Lesson 3
Explaining adaptations
Learning intention
We are learning to identify and explain adaptations of living things.
Success criteria
We can identify the skills and methods used in a fieldwork investigation.
We can follow the scientific process to answer questions about living things in their environment.
We can describe how scientists use fieldwork to study the adaptations of living things.
Activity 1 - How can we communicate our understanding of adaptations of living things?
Although observing a structure or behaviour of a living thing might be an easy thing to do, explaining exactly how the structure or behaviour is an adaptation isn't so simple.
Tasks
- View the adaptations of the living thing video
- Read and review Sherlock's explanation formula below and the sample explanation provided. Can you locate each part of Sherlock's formula?
- Select one plant or animal from the Field of Mars EEC fact sheets. Read the fact sheet and gather information about the living thing's adaptations.
- Use Sherlock's explanation formula to write an explanation about your plant or animals adaptations.
- Share your explanation with someone you know.
- Check to see if your audience member understood your explanation.
The adaptation of the living thing | Field of Mars EEC (4:41 min) | YouTube
Right! Now. How does this jolly thing work? Ah! Good morning Holmes!
Sherlock! Sherlock! Holmes! Turn your microphone on!
Sorry about that! Dastardly thing! My dear Watson how are you?
Well I'm finding it hard working from home let me tell you!
Well thank goodness for these online meetings. but let me tell you.
Excuse me Holmes, a young person is trying to enter the Zoom!
Well admit them! At once Watson!
Hello! Please help me Sherlock Holmes, oh and you too Dr Watson.
I've been doing my own detective work on wombats and their adaptations but every time I try to explain it to somebody else I just end up confusing them!
Well! There's a challenge Holmes! What's an adaptation again?
Oh don't you know? An adaptation is a structure or a behaviour of a living thing to help it survive in its environment.
Well that sounds easy enough! First you describe the living thing, then the feature, then you.
SILENCE!! Now listen to me! In order to explain an adaptation we must first describe the challenges that the living thing faces in its environment.
Then you can identify the structure or behaviour that allows the living thing to overcome those challenges.
You can't explain an adaptation properly without relating it to the living thing's environment!
Let's take your beloved wombat as an example. Give me one second while we go to my deduction room.
Ah! Now, follow along:
Wombats are Australian animals that live in bushland environments where they dig long underground burrows for shelter.
Digging however is dirty dusty work.
Wombats are marsupials meaning that their females have pouches where they keep their young joeys.
If these pouches fill with dirt as the female is digging then the joeys might get sick and not survive.
If the joeys don't survive then there might not be any wombats!
Luckily, wombat pouches face the rear.
This keeps the pouch clean as the female is digging and provides a healthy environment for the wombat joeys to grow and develop.
And that is why the rearward facing pouch of a borrowing wombat is an adaptation!
My stars Holmes that was crystal clear! Bravo!!
Elementary my dear Watson! But everyone can do the same too if you just follow my formula! Let me share it with you.
Thanks Sherlock Holmes! Oh and you too Mr....WATSON! DR WATSON!!
Sure, whatever thanks, Bye!
Well Holmes, that's the end of that then?
Maybe not my dear Watson, I have a curious feeling that we are being watched by some other young people on a video!
Oh yes so there are... Hello everybody!
Well, I say, why don't you lovely people have a go at explaining adaptations on your own?
Locate the fact sheets page on the Field of Mars EEC website then choose one plant or animal and gather all of the information that you need.
Then use my formula to try explaining the adaptations of your chosen living thing to somebody that you know.
Holmes! Holmes! We must go! You're meeting your sister Enola this morning!
Yes so we do! Goodbye everyone!
Goodbye everybody! And good luck with the challenge!
End of transcript.
Features of an explanation about a plant or animal's adaptations
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Write the title.
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Name the living thing and the environment in which it lives.
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Describe a challenge the living thing faces in its environment.
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Describe a structure or behaviour that the living thing has.
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Explain how the structure or behaviour helps the living thing overcome the challenge.
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Write a concluding sentence.
Sherlock's sample explanation
Wombat pouches
Wombats are Australian marsupials that live in bushland environments. Like other marsupials, female wombats have a pouch.
Wombats dig long underground burrows for shelter.
Digging is dirty, dusty work. If the pouch of a female wombat fills with dirt as she digs, the joey inside can get sick and not survive.
Unlike other marsupials, wombat pouches face towards the rear.
The rearward-facing pouch prevents it from filling with dirt. The pouch stays clean and provides a healthy environment for the joey to grow and develop.
For this reason, the rearward-facing pouch of a wombat is an adaptation that helps the species survive.