Adaptations for Movement Teachers Notes

Who is it for?
11-14 year olds extension activity could be set, or completed, as homework activity.

How long will it take? The activity is ideal as an hour-long session. The Design a Species Learning outcomes: What do you need?
Students will learn about how different species are adapted to move successfully through different habitat types.

Interactive whiteboard or projector Computer to connect to whiteboard or projector ARKives Adaptations for Movement classroom presentation (PowerPoint) ARKives Adaptations for Movement worksheet (one per student)

To run the Wild Journey board game each group of 4-5 students will need the following, 1 Wild Journey board 1 set of Species characters 1 set of Species fact files and rules 1 die

Extension activity: large white paper and pens. Computers with internet access.

Summary:
This creative activity is designed to teach 11-14 year olds about the theory of adaptation, looking specifically at animals adaptations for movement through different habitat types. Students will learn the definition of adaptation and why animals need adaptations to move successfully in their natural habitat. They will learn the difference between a specialist and a generalist species with regard to habitat. Students are challenged to match up species with their natural habitats and then think about how each is adapted to move through it. Students will also learn about the different adaptations species have for moving on land, through trees, through water and in air, which is reinforced by the Wild Journey board game.

Preparation guidelines:

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Read through the instructions to make sure you understand the session and activity. Download the Adaptations for Movement PowerPoint presentation. Print out a set of worksheets, one for each student in the class. Print out a set of Wild Journey board games. A maximum of 5 students can play on a board, so for a class of 30 you will need 6 boards. Print and cut out a set of species characters as playing pieces for the board game. There are 5 different species characters, so for a class of 30, print out 6 sets.

6. Print and cut out a set of species fact files, these correspond with the species characters,
and Wild Journey rules.

7. Collect dice for the board game. For a class of 30, you will need 6 dice.
How to run the session:

1. Begin by introducing the concept of adaptations for movement by working through the
Adaptations for Movement PowerPoint presentation. Looking at different species examples, discuss what physical adaptations they have for moving successfully through their natural habitats. See slide notes on the PowerPoint presentation for further guidance and information. NOTE: there are optional videos in the presentation that will need internet access to play, or you can download them beforehand. Hand out an Adaptations for Movement worksheet to each student to fill in. Once the students have completed the worksheet, introduce the Wild Journey board game activity, explaining that in groups of up to five, each student will be allocated a particular species character (cheetah, sidewinder, white-handed gibbon, polar bear, Spanish ibex) and be asked to play the game as that species. Give each student a species character to use as their playing piece on the board game, and a species fact file relating to their character. Give each group a rules sheet and ask the students to read through the rules before playing the game. The board game can be played as many times as there is time for in the lesson.

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Suggestions for extension activities:

1. This session works well with the Design a Species activity, and requires no additional
materials as you can use the habitat cards from the board game.

2. Divide students into small groups of 2-3. 3. Introduce the Design a Species activity explaining that in groups the students must 4. 5. 6.
choose a habitat from one of the species fact file cards (desert, polar, rainforest, African savannah, rocky cliffs) and choose to be either a predator or prey species. Instruct the students to design a new species adapted to move efficiently in that particular habitat. Suggest what things students will need to think about when designing their own species such as how it moves (most important with regards to this particular session), how/what it eats, how it stays cool or warm etc. If you have access to the internet, introduce the students to ARKive (www.arkive.org) and demonstrate how to use the search. When students look at an individual species page they will find information about the species physical appearance, biology (including behaviour), habitat and more, which will be useful for researching ideas for their new species. Using this research, groups should then design their own new species adapted for their given habitat. Students can be as imaginative as they like! The different adaptations featured on their species should be annotated. Allow 30-40 minutes for research and design of the species. Students should then present their creations to the rest of the class, emphasising why particular adaptations were selected and what species on ARKive inspired them.

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