looking like another living thing)

Quills

Hard Shells

Antlers
Give students any animal as an example. Write the name of the animal on the board and
web off of the animal its physical adaptation. Get them to use the vocabulary as they
describe the animal.
Extension / Remediation Suggestions
-
Some students may need to start by looking at an animal first or you can use a person in
your room to talk about their physical/structural characteristics.
-
If you have already introduced external traits in language arts, you may want to refer to
structural adaptations in this way.
-
As an enrichment activity, you can have students create feature cards from different
animals for other students to play a matching game. In the next lesson, as you teach
behavioral adaptations, they can add to the game.
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
II. Structural and Behavioral Adaptations
Lesson #5: Behavioral Adaptations of Animals
Unit: Change as Part of Our World
Time: 1-2 class sessions
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Expectation:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals
and plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates,
and be protected in specific land and water habitats.
2. Explain how behaviors such as hibernation, dormancy, and migration give species
advantages for surviving unfavorable environmental conditions.
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Concept:
1. Plants and animals have physical and behavioral adaptations that allow them to
survive in certain environments. Adaptations are passed from parents to offspring.
Individuals that happen to be bigger, stronger, or faster can have an advantage over
others of the same kind for finding food and mates.
2. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for getting food. Structural
adaptations include things such as specialized teeth for tearing meat or grinding
grasses; specialized beaks for cracking seeds, snatching insects, tearing meat of
spearing fish; sharp claws for grasping,; keen sense of smell, or long, sticky tongues
for reaching food. Behavioral adaptations include actions such as following
herds of prey animals, spinning webs, or stalking.
3. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for protection from
predators. Some animals have camouflage that that allows them to stay concealed
by blending in with their surroundings; some animals look like other animals to
avoid being eaten. Structural adaptations include things such as sharp quills, hard
shells, or antlers. Behavioral adaptations include actions such as staying
absolutely still, producing a bad odor, appearing or sounding scary, or fleeing.
4. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for surviving harsh
environmental conditions. Animals that live in cold climates have insulating body
coverings such as blubber, down, or thick undercoats that keep them warm. Animals
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
that live in hot climates keep cool by releasing heat from big ears or by panting, or
by living underground.
Student Learner Background:
-
Student should be able to take notes on a topic.
-
Students need to understand the word adaptation.
-
Student should understand there are two different types of adaptations; structural and
behavioral.
Student Learning Objective(s):
Students will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals and
plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates, and be
protected in specific land and water habitats.
2. Explain how behaviors such as hibernation, dormancy, and migration give species advantages
for surviving unfavorable environmental conditions.
Assessment:
-
Science notebook should contain a clear definition of behavioral adaptations. Student
should have written or drawn examples of different behavioral adaptations.
-
Check to make sure that students understand that physical and structural have the same
meaning.
Resources:
-
PowerPoint presentation: Behavioral Adaptations (on wiki)
-
Video of Kruger Park Battle
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/816714/kruger_park_battle_lions_vs_crocodile_vs_wart
er_buffalo
Suggested Learning Activities:
-
Review structural adaptations from lesson #4.
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
-
Tell the students that today you are going to show them a video about animals that were
filmed by a group on a safari. As you watch the video, write things you notice and
wonder in your notebook (you may want to tell the class that no animal is killed in the
video if you have any students who would be scared)
-
Show the video
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/816714/kruger_park_battle_lions_vs_crocodile_vs_wart
er_buffalo
-
Discuss student’s noticings and wonderings. Ask them what structural adaptations they
noticed (water buffalos antlers, lions stalking pray, lions camouflaged in grass, think skin
of water buffalo which made it hard to eat).
-
Ask students what else they noticed (water buffalo and lions moved in packs, lions
worked together to pull prey from water, crocodile jumped out of water, water buffalo
used antlers to fling lions). Those are all behavioral adaptations.
-
Tell students that today we will be talking about behavioral adaptations.
-
Share the PowerPoint on behavioral adaptations.
-
Students should take the following notes:
o Behavioral Adaptations are behaviors that allow animals to find food, protect
itself from predators, and survive in its environment.


Types of Behavioral Adaptations:

Instinctual – behaviors the animals is born with.

