create your own organism assignment

Create a Creature

Students apply what they have learned about animal characteristics and adaptation to create a new creature and introduce it to the scientific community..

Scientists are finding new species every year. While some of them live in remote environments, others have been found in large urban cities! While you can’t travel to faraway lands in the hopes of finding a new species, you can use what you know about plant and animal adaptation to create a new species of your own!

Create an electronic book to introduce your species to the world, sharing its physical adaptations, daily habits (behavioral adaptations), predators, and prey.

There are lots of right ways to explore this topic. You might focus on a specific habitat and brainstorm animals and adaptations for that habitat. You might instead have students individually or collaboratively research a favorite animal and explore its habitat and adaptations. This “create a creature” project is a good culminating assessment of student understanding of animals, habitats, and adaptations and assumes they have already explored these topics.

Begin project work by reading about one of the amazing creatures in Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth by Nicola Davies. This book is filled with remarkable information about many animals kids are familiar with. Share additional photos of the animal with your students from education-friendly sites like Pics4Learning.com . Penguins are a perennial favorite with elementary students and images , leveled literature, and information texts abound.

Ask your students to share what they know about other amazing creatures. Help lead students to the realization that a unique physical or behavioral adaptation is what makes the animal interesting. To get them talking, ask students to share:

• What the animal looks like.
• Where the animal lives in the wild.
• What makes it interesting.

Explain that new plants and animals are still being discovered by scientists and researchers. Share examples of some of newly-discovered species with your students. Live Science has a collection of some great examples for 2013; a search on the Web will turn up many others.

Let students know that they will become animal explorers tasked with a mission to “find” a new species. They will use what they have learned about plant and animal characteristics and adaptations to create a new species and introduce it to the world by creating an electronic book.

Depending on the culture and students in your classroom, students may work individually or in small groups. If you have highly independent learners, let them show off their individuality through personal work. If you have students who must collaborate to come up with ideas, small teams provide many more opportunities to discuss and process learning. Group work also provides additional opportunities for you to identify misconceptions and help the group to focus on key understandings.

If your students have a strong grasp of characteristics, adaptations, and habitats, have students or teams begin by describing the habitat in which their new animal will live. They should include information about weather, temperature, rainfall, plants, and other animals.

Next, have students think about where their animal will live in this habitat – on the ground, in the air, water, or tree tops, etc. Share graphic organizers like t-charts, 4-squares, clusters, and storyboards to help students organize their ideas.

Ask students to create a creature with adaptations that help it survive in this environment. Encourage them to look to other creatures in similar habitats to identify features and characteristics that would help this creature thrive in its habitat. If they are creative thinkers, they can simply start designing.

If your students are just beginning to understand the idea of adaptations, have them create a creature first by combining body parts from one or more categories of animal types, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and invertebrates.

Tell your students they will be introducing their amazing creatures to the world. Use a tool like Wixie to have them combine text, images, and voice narration to create a report, slide deck, or even digital book.

Books should include the features of informational text, including images, labels, photos, captions, and headings. The information students provide should answer questions like:

• What are the physical features of this creature?
• Why are these features needed in this habitat?
• What does this creature eat?
• What does this creature do during the day? Or is it nocturnal?
• Does this creature have any natural predators?

If your students are ready, give them flexibility to choose the information they will include in their project. If you want to provide direction and structure to the project, you could ask students to create a project that includes pages for:

• Title page with name of animal and scientist(s) who discovered it
• Image of create in habitat
• Description of habitat and images to support description
• Description of creature’s characteristics and image with labels
• Description of creature’s predators and prey (diet)
• Story of how the creature was discovered (narrative writing)

Have students record their voices as they read the information on each page. (Note that audio for ePub may not work on all Android devices.)

Have students present their creatures to the rest of the class or to a different team. To give the project an additional air of authenticity, bring in local experts to ask questions and evaluate student work. If you do not have a local zoo, veterinarians, park rangers, and even pet enthusiast parents may be willing to help.

