1. Mrs. Horn 5th Grade 1st Nine Weeks
Change Over Time
Mrs. Horn 5th Grade 1st Nine Weeks

2. Our Goals for This Unit
Define adaptation and identify how they help organisms survive in their environment
Identify specific types of adaptations (physical and behavioral)
Identify an organism’s environment by studying its physical features
Define fossil and explain how they show change in an environment
Explain reasons for extinction of organisms

3. Adaptations

4. What is an Adaptation
Anything that helps an organism survive in its environment
Adaptations may be physical features on an animal’s body
Adaptations may be things animals do

5. Structural Adaptations
Adjustments to internal or external physical features
Examples: webbed feet help ducks survive in water, snakes and other reptiles have scales that help prevent water loss in dry environments
May help protect an organism or enable it to hunt better
Examples: turtles have hard shells to protect them from predators, sharks have excellent sense of smell and sharp teeth that help them catch food

6. Behavioral Adaptations
An adjustment in an organism’s behavior
Example: wolves travel in packs because together they can hunt larger animals that a single wolf alone can not capture

7. Migration
Movement of animals to find food, reproduce in better conditions, or find a less severe climate
Birds, butterflies, fish, and mammals such as manatees migrate

8. Hibernation
A period of inactivity during cold weather; animal remains inactive until warmer temperatures return
Bats, snakes, bear, and frogs hibernate to escape the cold

9. Desert Animal Adaptations
Long eyelashes protect eyes from strong, sandy wind.
Nostrils can be closed and opened at will. During a sandstorm, the camel closes its nostrils.
Padded feet help it to walk comfortably on the soft sand.
Long legs keep its body much above the hot sand.
Toes are joined together to prevent sinking into the sand.
Hump stores excess amount of food as fat. Due to scarcity of water only few plants grow in a desert. When food is available, a camel eats plenty of it. Excess amount of food is converted into fat and is stored in the hump. It is used when food is scarce, that is why it is able to live without eating food for several days. It drinks plenty of water to recover water lost from body, when water is available. A camel can live without water for many days.

10. Adaptations of Grassland Animals
Strong legs help them to cover long distances in search of food.
The body color merges with the color of the dry grass (camouflage). This helps animals like the deer to escape from their enemies and animals like the lion to remain unnoticed till the prey is close enough to hunt.
They also have a keen sense of smell and sharp eyesight.

11. Adaptations of Cold Region Animals
The body is covered with a thick layer of hollow hair that traps air and keeps the bear warm. There is also a thick layer of fat below its skin. These features keep the bear comfortably warm even when the temperature goes below -30 degree Celsius in winter.
The polar bear is a good swimmer. This adaptation helps it to catch seal for food when ice melts in warmer months.
The polar bear also has a peculiar habit. In winter, when the weather turns extremely cold and food is difficult to find, it goes to sleep (hibernation) and wakes up only after a few months when the weather warms up. This is how the largest meat-eating land animal on Earth survives in cold conditions without food for many months.

12. Adaptations of Animals Living on Mountains
The body is covered with a thick growth of hair that touches the ground and this keeps the animal warm.
Yaks have more red blood cells than any other animals. This helps them to obtain enough oxygen from the air.
At some places deep holes are covered with just a thin layer of ice. Herds of yak travel on snow in a single file, carefully stepping on the footprints left by the lead yak.

13. Plant Adaptations Scented flowers that attract pollinators
Leaves that catch sunlight
Roots that soak up water
Rain-forest plants have pseudobulbs that store water
Drip-tip leaves that have adapted to constant wet conditions in a rain forest and drain excess water
Cacti in the desert have thick, waxy stems that prevent water loss; also have dense, shallow roots that soak up rain quickly
Oak trees loose leaves in the winter to prevent water loss
Aquatic plants’ stomata are located on the top of their leaves rather than the bottom because the float on water
Other plant adaptations include producing chemicals that taste bad and some produce poisonous chemicals to deter predators

14. Evidence of Change Over Time

15. Fossils
Any remains, traces, or imprints of organisms that lived long ago.

16. How Are Fossils Formed? Dead organism is covered by sediment
the soft parts of the body decay but the skeleton is preserved
the skeletal parts are then replaced by minerals in the sediment
surrounding sediment hardens into rock

17. How Are Fossils Formed?
An insect may become trapped in tree sap. Over time, the sap hardens into amber and preserves the insect
An animal may walk across wet sand or soil. If the footprint is quickly covered by sediment, the footprint can be preserved.

18. What Fossils Tell Us
Provide clues that tell us how environments have changed
Help scientists determine the past climate of an area
Provide clues about what organisms were like in the past and how they have changed

19. How has Earth Changed?
Earth’s history is measured in long stretches of time called eras
Eras are described by the kinds of life that were dominant at that time

20. Precambrian Earliest part of Earth’s history
Earth became hospitable to life

21. Paleozoic Life became abundant
Trilobites, fish, insects, amphibians, and reptiles appeared
Many organisms became extinct at end of this era

22. Mesozoic Appearance of dinosaurs, mammals, birds, and flowering plants
Rocks from the end of this period suggest that many forms of life become extinct at the end of this era

23. Cenozoic Era in which we live
Fossils show that early mammals were very large
Most recent ice age occurred during this period of time or era

24. Test Prep
A squirrel is born with white fur instead of the normal gray fur color. How would environmental conditions have to change to increase this squirrel’s chance of survival?
A city dump is built nearby.
Volcanic ash covers the forest.
The climate gets cold enough to snow.
An earthquake causes the land to shift.

25. Test Prep
An environment suddenly becomes colder. Which adaptation would MOST LIKELY give some animals a better chance of survival than others?
Long tails
Long ears
Small eyes
Thick fur coats

26. Test Prep
What adaptation would make it difficult for a brow bear to get food in a polar bear’s habitat?
Its brown fur
Its sharp claws
Its large body
Its sharp teeth