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ACTIVITY PLAN
Grade: First Grade Anticipated Student Misconceptions: a. Organisms intentionally effect changes in body structure to exploit particular habitats. b. Organisms respond to a changed environment by seeking a more favorable environment. c. Organisms adapt deliberately. Title of Activity: Ocean Animal Adaptations Pennsylvania Assessment Anchor: S4.B.2.1.2: Explain how specific adaptations can help a living organism survive (protection, coloration, mimicry, leaf sizes and shapes, ability to catch or r etain water). Materials needed: laminated pictures Book: Amazing Ocean Animal Adaptions Dry erase markers Sea horse manipulatives

Activity Directions: Introduction: Does anyone know what the word adapt means? Adaptations help us survive in our environment. Humans have adaptations such as: Hair helps us to retain heat. We have ears that stick out of our heads to funnel sound waves to the ear canal. We have hair on our eyebrows to keep sweat and rainwater out of our eyes. We have eyelashes to keep dust out of our eyes. We have pinkie toes to help us keep our balance as we walk. We have opposable thumbs so that we can do a variety of tasks with our hands. 1

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Some creatures that live in the ocean need to do certain things to adapt to thei r environment. Ask students to hold their breath for a few seconds. Explain that sea animals like dolphins can breathe underwater for a very long time. This is an adaptation. Development: 1. Read Ocean Animal Adaptations 2. 3. Ask the students what camouflage is. Can they give an example of camouflage? Explain you are going to play a game called Spot the Sea Creature. Show them

some pictures of the ocean and their job is to Spot the sea creature. 4. Show the students the sea horse manipulatives and ask students where they

would blend in best in the classroom. Have the students try to camouflage the sea horses. 5. 6. Ask students How do you think camouflage helps sea animals survive? If time, ask students what other things animals in the sea do to help them

survive. Some Examples: Ask the kids What do you think these creatures are doing to help them stay alive in the ocean? Provide pictures. Ocean animals that are warm blooded have blubber to keep warm. Many fish swim in large groups to protect themselves from predators. Jellyfish sting their predators and trap their prey in their tentacles. Octopus and squid ink. Green sea turtles can hold their breath for an hour and have hard shells to protect them from predators. Crabs have claws to pinch predators.

7. Now, lay out all the adaptation pictures and ask the students to sort all of the adaptation pictures in different categories based on their adaptations. Students can create their own categories. Examples; camouflage, shells, bl ubber, gills, etc. Productive Questions: Attention Focusing: 1. Have you seen animals in the ocean before? This could be real life or on TV. 2

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2. Look at some pictures in the book- What do you notice about the creatures in the book? What is this animal doing in this picture? 3. Who can describe a star fish, blue whale, dolphin, clown fish, octopus, etc.?

Measuring/Counting: 4. How many living things in the ocean have adaptations?

5. How often do you think ocean animals use their adaptations? Comparison: 6. How are dolphins and humans alike?

7. What do you notice about this fish and its surroundings? Action: 8. What would happen if animals did not adapt to their environments? 9. What happens when an octopus or squid inks? Problem Posing: 10. Cam you figure out how to camouflage yourself? 11. Can you explain what an adaptation is? 12. Can you explain any human adaptations? 13. Can you explain why animals have adaptations? Reasoning: 14. How would you explain this fish being the same color as the coral in its environment? 15. How would you explain a school of fish? Why do they form? Is this an adaptation? References: Animal Camouflage Pictures -- National Geographic Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/animal -camouflage/#/twoshrimp-camouflaged-in-sea-urchin-1_24671_600x450.jpg Google Images. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://google.com/images Green Sea Turtle Facts for Kids | Endangered Animals. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/green-turtle/ 3

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Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (2005, June). Misconceptions in Science. Retrieved April 15, 2014, from http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/science/SciMisconc11.05.pdf Murphy, J. (2012). Ocean animal adaptations. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press. Standards - View Standards by Subject Area and Grade Level or Course. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pdesas.org/Standard/Views#106|792|0|0