Students can publish their books as ePub files and share them using a service like iTunes or Dropbox. Share the ePubs in the school library database, on computers in the library, or in a publically accessible network location where other students can access and download the publications.

If you don’t have ready access to eReaders, you can export the finished work as PDF files for easy sharing. You can also print their work and share it in classroom and school media centers or post the digital files to your classroom web site.

The final ePub and the work during the process will help you evaluate student understanding of animals, habitats, and adaptations.

As individual students or teams begin working on the descriptions of their habitats and animal features, monitor their progress and ask questions. You can also use graphic organizers as tangible check in points.

As students begin illustrating, prompt them with questions about their animals to encourage them to add more details and create accurate illustrations.

The resulting ePub or PDF can serve as an artifact for summative assessment of content and expository, or informative, writing. If their work includes a story detailing the discovery of the creature, you can also evaluate their narrative writing skills.

Be sure to evaluate oral presentations for content accuracy. Students’ ability to answer questions from the audience will help you assess how well they have internalized the concepts of behavioral and physical adaptations.

Nicola Davies. Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth. ISBN: 0763641278

Pamela Hickman. Animals in Motion: How Animals Swim, Jump, Slither and Glide. ISBN: 1550745751

LiveScience: Newfound Species

National Park Service: Our Wild Neighbors

National Geographic: Animals

Next Generation Science Standards

3-LS3-2 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.

3-LS4-3 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survives less well, and some cannot survive at all.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.4

Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.5

Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.6

With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

ISTE NETS for Students 2016:

3. Knowledge Constructor Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others. Students:

a. plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.

6. Creative Communicator Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals. Students:

a. choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.

b. create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.

c. communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.

d. publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

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Interactive digital worksheets for grades K-8 to use in Brightspace or Canvas.

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STEAM Project: Create-an-Animal

Create-an-animal steam project.

Fourth grade students studying animal adaptations participated in a create-an-animal project that combined science, technology and art skills in new ways.  Details of the project, lesson materials and student exemplars are shared below.

Create-an-Animal Planning Packet

Students first completed a create-an-animal planning packet which had three sections:  Part 1 – Describe the Your Animal, Part 2 – Describe the Adaptations, Part 3 – Sketch Your Animal.

Part 1 – Describe Your Animal.  Students came up with a creative name for their invented animal and had to identify the habitat, type of animal, as well as physical and behavioral adaptations.

Phase 2 – Describe the Adaptations.  Drawing on what they learned through their science unit on animal adaptations, students apply this understanding to a new, invented animal.  They need to consider the physical traits and / behavioral traits that would be necessary for the animal to needed to ensure successful survival.

Phase 3 – Sketch Your Animal.  In preparation for sculpting their animal creations in art class, students are tasked with sketching their animal.  Teachers encourage kids to add labels to describe various physical details so they can use their sketch as a reference when planning and working on their sculptures.

Incorporating Technology  

Students shared their created animals and described the animal’s adaptations using technology tools. Depending on the class, fourth graders demonstrated their learning in one of two ways: with a narrated slideshow using Adobe Spark Video or with a digital poster created with Google Slides.

Narrated Slideshow Using Adobe Spark Video

Digital Poster Using Google Slides

To build technology literacy, we had students enter their packet information into a blank Google Slides template which was formatted as a poster.  The template was purposefully bland so that kids would focus on entering the information first, then we walked through basic formatting skills such as formatting font size, style and color as well as adding customized borders and background colors.  Students were not allowed to use “Themes” within Google Slides since the focus was to teach them about the formatting toolbar options rather than apply a canned theme.  The resulting Google Slide poster was published to the web.

Sharing Student Work During our Art Show

We used the goo.gl Chrome Extension to generate short URLs as well as corresponding QR codes that could be placed next to the animal sculptures.   At the upcoming creative arts showcase, parents will be able to scan the QR codes and be directed to the student’s digital posters describing their animal adaptations!

