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Name:______________________________________________
Date:_____________
Introduction to Adaptations: Animal/Plant Adaptation Scavenger Hunt
Part I. Notes
*Define Adaptation__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
*Two main types of adaptation:
1.
2.
*Examples of animal adaptations:
Part II. Animal Adaptation Web Scavenger Hunt
Instructions: Use an appropriate internet source of your choice to identify and describe the important features
of animals, their environments, and their adaptations that are listed below. You may use multiple sources to
answer the prompts if needed.
Suggested websites:
https://animalcorner.co.uk/
http://a-z-animals.com/animals/
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/facts/
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/
1. Organism:______________________________________________________________________

Habitat location/description (detail the natural environment/habitat in which the organism lives):

Describe the animal’s structural adaptations (physical features):

Describe the animal’s behavioral adaptations:

Where/what does it eat?

How does it catch/find food and water?

How does it keep warm/cool?

Where does it find shelter?

How does it protect/defend itself from predators?
2. Organism:______________________________________________________________________

Habitat location/description (detail the natural environment/habitat in which the organism lives):

Describe the animal’s structural adaptations (physical features):

Describe the animal’s behavioral adaptations:

Where/what does it eat?

How does it catch/find food and water?

How does it keep warm/cool?

Where does it find shelter?

How does it protect/defend itself from predators?
3. Organism:______________________________________________________________________

Habitat location/description (detail the natural environment/habitat in which the organism lives):

Describe the animal’s structural adaptations (physical features):

Describe the animal’s behavioral adaptations:

Where/what does it eat?

How does it catch/find food and water?

How does it keep warm/cool?

Where does it find shelter?

How does it protect/defend itself from predators?
4. Organism:______________________________________________________________________

Habitat location/description (detail the natural environment/habitat in which the organism lives):

Describe the animal’s structural adaptations (physical features):

Describe the animal’s behavioral adaptations:

Where/what does it eat?

How does it catch/find food and water?

How does it keep warm/cool?

Where does it find shelter?

How does it protect/defend itself from predators?
Part III. Animal & Plant Adaptations and Behaviors
Instructions: To complete the following questions, please use the website
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptations to help you locate the missing information that goes in the appropriate
blanks and to identify examples of animal and plant adaptations/behaviors.
Adaptations help organisms survive in their ecological niche or habitat; adaptations can be anatomical, behavioral or
physiological. Anatomical adaptations are physical features such as an animal’s _____________________. Behavioral
adaptations can be ___________________________ or ____________________________ and include tool use,
language and swarming behavior. Physiological adaptations include the ability to make venom; but also more general
functions such as __________________________________ ___________________________________.
 Adapted to extremes
Adaptation to extremes encompasses all the special behaviors and physiologies that living things need to withstand the
planet's harshest ______________________________________ and environments. Whether it's a lack of oxygen at
altitude, the searing heat of deserts or the bitter cold of the polar regions, plants, animals and other organisms have
evolved a multitude of ________________________ strategies.
5. List one example of an animal and one example of a plant that is cold-tolerant.
Cold Tolerant Plant:
Cold Tolerant Animal:
6. List one example of an animal and one example of a plant that is heat-tolerant.
Heat Tolerant Plant:
Heat Tolerant Animal:
 Animal intelligence
Animal intelligence covers behavior that's considered above the norm for an animal. Some species may be unusually
adept at learning new skills or using tools. Others have highly developed social and even emotional skills and may even
have developed a distinct __________________________, in a similar way to human beings.
7. List the four types of animal intelligence:
a. Example: Culture
b.
c.
d.
 Behavioral pattern
Behavioral pattern describes an animal's _________________________________ way of life. Arboreal animals, for
example, live in trees and nocturnal animals are active at night.
8. Choose one of the 10 types of behavioral patterns listed for animals. Click on the behavioral pattern of your
choice and read about it. Provide a one-sentence summary that describes the behavior pattern and provide at
least two examples of animals who demonstrate that behavior pattern.
Identification and Description of behavior pattern:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples of animals that exhibit this behavior pattern:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Communication and senses
Communication and senses are how an organism ______________________________ the world - for instance through
scent or sight - and how it sends messages or warnings to others.
9. There are eight ways in which animals communicate and/or sense listed on the website. Please click on the link
that is titled “chemical communication.” Read about chemical communication and then provide a one sentence
summary describing chemical communication and provide an example of animals who demonstrate this ability.
Brief summary of chemical communication:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples of animals that exhibit demonstrate the ability to communicate chemically:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Ecosystem role
Ecosystem roles are about the part an animal or plant plays in sustaining or ____________________________________
the habitat around them. Bees, for example, pollinate flowers, without which those plants would not produce fruits or
seeds. Other species, such as dung beetles, play a vital role in keeping grasslands clear of animal waste and
______________________________________ valuable resources.
10. Identify the three primary ecosystem roles that animals take on and briefly describe each role:
a.
b.
c.
 Feeding habits
Feeding habits describe the dominant __________________ of a particular species or group of species, and how they go
about obtaining it.
11. Provide at least two examples of organisms that fit into each category according to their feeding habits:
a. Blood sucker:
b. Herbivore:
c. Carnivore:
d. Scavenger:

Life Cycle
Life cycle describes all the different ______________________________ through which an animal, plant or other
organism passes from conception, through adulthood to death. Encompassed here are not only the major physiological
stages of growth and development, but also temporary occurrences such as mounting and experiential phases such as
_________________________________ and _______________________________________.
12. Identify the primary stages of the life cycle for most organisms:
a. Courtship display
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Locomotion
Locomotion is how an animal gets ________________________ - for instance by swimming, flying or climbing.
13. List the six types of locomotion in which organisms can be adapted to:
a. Climbing
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
 Morphology
Morphology is anything to do with what a plant or animal ___________________ like - its size, shape, colour or
structure.
14. Click on the first link under Morphology that is titled “Camouflage”. Read about how animals camouflage and
provide one example of an organism that has the ability to camouflage as an adaptation in its environment. Why
would an Arctic Fox using camouflage in its natural habitat be considered an adaptation? Why would it NOT be
considered an adaptation if the Arctic Fox lived in the desert? Explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Predation strategy
Predation is ___________________________ and ____________________________ an animal in order to eat it and
different species have evolved a range of strategies for doing this efficiently. The most frequently used methods are
variations on chasing and capturing if the predator is a fast runner, ambushing to conserve energy, or using a trapping
mechanism such as a spider's web.
15. Choose one of the five predation strategies and click on the link. Briefly explain the predation strategy of your
choice and provide an example of an organism that uses this predation strategy.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
 Reproductive strategy
Reproduction covers all the tactics and behaviors involved in obtaining a ________________________, conceiving the
next generation and successfully raising them. It includes everything from plants being pollinated, to stags fighting over
hinds, to lionesses babysitting their sisters' cubs.
16. Click on the second picture/link that says “Asexual Reproduction” under the “Reproductive Strategy” section.
Define asexual reproduction and provide three examples of organisms who reproduce asexually.
Define asexual reproduction:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples of asexual organisms:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Social behavior
Social behavior is all about how an animal __________________________________ with members of its own species.
For instance, does it live in a colony or on its own, does it fight to be top of the pecking order, or does it try to keep
strangers away from its home?
17. Provide a definition or brief summary of each type of social behavior among organisms.
a. Colonial______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
b. Eusocial______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
c. Hierarchical___________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
d. Social________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
e. Territorial_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
 Survival strategy
Survival strategies enable organisms to ______________________ with particular stresses, from temporary
environmental changes in the weather to the constant threat of predation. So, for instance, to avoid the cold of winter
animals may _______________________ away or ___________________________, while trees may shed their leaves.
To avoid predation, plants may be _______________________________________ or covered with defensive spikes and
animals may use camouflage or travel in great numbers.
18. Generate a list of the eight types of survival strategies and provide an example of an animal or plant that utilizes
each particular survival strategy to their advantage.
Survival Strategies:
1. Aestivation
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Organism(s) that demonstrates the survival
strategy:
Long-eared hedgehog