WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES?

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kevin Fri, Jan 14, 2022 08:11 PM UTC

All living things require basic needs to survive. Animals need food, water, shelter, space, and oxygen. In addition to these things, plants also need light, to make their own food through photosynthesis. At the same time, individual plants and animals have unique needs — making them particularly adapted to specific areas.

1. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
In this lesson, students learn that living things have different features and behaviors
that help them thrive in their local environment. Students will explore how the local
community is affected by change in the local environment.
On successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
• identify how living things adapt to their environment;
• classify living things according to their physical characteristics and behaviors that
help them survive seasonal change in the local environment; and
• describe how the community and their dependence on living things in the local
environment change when the seasons change.
Alaska Standards
Alaska Science Standards / Grade Level Expectations
[3] SA1.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science
by asking questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying,
making generalizations, inferring, and communicating.
[3] SA1.2 The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by
observing and describing the student’s own world to answer simple questions.
[3] SA3.1 The student demonstrates an understanding that interactions with the
environment provide an opportunity for understanding scientific concepts by
observing local conditions that determine which plants and/or animals survive.
[3] SC1.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of how science explains changes
in life forms over time, including genetics, heredity, the process of natural
selection, and biological evolution by sorting Alaskan plants and /or animals
using physical characteristics. (e.g., leaves, beaks)
3] SC1.2 The student demonstrates an understanding of how science explains changes
in life forms over time, including genetics, heredity, the process of natural
selection, and biological evolution by describing how some traits (e.g., claws,
teeth, camouflage) of living organisms have helped them survive as a species.
[3] SC2.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the structure, function,
behavior, development, life cycles, and diversity of living organisms by sorting
animals and plants into groups based on appearance and behaviors.
[3] SC2.2 The student demonstrates an understanding of the structure, function,
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2. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
behavior, development, life cycles, and diversity of living organisms by observing
and comparing external features of plants and animals that may help them grow,
survive, and reproduce.
[3] SC3.1 The student demonstrates an understanding that all organisms are linked
to each other and their physical environments through the transfer and
transformation of matter and energy by identifying examples of living and non-
living things in the local environment.
Alaska Mathematics Standards
2.MD.9 Collect, record, interpret, represent, and describe data in a table, graph or line
plot.
Alaska English / Language Arts Standards
W.3.2.a-d Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and
information clearly.
Alaska Cultural Standards
[D] Culturally knowledgeable students are able to engage effectively in learning
activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning.
[E] Culturally knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of
the relationships and processes of interaction of all features in the world around them.
Students who meet this cultural standard are able to:
[E.2] understand the ecology and geography of the bioregion they inhabit.
Bering Strait School District Scope & Sequence
2nd grade sequence #4: Living Things (Animals)
B. Understand the needs of animals.
C. Understands how we classify animals.
D. Understands how animals grow and change.
E. Uses scientific processes and inquiry to directly support the concepts of living
things.
3rd grade sequence #4, 5: Living Things (Animals)
B. Observe and compare external features of animals that may help them grow,
survive, and reproduce.
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3. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
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C. Sort Alaskan animals using physical characteristics.
D. Describe how some traits (e.g., claws, teeth, camouflage) of living organisms
have helped them survive as a species.
E. Sort animals into groups based on appearance and behaviors.
F. Understand what vertebrates are.
G. Understand what invertebrates are.
H. Use scientific processes and inquiry to directly support concepts on animals.
• Living Things Information Cards (Appendix, one set per group of five
students)
• Unlined paper
• Chart paper
• Markers
• Student Worksheet: Adaptations of Living Things (one per student)
• Optional:
• Student Worksheet: What Helps Living Things Survive
• Books and resources on local land and water plants, animals, and insects
in addition to and including the additional resources.
REACH Multimedia K-3: “Watch the Balance of Nature”
REACH Multimedia 4-6: “How Do Animals and Plants Adapt?”
Available at: www.k12reach.org
Additional Resources
Hibernation by Margaret Hall
Going Home: The Mystery of Animal Migration by Marianne Berkes
Animal Camouflage in the Snow by Martha Rustad
Animal Camouflage in the Ocean by Martha Rustad
Animal Camouflage in the Forest by Martha Rustad
On the Move: Mass Migration by Scotti Cohn
Salmon Migration by M.J. Cosson
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4. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
Humpback Whale Migration by L. E. Carmichael
Arctic Tern Migration by Rebecca Eileen Hirsch
Caribou Migration by Rebecca Eileen Hirsch
North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration by Nick Dowson
Waiting for Ice by Sandra Markle
Ocean Animal Adaptations by Julie Murphy
Polar Animal Adaptations by Lisa J. Amstutz
What Do Critters Do in the Winter? by Julie K. Lundgren
Wildlife Notebook Series Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Activity Preparations
1. Read through the entire lesson, including the background information in the
Whole Picture section.
2. Create a chart titled “Adaptations of Living Things”. Complete the chart as shown
in Appendix A.
3. Have a variety of books and resources on living things available for student
access, including additional resources if available.