Special thanks to Huckleberry Hill School’s willing team of Grade 4 teachers for their work on this project: Katie McCarer, Liz George, Heather McLeod, Margaret Asadorian and our amazingly talented art instructor, Kathleen Lorenzo.  We’re so proud of the kids and looking forward to the creative arts showcase when parents will be able to see the students’ creativity and hard work on display!

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Create Your Own Ecosystem: A Lesson & Self Guided Project for Elementary Students

• Categories : Fun activities & crafts for grade school
• Tags : Teaching grades pre k to 5

Before implementing this project, review the previous articles in the series on how to initiate a unit on ecosystems. Shortly after the introductory lesson teachers can initiate the start of an exploratory project that children will do, and more importantly, will want to do, on their own over the course of the study.

Engage Your Students in Choosing a Project

I’m adamant in any course of study that children be able to work within the parameters of the unit goals to pursue their own interests. I think kids take seriously that which they had a part in planning rather than having to accomplish something that someone else feels is important.

Ask the children to consider an organism that they want to focus upon during the course of the study. Describe an organism as any living thing. Make sure they know it can be a plant, animal or even algae. Within the next couple of days tell them that the organism they chose to learn more about is going to be the focus of a project that they will undertake, and which will be determined by them.

Post a piece of chart paper on the board and have them brainstorm with you ideas about what kinds of things they might do in order to learn and share information about their chosen organism. “Think of something that you would like to do, something you would be excited about doing to learn more about your organism.”

Children typically run the gambit of ideas. Your chart will be filled with fantastic possibilities. In the past my charts have been filled with ideas including dioramas, models, presentations, pictures, research, photos, power point, posterboard visuals, video presentation, books, and bringing in live specimens.

Narrow Down the Idea

When you have a chart full of wonderful ideas find a way to narrow it down, of course, with help from the children. “Should we all do a diorama or should we pick three things from the list that we should do as part of our project?” With the children’s help you can structure the project around a given set of guidelines, allowing as much choice as possible.

When it comes to the information teachers may have to designate various criteria as far as what information children need to provide and the information should include the organism and its function within the ecosystem to which it belongs. As a teacher you don’t want the children finding out only about penguins, for example, but what living and non-living things penguins depend on to survive, their purpose within an ecosystem, human or natural interferences that impact on their ecosystems….the focus should be more on the organisms small part within a natural structure.

Enjoy the Results

I think about the ideas the children generate during the brainstorm session and compare it to the typical task of having them research an organism and do a five page report on it to read to the class. Snoozer. Instead I get to look forward to power point presentations for those computer enthusiasts, live specimen visits, models, dioramas, and a host of other creative endeavors that the children did out of sheer will rather than by force.

Teachers should plan to come up with a time frame for the project’s completion with the children once the project is fully organized. Let them decide, with your loving guidance, how much time they need to do their projects. They’ll abide better to their own time lines than yours.

This post is part of the series: Ecosystem unit

This collection of articles will share ideas that might be helpful in implementing an intermediate unit on ecosystems.

• Understanding Ecosystems: Approaching the Topic in My 5th Grade Class
• Create an Ecosystems Project with Your Students and Get Them Engaged
• Building an Eco-column as a Classroom Project
• Capturing a Real Ecosystem

Create-a-Creature: Animal Adaptations

We were entering our latest science unit and I wanted them to do a little research. Engaging students in research is so difficult do to under normal circumstances. But now, while teaching 100% virtually, it is even harder. So when it came to our unit on animal adaptations, I knew I needed something to wow the kids. 

Well, dare I say, I did just that when I asked them to CREATE A CREATURE! 

In this long-term project, the students were asked to read, write, research, do a little art, and show some creativity....and they LOVED EVERY SECOND! The kids started with a comprehension passage about animal adaptations. Then, they learned how to research. Applying that knowledge was next in the creation of their own animal. Their creature was to have several real life adaptations found in nature. Finally, they researched the real animals that the creature was pieced together from.

The kids were so creative in their own creatures. They added in the structural and behavioral adaptations of real animals, then turned around researched *those* animals. They even wrote informational paragraphs to boot! This whole project was a winner in my eyes. 

