Week+3+-+Animal+Adaptations

Week 3 - Animal Adaptations

= = Day 1: Adaptations - What are they? Students started their day by taking an observation tour with a teacher. They were split into 2 groups to practice their advanced observation skills. They looked for the following behaviors in Orangutangs, Diana Monkeys and Gorillas:


 * Walking
 * Running
 * Lying Down
 * Eating
 * Drinking
 * Groom Itself
 * Grooms another animal
 * Makes a sound
 * Yawns
 * Looks at People

We will use this information this week to compile data about the behaviors that occur the most and graph the information. After the observation and also after lunch, students used their time to research an animal that isn't currently in the zoo. They chose their animal last week, and are finishing their research today so they can create a plan for a habitat to present to the Zoo Staff for consideration.

See below to see some of their work thus far:



Day 2: How do Adaptations help Animals Survive in the Wild? Students were able to continue work on their habitats after they made a final WORD CLOUD about Habitats, which was Week 2's theme. Students had made a word cloud at the beginning of the week last week - using all of the words that came to mind about the word "Habitat". This showed that most student's background knowledge was scarce. Looking at the students "before" word cloud, compared to their "after" word cloud was a clear indication that they gained a lot of knowledge about Habitats. One student, Kayleigh Dahl, was able to come up with 121 words about Habitats on her second try! Nice job Kayleigh! After lunch, many students still had research to complete in order to start designing their habitat. Students who had already started to design, were sent in teams to complete a "Mission" that involves researching bird features such as beak and talon style. This research will help them to complete and discuss the "Bird Beak Adaptation" challenge tomorrow!

Day 3: Animal Adaptations - What Beak Would you Need? In the morning, we worked on finalizing plans and designs for the animal habitats. We also had a guest speaker, Rosemary, a docent at the Zoo. She spoke of her privledges as a "Gorilla Grandmother". She told stories of how she was given 12 hour shifts in the Nursery at the Zoo to help prepare baby Gorillas and Orangatans that were rescued from some extreme situations and needed some TLC! Check out some of what Rosemary had to say below!

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We were finally able to complete our "Bird Beak Adaptation Challenge". Students worked as teams to try to use the "beaks" given to them to recreate a bird's beak in 4 different environments: Marsh, Pond, Prairie and the Forest. Students used tweezers, short tongs, long tongs, and pliers to represent the beak of a bird. Students then recorded the amount of food collected in each environment with each tool and from that data decided which "beak" would be best for which environment.

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Day 4: Lauritzen Gardens Recycling Challenge Students traveled to Lauritzen Gardens with questions in hand about their need for recycling containers! Students interviewed Blair, and education intern at Lauritzen about their need for a recycling program. Currently, they do not have one in place and are challenging our students to design 15 containers that would be near trash cans on site for visitors as well as staff to use for paper, plastic and aluminum cans.

After our interview, we hiked on many of the Lauritzen trails to get inspired for our designs. Students took photographs, sketched and wrote down the names of plants that would be an inspiration for their designs. The most important elements of the designs must be that the containers blend in with the surroundings. Many students are taking the time to design more than one possible container so that the staff at Lauritzen have many options to choose from! Designs will be posted next week! Be sure to come back and check them out!

After a lunch break, students were hard at work finishing their habitat designs and perspective drawings of that habitat. They also began work on their recycling designs. Mrs. Hoff and myself were busy at work helping students with their concepts. Mrs. Hoff even took students to see the plans the Zoo has for Rosenblatt Stadium!

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Day 5: Perspective - How does camouflage work? Students are working on taking their habitat plan to a sketch of what they would see if they were a patron paying to see that exhibit at the zoo. After seeing the following video on perspective drawings, they took their art skills up a notch! Click on the Link to see the video: Perspective Drawing

<span style="color: #804b00; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">After Lunch, we went on a leisurely tour of the Desert Dome where students experienced first hand why habitat and surroundings are so important - many of the animals were camouflaged so well, students struggled to see them. However, when they did, they realized that their coloring and the coloring of the plants and structures in their environments are extremely important for their ability to survive in the wild and is an important part of who they are. <span style="color: #804b00; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 160%;">Students also began to get more and more ideas for their designs for a recycling container for Lauritzen. Students used the powerpoint below to get inspired! media type="file" key="Recycling Containers.mov" align="center" width="420" height="420"