Learned – behaviors that have to be taught
Examples (from GLCs)

Migration

Hibernation

Living in Packs

Spinning Webs

Stalking Prey

Staying still

Fleeing predators
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
-
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Shooting spray

Sounding scary

Looking scary
GRADE 3
Go back to the animal you used as an example yesterday. Add any behavioral
adaptations.
Enrichment / Remediation Activities
-
Some students may need to start by looking at an animal first or you can use a person in
your room to talk about their behavioral characteristics.
-
As an enrichment activity, you can have students create feature cards from different
animals for other students to play a matching game.
-
Additional Resources:
o Animal Adaptation game
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/climate/adaptations/index.cfm
o Animal Adaptation E-Safari
http://fen.com/studentactivities/CCCNet/sciencelab/Animals/AnimalAdapts.html
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
II. Structural and Behavioral Adaptations
Extension Project for Identifying Animal Adaptations
Unit: Change as Part of Our World
Time: At least three class session. You can decide how in depth to go into this piece.
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Expectation:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals
and plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates,
and be protected in specific land and water habitats.
2. Explain how behaviors such as hibernation, dormancy, and migration give species
advantages for surviving unfavorable environmental conditions.
3. Give examples of ways animals benefit from camouflage.
4. Evaluate whether an adaptation gives a plant and animal a survival advantage in a
given environment.
5. Design a model of an organism whose adaptations give it an advantage in a specific
environment.
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Concept:
1. Plants and animals have physical and behavioral adaptations that allow them to
survive in certain environments. Adaptations are passed from parents to offspring.
Individuals that happen to be bigger, stronger, or faster can have an advantage over
others of the same kind for finding food and mates.
2. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for getting food. Structural
adaptations include things such as specialized teeth for tearing meat or grinding
grasses; specialized beaks for cracking seeds, snatching insects, tearing meat of
spearing fish; sharp claws for grasping,; keen sense of smell, or long, sticky tongues
for reaching food. Behavioral adaptations include actions such as following herds of
prey animals, spinning webs, or stalking.
3. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for protection from predators.
Some animals have camouflage that that allows them to stay concealed by blending
in with their surroundings; some animals look like other animals to avoid being
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
eaten. Structural adaptations include things such as sharp quills, hard shells, or
antlers. Behavioral adaptations include actions such as staying absolutely still,
producing a bad odor, appearing or sounding scary, or fleeing.
4. Animals have behavioral and structural adaptations for surviving harsh
environmental conditions. Animals that live in cold climates have insulating body
coverings such as blubber, down, or thick undercoats that keep them warm. Animals
that live in hot climates keep cool by releasing heat from big ears or by panting, or
by living underground.
Learner Background:
-
Students need to be able to identify structural and behavioral adaptations
-
Students need to be able to compare and contrast two objects
Student Learning Objective(s):
Students will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals and
plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates, and be
protected in specific land and water habitats.
2. Explain how behaviors such as hibernation, dormancy, and migration give species advantages
for surviving unfavorable environmental conditions.
3. Give examples of ways animals benefit from camouflage.
Assessment:
-
Students will take notes on an animal and compare and contrast that animal to another
student’s animal.
-
Students will be judged on their ability to identify the behavioral and structural
adaptations of an animal.
Resources:
-
Text on animals adapted from http://www.animalfactguide.com/animals.php found
below.
-
Chart on Physical and Behavioral Adaptations
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
-
Poster paper
-
Venn Diagrams on Structural and Behavioral Adaptations
GRADE 3
Suggested Learning Activities:
-
Review physical and behavioral adaptations. .
-
As a full class, revisit the web created on one animal. Demonstrate placing the
adaptations on the chart.
-
Put students into small groups. The elephant and turtle are the hardest texts and should be
used for your highest readers.
-
In the small group, students read the texts and take notes on the adaptations they find.
They can do the work together, in pairs, or as individuals and discuss.
-
When each group has finished, and the teacher has checked in with all of the groups, have
students find a partner who studied a different animal.
-
Fold the poster board in half and have each student draw a picture of their animal and
label its adaptations.
-
Hand out the Venn Diagrams and have each partnership use the diagrams to compare the
animals. Make sure students understand that they should try to go one adaptation at a
time and see if the other animal has a match. For instance, if they start with the sea turtle
and write that the sea turtle is a fast swimmer because of his flippers, the group should
compare that to the speed of the other animal.
Enrichment / Remediation Activities
-
Text is written at varying levels. You can either group students by reading level or use
mixed levels.
-
This activity can be done during guided groups in reading class.
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
II. Structural and Behavioral Adaptations
Lesson #6: Plant Adaptations
Unit: Change as Part of Our World
Time: 2 class sessions
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Expectation:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals
and plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates,
and be protected in specific land and water habitats.
Connecticut State Content Grade Level Concept:
1. Plants and animals have physical and behavioral adaptations that allow them to
survive in certain environments. Adaptations are passed from parents to offspring.
Individuals that happen to be bigger, stronger, or faster can have an advantage over
others of the same kind for finding food and mates.
5. Plants have adaptations for getting the sunlight they need to survive. Examples
include growing or facing towards sunlight and sending out chutes or tendrils to get
taller than neighboring plants.
6. Plants have adaptations for protection from predators. Examples include spines,
thorns, and toxins.
7. Plants have adaptations for surviving in different environmental conditions.
Examples include dropping leaves, having needle-shaped leaves, or storing water in
thick stems.
Learner Background:
-
Students need to understand the definition of structural and behavioral adaptations
Teacher Background:
-
MBGNet on Plant Adaptations http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
Student Learning Objective(s):
Students will be able to:
1. Compare and contrast the external features and behaviors that enable different animals and
plants (including those that are extinct) to get food, water, and sunlight, find mates, and be
protected in specific land and water habitats.
Assessment:
-
Students will be able to notice and wonder at least five things about the picture.
-
Noticing and wonderings should be relevant to adaptations
-
Students will compare and contrast two plants in their science notebooks based on at least
three features.
Resources:
-
Adaptations Smartfile or Plant picture (below)
-
Bioplant website http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html - use for photos, not text.
Suggested Learning Activities:
-
Tell the students that so far we have been talking about animal adaptations. Today we
will start focusing on plant adaptations.
-
Show smartfile pictures of different types of plants.
-
Have students do an “I notice” and “I wonder” about the pictures in their science
notebooks.
-
Tell students that plants have adapted to different environments in a similar way to
animals. Most of the plant adaptations are physical (structural) adaptations but some are
behavioral.
-
Go to the website http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/adapt.html. Students will not be
reading the text at this site, they will be using the pictures. Text is above grade level.
-
Remind the students that one of the basic life needs of plants is water.
-
Look at the pictures of environments on the first page of the website. Ask students in
which environments is water absent? In which environments is there too much water?
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
-
Compare and contrast plant adaptations to water in the desert vs. the rainforest. Start by
looking at the desert plants. Again, do an “I notice” and “I wonder”. One of the things
that students should notice about desert plants is that their leaves and stem have a waxy
surface. Ask students to think about a jacket they wear that has a waxy surface (raincoat).
Waxy surfaces are waterproof.
-
Make a list of desert plant adaptations for water.
o Desert Plants