Now, if you are teaching virtually (or even in person!) your kids are going to LOVE this project. I have included every single lesson plan I used, step-by-step instructions for both you and the students, all of the templates (both digital on Google Slides AND paper versions to print out) as well as examples to share with your students. You don't even have to be learning specifically about animal adaptations in your class. This is a research project any kid can do to work on those vital research and reading skills. Your kids are sure to love this! 

Want to get your hands on this awesome resource?  You can find it here . Your kids are going to thank you for this one :)

Happy Teaching!

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Create an organism

In this project, students create their own organism, build models of dna, and debate the ethical implications of genetic modification in one project-based learning unit. follow the links below for more information on each project component. , master plan & timeline, driving question.

To what extent should humans tinker with evolution through genetic modification and artificial selection to create organisms that are more useful to us?

Learning Objectives

Model building

Creativity and engineering

Presentation skills

Debating / Arguing a position

Bio 1.2.3: Explain how specific cell adaptations help cells survive in particular environments (focus on unicellular organisms).

Bio 2.2.1: Infer how human activities (including population growth, pollution, global warming, burning of fossil fuels, habitat destruction and introduction of nonnative species) may impact the environment.

Bio 3.3.1: Explain the double-stranded, complementary nature of DNA as related to its function in the cell.

Bio 3.1.2: Explain how DNA and RNA code for proteins and determine traits.

Bio 3.1.3: Explain how mutations in DNA that result from interactions with the environment (i.e. radiation and chemicals) or new combinations in existing genes lead to changes in function and phenotype.

Bio 3.3.2: Summarize how transgenic organisms are engineered to benefit society.

Bio 3.3.3: Evaluate some of the ethical issues surrounding the use of DNA technology (including cloning, genetically modified organisms, stem cell research, and Human Genome Project).

Back to top

Entry Event

October 19, 2015

Brainstorm ideas of organisms you could create that could be useful to humans, create an organism using the materials in class or found outside, group mini presentations , transgene modeling, november 16, 2015, read about how transgenic crops are made by doing this  6-page online module  .

INDIVIDUAL: Write a ½ page summary of this module

Take notes on  Mr. Haigler's DNA Lecture 

Group: create a 3d model, skit, or animation that explains the process of how to make a transgenic crop (use the same crop as your frankenfoods prezi; see below).  your product should address these questions:.

How do you make a transgenic crop ?

How do DNA and RNA code for proteins in the body?

What is a gene ?

What does transgenic mean?

How does DNA act as a blueprint for organisms?

What are  transcription and translation ?

How do we use prokaryotes to change eukaryotic cells when making transgenes?

How does mutation normally happen in DNA and what are its effects on phenotype ?

Frankenfoods

Play gm sweet potato game with the class., choose a genetically modified crop from this link, make a group prezi that explains the following:.

What trait your plant has that comes from genetic modification

Why that trait is beneficial

How that trait was introduced.  Explain the process in easy-to-understand language. USE YOUR TRANSGENE MODEL TO DO THIS.

Where that plant is used in the world

Where that plant is banned

Controversies or unintended consequences of using the plant (i.e. human health impacts, environmental impacts, hybridization with wild relatives, etc.)

Driving Question Debate

December 2, 2015, prepare to debate the driving question:.

To what extent should humans control evolution through genetic modification and artificial selection to create organisms that are more useful to us?

Mr. Haigler will assign you a position to defend

Research the pro’s and con’s of the issue from >3 good sources, take 1-3 pages of notes from your research and mr. haigler's biotechnology lecture , provide a bibliography of your sources, participate fully in the debate through respectfully arguing your position and using evidence to back up your opinion.

FINAL PRODUCT: Create an Organism

December 7, 2015

Create an organism that could benefit humanity and try to sell it to a biotech company, then defend it to a governmental bioethics panel.  the final product should contain the following:.

Visually appealing presentation.  All group members participate equally and show that they understand the material covered in this unit.

