Camouflage, Mimicry and Adaptations

Camouflage, Mimicry and Adaptations

What do animals need in order to survive?

• Shelter – safety• Water• Oxygen• Food• Space

Animal Adaptations

• A106 & A107• Lesson Outline p.71

• Have students on their own or in pairs read about Adaptations and answer the questions. If extra time start research with sites listed.

Adaptations

• Camouflage is a type of animal adaptation.

• What is an adaptation?

• An adaptation is something that helps animals survive better.

Adapatations Report

• You will be given time to research and report on animal adapatations. You will have many sites to available to go to. Read the information about the animals you are interested in and summarize it in one sentence to put on your reporting sheet. Your teacher will determine how many animals you should be able to report on depending upon the time available.

Camouflage • Have you ever wondered

why animals have spots, strips, or certain colors?

• Sometimes an animal’s colors can be a difference between life and death.

• Animals use their colors or shapes to blend into the environment.

• What is this called?

See if you can find the camouflaged animals in these pictures. The animals you are looking for are a deer, frog, and quail.

Find the critters!

Quail

Deer!

Look closely to find this animal!

Can you see the frog?

Prowling is one way I look for my prey.

I am a predator. I live in the Arctic. I am a mammal. “Polar Bear”

I am a large predator.

I stalk my prey. I hunt large

animals. I belong to the

large cat family.

“Leopard”

I am a bird of prey.

I use my sharp talons to grab my prey.

I am the national symbol for the United States.

My babies are called eaglets.

“Bald Eagle”

I am red and live in the ocean.

I use camouflage to survive among the seaweed.

I look like a horse. The male carries the

babies.

“Red Sea horse”

I only come out at night.

I look like a bandit. I am a mammal. I am an omnivore, it

means I eat small animals, fruits and plants.

“Raccoon”

My babies are called pups.

I hunt in groups called packs.

I have very sharp teeth.

I am related to the dog family.

“Gray Wolf”

A group of us are called a pod.

I am a predator. I have sharp teeth. I have “killer” in my

name.

“Orca (Killer Whale)”

I am the wariest in open spaces.

Camouflage is important for me to survive.

The babies are called Fawns.

I am a prey. “White Tail Deer”

I am a mammal. I drink blood from

animals. I fly in huge

groups. I live in caves.

“Vampire Bat”

I hunt large mammals.

I can run up to 60 miles per hour.

I am a predator. Stalking is my best

way to follow my prey.

“Cheetah”

I am a reptile. I am a poisonous. Slithering is how

move around. The sides of my

head spread open.

“King Cobra”

I have not changed since the dinosaur times.

I am a predator. Sometimes I use the

deep blue waters to become invisible.

I eat fish, seals, whales and other sharks.

“Great White Shark”

I am a predator. I hunt large animals. I stalk my unwary

prey. The female does

most of the hunting.

“Lion”

I hunt in packs. I eat small

mammals. I have babies

called pups. Stalking is one way

I catch my prey.

“Coyote”

I am a predator. I can eat medium and

large animals. I belong to the large

cat family. My home is in the

snowy mountains.

“Snow Leopard”

I live in the Nile River in Africa.

I lay my eggs in a nest.

I am a predator. I blend in with the

brown muddy waters.

“Nile Crocodile”

I change my coat from brown in the summer to white in the winter.

I live in the Arctic. I can hunt for my

unwary prey. I am a mammal.

“Arctic Fox”

Mimicry• Animals may also try to

look like another animals.

• For example, non poisonous snakes will rattle their tale and flatten their head to look poisonous to a predator.

• This is called Mimicry, where an animal tries to mimic or copy another.

Which snake is poisonous?

Other forms of mimicry…• Another example of

mimicry involves the monarch butterfly, which is toxic and very nasty to eat.Its bright orange coloration is a warning to birds to leave it alone. The non-toxic viceroy butterfly has developed colors and wing patterns that are very similar to those of the monarch and so most birds won’t take a chance by taste-testing it!

How would you describe yourself?

– What do you look like? – Think about your personality, how do you act? – What are your likes and dislikes?

• Some of these traits are passed down by your parents, and others you learn on your own

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Traits• Every living thing has traits that make it

unique– A trait is a quality or characteristic of a living thing

• Red hair, shape of a leaf, color of your eyes

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Heredity-

• Passing inherited traits from parents to offspring

Inherited Traits• Animals and plants have inherited traits also

– Two black cats will have black kittens– Seeds from a pink rose bush will produce more pink

rose bushes– http://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgen

etics/heredity/

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http://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/heredity/

http://www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/heredity/

Let’s determine some of your inherited traits:

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Do you have attached or detached earlobes?


Do you cross your right

thumb over your left thumb, or

your left thumb over your right

thumb?





thumb?

Can your roll your tongue?





thumb?


Do you have dimples?





thumb?



Are your right-handed

or left-handed?





thumb?




or left-handed?

Do you have freckles?

Do you have naturally curly

hair?





thumb?




or left-handed?



hair?

Do you have a widow’s peak?





thumb?




or left-handed?



hair?

Do you have a widow’s peak?

Is your second toe longer

than your big toe?

Animal Behavior

• Inherited behavior• or instinct

• Learned behavior

Monarchs migrate to the same spot in Mexico every year that their great, great, great grandparents

migrated to the year before.

Animals preparing for winter, birds protecting eggs and babies…

Learned Behaviors

• What is something that you are better at doing than other members of your family? – You learned how to do this, you did not inherit it

from your parents – We learn many behaviors:

• Riding a bike, making a sandwich, using good manners

– Animals:• Raccoons learn to open trash cans• Birds learn where the best bird feeders are

Learned Behaviors

• A mother bear will show her cubs how to find berries for food

• A pet cat may learn that food appears in its bowl after it hears the sound of a can opener

• Humans learn how to speak

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Inherited Traits Learned Behaviors

http://safeshare.tv/w/pihwfqHJCO

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Genes and Heredity

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/human-body/heredity.htm

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How does it all happen?

• How do babies inherit their parents’ traits? • Why do robin eggs hatch into robins and not

eagles?• Why do deer have fawns and not rabbits?

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Genes• Traits move from parents to their offspring

through genes– A gene is a tiny part of a cell that contains traits

• Genes contain instructions that control the growth of that plant or animal– Ex. Every human has genes that control hair color

• The instructions in those genes are different (black, red, blonde)

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Genes

• Birds have genes that control their size, shape, and color– Hawk’s genes: hooked

beak, sharp claws to tear apart mice and other small animals

• Plants have genes to control size, shape, and color of its leaves

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How Genes Work• Genes come in pairs

– Fathers have XY genes, mothers have XX genes

– One gene from mom combines with one gene from dad

– When they combine, the baby then has two genes

• (XX = girl, XY = boy)

– The baby may inherit the mother’s dimples and the father’s curly hair

Father Mother

XY XX

BabyXX

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Camouflage, Mimicry and Adaptations