Prospect Park Zoo:Middle
Grades
(A
trip to the Prospect Park zoo to learn how species adapt to changing environments)
Grade
Level: 8th grade
Learning
standard:
students
will study the adaptations of different creatures to the environment, and
learn how to explain these adaptations in terms of Darwin's theory of evolution
and natural selection.
Time
requirements:
Approximately
40 minutes preparation time, one school day for the field trip, and 40 minutes
class time after returning to the class (although several class periods
of follow-up lessons can be added on to the one described here).
Topics
covered by this lesson:
evolution,
natural selection, evolutionary pressures
Pre-Visit:
The
purpose of this lesson is for students to understand how species can adapt
over time in order to meet the changing demands of the environment in which
they live, or to fill a new ecological niche. By observing animals at
the Prospect Park Zoo, the students will see how adaptations in these animals
have helped the species to utilize their environments effectively and efficiently.
Before
this lesson, students should have an understanding of how genetic mutations
can lead to innovations in design. Students should know that changes
do not come about as a result of an organism's need for the adaptations, but
instead out of natural selection of random mutations.
During
a class held prior to the trip, students will be divided into groups of four.
Each group of students will be asked to pick an animal that they will later
observe at the zoo. Students should record which animal they have decided
to study, and to print out information about this animal from the internet
so that they can learn about the general characteristics of the animal before
observing it at the zoo. If your school has limited internet access,
students should be allowed time to complete this research at a local library.
At
the zoo:
The
students should be led as a class to several different exhibits and shown
where to look for information about the animals at each exhibit. The
evolutionary adaptations of each animal should be discussed to show how the
adaptation gives the animal a competitive advantage over other species that
are not adapted in the same way.
One
exhibit that should be visited at this point is that of the blind cavefish,
since it may be difficult for students to understand how loss of sight can
be considered evolutionary benefit for any creature. Explain to the students
how the fish would not be able to use eyes in the dark environments in which
they live, and that it is a benefit for them not to waste resources on developing
eyes. Instead, the fish have developed other sophisticated ways of sensing
the environment around them.
After
touring several exhibits with the students, direct them to separate into the
groups of four that were determined in the classroom, and allow them to seek
out the animal that they had decided on studying as a group. They should
answer the following about the animal that they have selected:
1)
What animal have you selected?
2)
What information is given about this animal at the zoo exhibit?
3)
Observe the animal on exhibit at the zoo. What is it doing? What
does it look like? Is it interacting with other animals in the exhibit?
4)
Describe the environment that this animal lives in.
5)
Does the animal have any special adaptations that help it to move, eat, or
carryout other activities necessary for life in its environment? What
are they and how do they help?
Post-visit:
Each
group should organize the information about the animal that they studied into
a creative poster that will be displayed in the room during a discussion of
the trip and for some time after that. A discussion will be held in
the classroom to give each group an opportunity to discuss the evolutionary
adaptations that they have observed in the animal studied by the group.
The process of evolution should be discussed again, with an emphasis on the
RANDOM nature of mutations. The children should understand that the
animals they saw did not gain their advantages because they needed these adaptations,
but instead because these are the forms that survived competition with other
forms. One interesting way to build upon this lesson would be to discuss
any special adaptations that humans have and why we have them.
MSTEP
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