High quality illustration or 3D model of the organism

An explanation of how to create the organism using existing technology

An explanation of the Research and Development phase of your product.  How did you test to make sure it was safe to the general public?  Be specific.

A convincing sales pitch that outlines why this product is so beneficial, but also addresses the potential dangers or disadvantages of the product.  The pitch should explain why the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

Create a Creature

Activity length, animals ecology and evolution, activity type, make & take.

In this activity, students create their own specialized animal that lives in a specific imaginary environment.

Where an animal lives often effects how it lives, and behaves. An animal won't live successfully in a place where its features are poorly adapted for survival.

A mountain goat with webbed feet would have a hard time climbing a rocky slope! On the other hand, webbed feet on a duck make swimming in a lake easier and faster.

Assess survival needs and interactions between animals and the environment.

Per Group of 3 students: 11 x 17 sheet of paper tape white glue or hot glue guns markers/crayons scissors a variety of different craft materials, such as: pipe cleaners balloons styrofoam egg cartons feathers yogurt pots CDs wire popsicle sticks or wooden stir sticks cloth scraps

Key Questions

• What special features does your animal have?
• How do those special features help the animal find food? Move around?
• Can you think of a real animal that has the same or a similar features?
• Divide the class into small groups.
• Use the paper and markers/crayons to create and draw an imaginary environment. This environment should include such factors as temperature, light, water, food, and predators.
• Use the craft materials provided to create a model of a creature (or draw a creature) that is specialized to live in its environment. Students should include how the animal moves in their environment, what the animal eats, and how it catches its food.
• Name your creature with a name that suits its appearance, lifestyle, or environment.
• Take turns presenting your creature to the class, explaining how your creature survives in its environment.
• Hang the creatures from the ceiling against a wall so that it is hanging in front of its imaginary environment.
• For a simpler variation, give each group a description or image of a real environment. Then have students imagine and create an animal that lives in this environment.
• Look at some extreme environments around the world and discuss how animals survive in these environments.
• Examine the environments on other planets in our solar system and imagine what special features animals would have in order to survive there.

Other Resources

French version of this resource | Créer une créature

About the sticker

Artist: Jeff Kulak

Jeff is a senior graphic designer at Science World. His illustration work has been published in the Walrus, The National Post, Reader’s Digest and Chickadee Magazine. He loves to make music, ride bikes, and spend time in the forest.

Comet Crisp

T-Rex and Baby

Artist: Michelle Yong

Michelle is a designer with a focus on creating joyful digital experiences! She enjoys exploring the potential forms that an idea can express itself in and helping then take shape.

Buddy the T-Rex

Science Buddies

Artist: Ty Dale

From Canada, Ty was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1993. From his chaotic workspace he draws in several different illustrative styles with thick outlines, bold colours and quirky-child like drawings. Ty distils the world around him into its basic geometry, prompting us to look at the mundane in a different way.

Western Dinosaur

Time-Travel T-Rex

Related Resources

Survival strategies, survival strategies are ways in which an animal survives (and hopefully thrives) in their environment. every species has an impressive and…, related school offerings.

Creature Features

Survival Systems

Outdoor Urban Nature Investigation

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Invent an Insect

"Grasshopper" by Ryan Wood

There are thousands of species of insects in our world, and each are adapted to survive in their habitat. In this activity, students will learn what an insect is and what some of their adaptations are. Then they will put their knowledge into play by "creating" an insect that is adapted to live in their assigned environment.