Some plants store water in their stems or leaves

Waxy coating on stems and leaves help reduce water loss.

Long root systems spread out wide or go deep into the ground to absorb
water.

Spines to discourage animals from eating plants for water;
-
Now go to the tropical rainforest page. Do an “I notice” and “I wonder”. One of the
things that students should notice is that their leaves and stem also have a waxy surface.
Ask students to think about why plants in the rainforest need that surface. How is it
different from the plants in the desert? (Keeps water out instead of keeping water in).
-
Make a list of rainforest adaptations to water:
o Rainforest Plants

drip tips and waxy surfaces allow water to run off

smooth bark and smooth or waxy flowers speed the run off of water

large root systems help hold up plants in the shallow soil

plants have shallow roots to help capture nutrients from the top level of
soil.
-
Fill in the chart to compare and contrast plant adaptations to water in these two
environments.
-
Review charts with the class.
-
Ask students to think about the reasons why plants and animals are different. Give them a
scenario: what would happen if it stopped raining and all of the water dried up in
Greenwich? What would the animals do? (move) What would plants do? (die)
-
The fact that plants are rooted in one place makes their structural adaptations even more
important than animal adaptations. For the most part, animals can change their
environments. Plants can’t.
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
Enrichment / Remediation Activities
-
As an enrichment activity students can read the text on the plant website to go further in
depth into plant adaptations.
-
Students with fine motor issues can get a copy of the comparison chart for their notebook.
All other students should draw their charts.
-
Print copies of the photos for the class to discuss in small groups.
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
SCIENCE CURRICULUM
GREENWICH PUBLIC SCHOOLS
GRADE 3
Plant Adaptations to Water in Two Different Environments
Adaptation
Waxy Leaves and
Stems
Roots
Defenses
July 2011
Change As Part of Our World
Purpose for Adaptation
Deserts
Tropical Rain Forests