How Do Animals Adapt To Their Environments?

In our study of biomes and animals, we investigated how animals adapt (or change) to survive in their environments. The first animals we studied were those who live in extreme heat or cold. We were fascinated by arctic animals, such as penguins, who are structurally adapted for the cold weather they live in.

Penguins have thick, heavy wings that help them propel through icy waters as they hunt for food. We demonstrated this by first dragging a thin sheet of paper through water and watching how it moved the water slowly or not at all. Then we simulated a penguin's wings by folding construction paper several times to make a more sturdy piece of paper. This time the water moved swiftly in the direction that we moved the paper. We learned that penguins are suited to swim quickly in cold water because of the way their wings are made.
Penguins also have thick, heavy bones. Why, you ask? We brainstormed why a penguin would need heavier bones than other oviparous animals. After testing our light "bone" vs. our heavy "bone" (actually toilet paper rolls filled with either kleenex or paper clips), we saw that heavy bones would allow an animal to be submerged in the water and dive beneath the surface without bobbing back to the surface.

After demonstrating a few of the ways penguins are structually adapted to cold weather, we compared them to other arctic animals using a Venn Diagram. The kids then worked with a partner from Mrs. Eldredge's class to research another animal who must adapt in order to survive in the extreme weather of its habitat.

We compared our researched animal with the arctic penguin and created a Venn Diagram to show our conclusions. The kids were asked to find at least 3 ways that their animal was similar to the penguin as well as 5 differences between the two species.

We look forward to beginning our individual animal research projects soon! Stay tuned!