Animal Adaptations

How quickly do animals evolve? Can comparing different samples of the same fossil answer timeline questions? Scholars use virtual labs to examine fossils and learn about stickleback evolution. They compare pelvic morphology in lakes...

Beginning biologists learn the characteristics of the five classes in the arthropod phylum. A student handout lists characteristics to help them identify five specimens. You will need to collect an example of each: arachnida, crustacea,...

Um may be the atomic symbol for confusion, but it won't be needed in this lesson. Scholars rotate through seven stations completing experiments, hands-on activities, writing exercises, and analysis. Stations include material on...

Most fish freeze to death when the water is too cold, yet some fish live in the Southern Ocean where the water is often below freezing. Scholars use two models representing the blood from most fish versus the blood from Antarctic fish....

In a fun and interactive two-day lesson, learners sort anole lizard pictures by appearance. Next, they watch a video about the anoles and re-sort based on the information in the video. In addition to physical characteristics, budding...

How is it that the same animal, living in the same place, at the same time, evolved into two different species? As part of a larger series, an engaging video explains the rise of the chalicothere, the split in evolution, and eventually...

This brief video segment adapted from NOVA uses illustrations and the well-preserved footprints of a small reptile to portray the history of the Grand Canyon's top two rock layers.

Part two of this entertaining series looks at Darwin's visit to the Galapagos, his return home, and his determination to support his theories with evidence. What fun!

The Denver Zoo features a comprehensive overview of Linne's Two-toed Sloth focusing on its habitat, range, adaptations, diet, physical characteristics, and more.

Learn how the study of adaptation progresses through grade levels. The narrator provides a curricular view of teaching adaptation complete with examples. Concepts range from simple trait adaptations to speciation and natural selection.