Students will:

• recognize what makes an insect an insect by identifying the common structures and characteristics of insects.
• explore examples of insect adaptations and infer how they fit the insect’s habitat or lifestyle.
• appreciate the diversity of insects.
• Invent an Insect sheet , one per student
• Insect Diagram , one per student
• Set of Insect Habitat cards
• Arthropods printouts (optional)
• Colored pencils/markers, modeling clay, one set per group of students (optional) 
• Print Insect Diagram and Invent an Insect sheets, one each per student.
• Print and cut out Insect Habitat cards, one card per group.
• (optional) Print Arthropods pictures or set up as a slideshow.
• abdomen: the last of an insect’s three main body parts.
• adaptation : any structure or behavior of an organism that improves its chances for survival
• antenna (pl. antennae): the thin feelers on the head of an animal like a crayfish, isopod, or insect. Antennae are used to sense the environment.
• arthropods: a group of animals with exoskeletons, jointed legs and segmented bodies, including insects, spiders, ticks, scorpions, centipedes, crabs and shrimp.
• entomologist: a scientist who studies insects
• exoskeleton: a hard, protective covering found in all arthropods, which provides structure like a skeleton, but is on the outside.
• habitat: the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives and grows
• head: the first of an insect’s three main body parts
• insects : a group of arthropods that is characterized by having a three-part segmented body, six legs, and two antennae, including beetles, ants, and bees.
• larva (pl.: larvae) : the wormlike early stage in the life cycle of an insect.
• metamorphosis: the change of an insect (or other animal) from one form into another as it develops into an adult. Butterflies are a well-known example.
• thorax: the middle of an insects three body parts. An insect’s legs and wings are always attached to the thorax.
• What is an insect? Discuss as a class what makes an insect. Be sure to specify what makes an insect different from other arthropods: they have three body segments, two antennae, and six legs. You can use the PDF Arthropods to show different arthropods, including insects, as examples or you can have students try to figure out if the arthropod is an insect or not. Teacher tip: this PDF may either be printed out or shown as a slideshow for the whole class.  
• Insect Anatomy Pass out one Insect Diagram handout for each student. Have students work in groups to try to fill out the sheets first, then have a class discussion about what each part is and what they think it does. Teacher tip: Try to allow students to share definitions in their own words before giving the class the formal definitions.  
• Adaptation Introduce the essential question: “How can there be so many similarities among living things, yet so many different species of plants and animals?” Discuss and define the term “adaptation.” Use the arthropods in the PDF as examples and have students try to point out adaptations they see on their bodies or behaviors they know the animals have.
• Divide class into small work groups of four to six students each and provide each group with an Insect Habitat Card and a set of art supplies. Each student will need an Invent an Insect worksheet. Teacher tip: Provide modeling clay or other art supplies for a more dynamic and three-dimensional activity.  
• Present the rules of the activity:
• Invented insects must be suited for the habitat described on your group’s Insect Habitat Card and must eat at least one of the food sources listed.
• Invented insects should be grounded in reality (insects can’t make jet packs to fly around) and have the same body parts as real insects.
• Have fun and be creative!
• Don’t forget to give your insect a name.
• Have each group present their insect to the class and state what habitat they were given. Have students share at least one adaptation they gave their insect and why.  
• As a class discuss how each groups’ insect was similar and different. Did any two have similar adaptations? Did any two have similar habitats, but different adaptations?  
• Reflect and try to answer the essential question: “How can there be so many similarities among living things, yet so many different species of plants and animals?”

Additional Adaptations To make the activity more challenging, assign an additional required adaptation. For example:

• Looks like an animal other than an insect (mimicry)
• Is active only at night (nocturnal)
• Blends in with an environment (camouflage)
• Must be able to eat specific things (crushing mouthparts for seeds)
• Must be able to avoid certain predator characteristics (strong back legs for jumping)
• Must be able to move or stay put (fleas move from host to host)

Research Project Once students have invented their insects, have them research real insects that live in their assigned habitat with their assigned food source. See Resources for recommended books and websites. Provide students a blank Invent an Insect sheet on which they can draw and write about the insect they research.

Design a Habitat Challenge Have students design habitats for others and see if they can build an insect adapted for that environment.

Go Outside! Now that students have a perspective on insect habitats and adaptations, take them outside and see what insects students can discover in their school yard or neighborhood. Use clear plastic containers to catch and observe the insects with magnifying glasses. Then release them where they were found.

