The Create-A-Creature Project
Background Information:
Our planet contains many diverse environments that we organize into niches, ecosystems, and biomes. The organisms living in each of those environments possess adaptations (physiological and behavioral) that have been ‘designed’ specifically for survival in that environment. Over long periods of time, as environments have changed, so too have the organisms living there. The anatomical structures and behaviors of animals in any given environment are, in theory, a direct result of the features of that environment.
The burrowing behaviors of desert animals are an adaptation to the harsh surface weather conditions. The streamlined body shape and mucous covered scales of fish are designed to maximize the efficiency of locomotion in water. The microscopic hooks on an insect leg aid in attachment to the undersides of plant leaves as well as man non-horizontal surfaces. By designing a creature that can adapt to a hypothetical environment, students should develop a clear understanding of the direct relationship between the characteristics of an organisms and the challenges of the environment in which it lives.
Activity Overview:
This activity has two phases. In the first phase, groups of students brainstorm the characteristics of existing biomes and then give a detailed description of a hypothetical environment which can be similar to, or a far cry from environments that exist on this planet. In the second phase, groups trade environments with each other then design a creature that might be able to survive in the environment they’re given.
Instructions for Students:
Environment-Creature
description of the environment has to include climate, topography, inhabitants
trade or rotate when ready
on a new "Creature" sheet, write the challenges, then a list of possible solutions
make some throw-away drawings and then discuss final design & features
draw and label the creature
post "Environment" and "Creature" sheets (top/bottom) on back wall
Instructions for Teachers:
Materials:
1. To invent the environment students will need an Environment Characteristics Card
2. To draw the creature students will need standard grade level drawing tools.
3. To build the creature (extension variation), you can provide practically any materials available. Construction materials can include cardboard, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, tag board, glue, paper clips, markers, cotton balls, clay, etc. This is a good opportunity to empty out supply drawers and use up obscure items.
Preliminary Activity
1. Give an overview of both phases of this activity and discuss them with students.
2. Elicit or provide a list of biomes (desert, forests, marine, grassland, tundra, etc.).
3. Choose one or two biomes and ask students to write (or dictate as you write) a 2-column list of resident animals and their specific adaptations to that environment.
Invent-An-Environment
4. Distribute an Environment Characteristics Card to each group and ask them to brainstorm and refine ideas, then fill it in with good detail. Their environments may be similar to one that exists on this planet or very different from reality.
5. When finished, groups trade for another group’s completed card.
Create-A-Creature
6. Students review in detail the Environment Characteristics Card they received then make a list of the challenges a creature may face surviving in that environment, as well as possible adaptations to those challenges. That list will guide the next steps.
7. Students should list and sketch their ideas prior to beginning their final product.
8. Groups now create a diagram, drawing, or picture of their hypothetical creature and its adaptations to the environment in which it lives. These adaptations should include strategies for temperature regulation, metabolic needs (eating, photosynthesizing, decomposing, etc), avoiding predators, surviving the elements, and reproduction/raising offspring).
9. Next (or concurrent to step 8), groups label each physical each physical adaptation and describe metabolic and/or behavioral adaptations.
10. Groups can post then describe their creature, highlighting its adaptations to the challenges of the environment in which it lives.
Variation:
11. Various art and construction supplies can be used to create a 3D model of the creature created in steps 6 to 10.