2. Some mutations lead to adaptation…
When a mutation is beneficial and helps an organism to survive in its environment, the organism has the opportunity to live longer, find a mate, and pass on its good traits to its offspring.
How are a zebra’s stripes considered a helpful mutation?
A zebra’s stripes allow it to confuse predators when traveling in herds. This allows them to survive another day to pass on their traits during reproduction.
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3. What is an Adaptation?
An adaptation is a characteristic that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment. They include structures and behaviors for finding food, a mate, for protection, and for moving from place to place.
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4. Can you list some adaptations of the animals below?
Large ears to hear predators
Powerful back legs for jumping long distances
Pouch for carrying young until they are able to survive on their own
Jaw that can “unhinge” to swallow prey whole
Basks in the sun to warm cold-blooded body
Can “smell” with it’s tongue
Adaptation:
behavior or characteristic for survival
Have special hairs on their back which they can release when under attack to irritate the eyes and nose of predators
Can easily sense vibrations in the ground
Have opposable thumbs for grasping items
Prehensile tail for hanging from trees
Teeth designed for omnivorous diet
Trunk used to bathe, drink and wash themselves
Large tusks for defense
Large feet to distribute body weight and to dig out water holes
Has spots that camouflage them from predators and prey alike
Teeth designed for meat eating
Have special ankle bones that allow them to climb down trees headfirst
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5. Who figured all of this stuff out?
Charles Darwin, studied the characteristics of organisms in the Galapagos Islands and noticed that they were similar to those on nearby South America. He hypothesized that animals came to the Galapagos from the mainland. The environment determined which animals would survive and which would die off. Those adapted to the new environment survived and became different from their mainland relatives.
Example: Iguanas & Finches
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6. https://www.brainpop.com/science/ecologyandbehavior/naturalselecti on/

7. May the Best Beak Win... Bird Beak Adaptations
Objective: To observe how the shape of a bird’s beak determines what it eats
Hypothesis: Which beak do you think will be best suited for each food type?
Background Information: Birds are a varied species of animal. They can have brightly colored feathers or be camouflaged within their environment. Their feet can be webbed for swimming, have talons for shredding, or adapted for sitting on limbs. Their beaks can also tell a lot about the types of food that the bird can eat. This lab demonstrates how the shape of a bird’s beak decides what food within the environment is suitable for consumption.
© Getting Nerdy, LLC

8. Describe at least three adaptations that an owl has:
Before You Begin:
What is an adaptation?
A trait that allows an organism to successfully survive in its environment
Describe at least three adaptations that an owl has:
Large forward facing eyes for hunting. Light sensitive rods give them good night vision
Fringed flight feathers muffle sound for silent flight
Wide range of neck motion for following prey
Sharp talons for catching prey
Sharp hooked beak for tearing and shredding flesh
© Getting Nerdy, LLC

9. May the Best Beak Win... Bird Beak Adaptations
What You Do:
Select one beak from the objects provided by your teacher
Get one plastic cup filled with “food” and empty it out slowly in front of you on a paper plate (your “habitat”). There are 20 food items in each cup. The empty cup now represents your “stomach.”
Hold your stomach in one hand and your beak in the other.
When your teacher tells you, use your beak to pick up the food from your habitat and place them in your stomach. You will have 30 seconds to get as many food items as possible.
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10. May the Best Beak Win... Bird Beak Adaptations
What You Do: (continued…)
When your teacher says “Stop,” count the remaining food on the plate and subtract that number from 20 to obtain the number of food items that were eaten. Record that number in your “Bird beak data table” under the correct beak in your handout.
After round 1, rotate the food source but keep your beak.
Continue to do this until you have eaten each type of food source with your current beak.
Swap beaks for a different beak type and repeat steps 1-7 until you have used all beaks.
When complete, you should have eaten all types of food with each type of beak.
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11. What Happened? The Results:
In nature, how are birds’ beaks adapted to their environment?
The shape of their beak determines the type of food that they eat; if that food is available in the environment, then the bird may survive
Which beak was the most successful for eating all items?
Let’s Discuss!
How can a large variety of birds eat and live in the same area of one another without starving?
They are all adapted to different food sources and so they don’t necessarily compete for the same resources
What do you think would happen if a bird’s beak were adapted to a certain food and that food was unavailable?
The bird population may decline
They may find another similar food
They may move to an area where their primary food
is more abundant
© Getting Nerdy, LLC