Arthropods:

Scientists classify animals according to how their bodies have evolved. Animals with similar characteristics are grouped together. Insects belong to a very large group of animals called arthropods . Spiders, crabs, centipedes, ticks, scorpions, shrimp, also belong to the arthropod group. The characteristic that defines an arthropod is an exoskeleton , or an external, jointed skeleton that provides structure and protection for the animal’s softer insides. The plates of exoskeleton may overlap but have flexible joints in between, allowing’ different body parts to move independently of the rest, much like animals with internal skeletons.

Defining Characteristics of Insects:

Three Body Segments All insects have segmented bodies. Insect bodies are divided into three segments – the head, the thorax and the abdomen. With some insects, it’s difficult to tell exactly where one segment stops and another begins. But there is a fool-proof way to tell which part is which. First, look for the eyes and antennae; they’re always located on the head. Next, locate the legs; they’re always connected to the thorax. All that remains on the body is the abdomen, located on the opposite end as the head!

Six Legs All adult insects have six legs. Insects who undergo complete metamorphosis (meaning they change from an egg to a larva to a pupa to an adult) lack legs entirely during the first phases of their lives. By looking at an insect’s legs, you can usually tell what type of environment it lives in. For example, many insects that live in the water, such as water boatmen, have flattened oar-like legs to help them paddle through the water. Other insects may have legs suited for running, or climbing, or jumping great distances.

Antennae Adult insects also come equipped with a pair of sensitive antennae on their heads. These sensory organs are used to feel, smell, and sometimes hear. Antennae come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, depending upon how they are used. Scientists use antennae to help identify different types of insects because they are very particular to individual species of insects.

Wings All but our most “primitive” orders of insects possess wings. Even in ants and termites the reproductive members of the colony possess wings. Typically, insects have two sets of wings that move together in unison. In beetles, the front pair of wings has been modified to form a protective casing for the hind wings called elytra. True flies appear to have only two wings. This is because the hind wings have been modified into halteres, which resemble small knobbed structures that act as a counterweight to the front wings, helping stabilize the insect’s flight.

Insect Ecology

Insects occur in abundance everywhere on our planet, except in oceans and the polar regions. These places aside, wherever entomologists have looked, they have found a great diversity of insect species, each suited to the environment they live in. This includes extreme environments like mountain tops, deserts and frozen fresh water.

Not only have insects filled practically every habitat on Earth, but within each, they’ve filled nearly all ecological roles, from scavengers, to primary consumers, to predators, to parasites, and so on. Insects are not only well adjusted to the environments in which they live, but also their role within that environment, which is largely defined by what they eat. Plants, fungus, other insects, decaying matter, blood, and fecal matter have all been exploited by insects as sources for food. In order to eat, and sometimes catch, their food, insects have developed specialized body parts specific to each.

How we’ve come to have so many different types of insects filling so many roles is a matter of time and evolution. As far as we can tell, insect have been around for 325 million years, during which they have had plenty of opportunity to evolve and diversify. [Grimaldi, D., & Engel, M, 2005.]

Adaptation in Insects

Adaptation is the process whereby a group of organisms becomes better suited to its environment over the course of many generations. This fundamental concept of evolution shapes not only where an organism lives, but how it lives as well. Through a process of trial and error (error in this case meaning death without successful reproduction), combined with random genetic variations, populations of organisms and their descendants slowly become better adapted to the conditions around them.

Animals may adapt to their environment with changes in their behavior (e.g. a bumble bee flies further south to find plants in bloom during an atypically cold spring). They also adapt with changes in body structure. Every aspect of an insects’ body may be explained as an adaptation to some environmental factor. See page 4 for some examples of insect adaptations.

Grade Three: Life Sciences

3.b) Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

3.d) Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations.

Grade Four: Life Sciences

2.) All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. As a basis for understanding this concept:

• a. Students know plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most food chains.
• b. Students know producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.
• c. Students know decomposers, including many fungi, insects, and microorganisms, recycle matter from dead plants and animals.

