Arctic Tundra
(Video)
Crocodiles! Clickable Croc
(Interactive)
Desert Biome
(Video)
Evolution of Camouflage
(Video)
Seeing Through Camouflage
(Interactive)
In this activity, students examine some of the behaviors and physical characteristics that enable organisms to live successfully in their environment. Students begin by viewing and discussing a video about two friends -- one living in a desert and the other living in a rainforest -- who e-mail each other with information about their environment and the organisms that live there. Afterwards, if possible, students exchange via e-mail similar information with students from a different environment. Next, students watch videos about organisms and their adaptations to the Arctic tundra and Sonoran desert biomes. They compare the two biomes with each other and with their own environment. Students then explore animal camouflage (a type of adaptation) through a video and Web activity. Finally, they design organisms that are adapted to a new environment by camouflage.
1. Show the Teri and Jairus: Biome Buddies video. Ask students:
2. If possible, arrange for your students to e-mail students from a different environment. Have students exchange information about their environment and the plants and animals that are adapted to living there -- just as Teri and Jairus did. If you have access to a digital camera, have students send digital photos of their surroundings to accompany their messages.
3. Show students the Arctic Tundra and Desert Biome videos. Discuss the following:
4. Explain that one way animals adapt to their environment is by camouflage. Have students explore this survival mechanism by first watching the Evolution of Camouflage video and then by doing the Seeing Through Camouflage and Crocodiles! Clickable Croc Web activities.
5. For homework, have students draw, make dioramas, or collages to design an animal that is camouflaged in its own environment. Share students' work in class and discuss if there are any parallel examples in the natural world.