Design a marine animal Learning objectives: To learn about animals found in different habitats; and how they are suited to their environment (SC AT2 adaptation) Written by Ms Janet Rymer, Primary School Teacher

What questions will you need to answer first? Your task is to design a marine animal which is well adapted to live in its environment. What questions will you need to answer first? Click here for some questions to help you

Click to find some questions you might need to answer: Where will it spend its time? What will it eat and how will it catch its food? How does it move? How does it keep warm? How does it protect itself? To help answer these questions, go to www.hwdt.org or click on a question.

Add some questions of your own. Then click on the screen. Now click here to return to questions

What type of marine habitat will your creature spend most of its time in? Does your animal live: inshore or out in the open sea? in tidal waters? where there is little or a lot of wave action? near the surface of the water or deep down where the pressure is high? in warm or cold seas? where the water temperature changes or stays the same? Return to questions

How some marine animals feed and what they eat Humpback whales have throat grooves so they can expand their mouths to let in more water and more food. ©HWDT ©HWDT Crabs and lobsters have claws to grip and tear their food. Next page

Porbeagle sharks have rows of teeth Porbeagle sharks have rows of teeth. They can keep growing teeth throughout their lives. The blue whale is the biggest animal that ever lived on earth, yet it eats tiny shrimp like creatures, called krill. It does not have teeth. Instead it has comb-like plates called baleen which filter the food out of the sea water. Return to questions

How some marine animals find their food Whales and dolphins echolocate. They make noises that bounce back from objects giving a ‘picture’ of what is there. ©HWDT ©HWDT Lion’s mane jellyfish have tentacles up to 60ft long which they use to snare fish and plankton. Basking sharks swim along with their mouths open, catching food. They do not need teeth because they filter food. ©HWDT Jellyfish pic Return to questions

How some marine animals move Many marine animals have flat broad tails which move them quickly through the water. Whales and dolphins move their tails up and down. Sharks move their tails from side to side. Crabs scuttle sideways. Turtles have flippers which help them to swim and to move on land Whales, dolphins and porpoises have lost most of their body hair. This makes them stream-lined so they move quickly in water. Next page ©SLS

so that they float easily. Seastars and sea urchins have thousands of tiny suction pad legs to help them move. Jellyfish are 95% water so that they float easily. ©HWDT zooplankton Octopus use jet-propulsion to move squid Some zooplankton species (called copepods) move by fluttering their feathery legs through the water. Return to questions

How some marine animals keep warm Whales, dolphins and porpoises have a layer of insulating fat called blubber to keep them warm. Otters have thick fur to keep them warm but whales and dolphins have lost most of their body-hair to make them more streamlined. Return to questions

How some animals protect themselves Crabs have sharp pincers to ward off enemies. Fin and blue whales can swim faster than a boat travelling at 30km per hour. ©HWDT ©HWDT Many sea mammals are light on the underside so they don’t show up against the bright sky when looking up at them. They are darker on the top so they can’t be seen so easily against the dark depths of the ocean. Crabs and lobsters have an external skeleton (a hard shell) to protect their bodies. They can tuck their legs in under the shell too. Return to questions Continue

Now design your marine animal