3.) Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:

• a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving components.
• b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
• c. Students know many plants depend on animals for pollination and seed dispersal, and animals depend on plants for food and shelter.
• d. Students know that most microorganisms do not cause disease and that many are beneficial.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS1.A: Structure and Function: Plants and animals have both internal and external structures that serve various functions in growth, survival, behavior, and reproduction.
• LS4.C: Adaptation: For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
• LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans: There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Structure and Function: The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s). (K-2)
• Cause and Effect: Cause and effect relationships are regularly used to explain change. (Grade 3)

Related Performance Expectations

• K-2-ETS1-2 . Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
• 3-LS4-3 . Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
• 4-LS1-1 . Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
• 3-5-ETS1-2 : Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• Borror, D.J. & White, R.E. A Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico . New York, NY: Peterson Field Guide Series, Houghton Mifflin, 1970.
• Doris, E. Entomology. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1993.
• Grimaldi, D., & Engel, M. (2005). Diversity and Evolution. In Evolution of the insects (p. 3). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• McGavin, G.C. Insects, Spiders and Other Terrestrial Arthropods. New York, NY: Dorling Kindersley, 2000.
• Powell, J.A. & Hogue, C.L. California Insects. Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1980.
• Pratt, H., & Bybee, R. (2012). Dimension 3 DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS—LIFE SCIENCES. In The NSTA reader's guide to a framework for K-12 science education (Expanded ed., p. 161). Arlington, Va.: NSTA Press.
• Pyle, R.M. & Kest, K. Insects: A Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993.
• Photo by Ryan Wood, released into public domain; originally sourced from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grasshopper_2.JPG

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CLADOGRAM ANALYSIS KEY

Original Document: Cladogram Analysis

What is a cladogram? It is a diagram that depicts evolutionary relationships among groups. It is based on PHYLOGENY , which is the study of evolutionary relationships. Sometimes a cladogram is called a phylogenetic tree (though technically, there are minor differences between the two).

In the past, biologists would group organisms based solely on their physical appearance. Today, with the advances in genetics and biochemistry, biologists can look more closely at individuals to discover their pattern of evolution, and group them accordingly - this strategy is called EVOLUTIONARY CLASSIFICATION

CLADISTICS is form of analysis that looks at features of organisms that are considered "innovations", or newer features that serve some kind of purpose. (Think about what the word "innovation" means in regular language.) These characteristics appear in later organisms but not earlier ones and are called DERIVED CHARACTERS .

PART I - Analyze the Cladogram

Examine the sample cladogram, each letter on the diagram points to a derived character, or something different (or newer) than what was seen in previous groups. Match the letter to its character. Note: this cladogram was created for simplicity and understanding, it does not represent the established phylogeny for insects and their relatives.

1. __ F ___ Wings 2. ___ C __ 6 Legs 3. ___ A ___ Segmented Body 4. ___ G __ Double set of wings 5. __ E ___ Cerci (abdomenal appendages) 6. ___ D __ Crushing mouthparts 7. ___ B ___ Legs 8. __ H __ Curly Antennae

PART II - Create Your Own Cladogram

To make a cladogram, you must first look at the animals you are studying and establish characteristics that they share and ones that are unique to each group. For the animals on the table, indicate whether the characteristic is present or not. Based on that chart, create a cladogram like the one pictured above.

DRAWING OF YOUR CLADOGRAM

Design Your Own GMO

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Standards: HS-LS1-1 HS-LS4-6 MS-LS4-5

Subjects: High School Life Science (Grades 9-12) Middle School Life Science (Grades 6-8)

Lesson Overview

For this lesson, students will be learning about the process of genetic engineering, comparing and discussing various foods & organisms that are engineered, and will finish by designing their own GMO in an effort to solve a global problem. Their newly modified organisms will be displayed on an infographic (or something similar) and then shared with their classmates in a forum type setting. This lesson was inspired by the work of SDSU scientist, José Gonzalez, who works on sequencing out the genomes of native prairie grasses in this region in an effort to then later modify these plants to live in a variety of environmental conditions. These plants could then later be used as biofuels in areas where traditional crop growing is not possible.

About the Scientist

Jose gonzales.