4. Make copies of the Student Worksheet: Adaptations of Living Things.
5. If desired, make copies of the Student Worksheet: What Helps Living Things
Survive.
6. If needed, make extra copies of the Living Things Information Cards (Appendix B).
If using the optional homework worksheet, you may want to make extra sets of
the cards for students to take home.
Whole Picture
All living things require basic needs to survive. Animals need food, water, shelter, space,
and oxygen. In addition to these things, plants also need light, to make their own food
through photosynthesis. At the same time, individual plants and animals have unique
needs — making them particularly adapted to specific areas. For example, a polar bear’s
hollow fur and dark skin give it an edge in extremely cold climates, but these would
make it ill-suited for a more moderate climate — the bear would get too hot and likely
would not survive! Similarly, tundra plants are uniquely adapted to high winds and cold
temperatures. If you tried to relocate plants from the forest to the tundra, they would
not be equipped to fulfill their needs.
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5. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
The needs of many Arctic and sub-arctic plants and animals are being just so disrupted
as the climate changes. A major challenge for many species here is the ability to find
adequate food and shelter. One such example is caribou. These animals have highly
specialized hooves; they are designed to dig through snow in winter in order to find
nutritionally rich lichen. However, warmer winters have brought freezing rains to the
tundra, encasing the lichen in ice and making it impossible for the caribou to access
(Divoky and Rosa, 2015). In the spring, the caribou face yet another difficulty. Like other
migratory species, caribou migrate in time with the light, or photoperiod, which has
historically been timed with the nutritional peak of tundra grasses, sedges, and other
low-lying plants that the caribou eat. Due to climate change, many of these plants are
beginning to reach their peak nutritional value much earlier — when the caribou have
not yet arrived to eat them. As a result, many caribou — especially calves — are going
hungry. (Divoky and Rosa, 2015).
Another example of a subsistence animal with specific needs are sea birds. They require
a nearby, reliable source of fish and safe shelter for their chicks. Sea ice provides critical
habitat for fish species, like Arctic cod, that sea birds depend on. As it melts and moves
farther off shore, the waters become warmer and less hospitable for the fish, which
in turn move farther away and into deeper, colder water — where sea birds cannot
access them. Similarly, finding adequate shelter has become a problem. Not only is the
coastline eroding, causing a loss of habitat for nesting sea birds (Kingeekuk, 2010), but
spring precipitation has turned from snow to rain. While the downy chick feathers are
ideal protection against wind and snow, they provide little protection against the rain,
which turns to a coat of ice in the wind (Divoky and Rosa, 2015). Consequently, sea bird
populations are diminishing as chick survival rates plummet.
The term trophic phenological mismatch refers to when timing of the usual activities of
plants and animals, or predators and prey, do not coincide as they did previously. For
example, snowshoe hares are more vulnerable to predation in a changing climate. The
change in their pelage from white to brown is triggered by photoperiod, but when
the snow melts earlier than usual in the spring, snowshoe hares are left without their
Alaska Native elders have also noted the phenological mismatch. Elders agree with
scientists that climate changes are affecting subsistence plants and animals. They also
teach that the reasons for this have to do with spiritual imbalance. They say that the
spirits of plants and animals respond directly to how they are treated by the people
who harvest them. Elders advise that subsistence plants and animals show and give
themselves when they want to be harvested (Garibaldi, 1999). When they are absent
from the landscape, it is believed that the plant and animal spirits of previously
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6. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
harvested species were offended by the way the people acted or treated them, and told
others of their kind not to return (Charles, 2002; Fienup-Riordan and Rearden, 2012.
Alaska Native elders and culture bearers teach that all things are connected. All life needs
basic elements to survive and thrive: food, shelter, air, water, and space. When the system
becomes unbalanced, these needs fail to be met and life falters. Because of climate
change, some plants and animals that have lived in the Arctic for thousands of years are
facing just such difficulties.
adaptation – any trait that helps a living thing survive
environment – all the living, nonliving, and once living things in a place
living thing – needing food, water, and air to grow and change
camouflage – color, patterns, and shapes that disguise a living thing and help it hide
migration – the movement of animals from one region to another and back
hibernation – a deep sleeplike state for winter
behavior – an action done by a living thing to help it survive
physical feature – a trait or part that can be seen or observed on a living thing
Activity Procedure
Part 1
1. Give students a blank piece of paper and ask them to draw a picture of
themselves on it and label the features they have that help them survive in the
local environment. At the bottom of the page ask them to jot down several
things they do that help them survive when the seasons change and it becomes
colder. Tell them they will have five minutes to draw their pictures. After they
have finished with their pictures ask the students (pre-assessment):
• What features do you have that help you survive in the local environment?
• What behaviors do you have that help you survive?
• What behaviors do you change when the seasons change and it becomes
colder?
• How would your behaviors differ between a land and water environment?
• How would they be the same?
• What does it mean to adapt to one’s environment?
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7. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
INSTRUCTIONS REACH
2. Explain to the students that living things adapt to the environment they live in.
Explain the meaning of the vocabulary word adaptation. Show the students the
chart “Adaptations of Living Things” (example in Appendix) and explain the terms.
Explain that living things have different physical features and behaviors that help
them adjust and change so they can survive in their environment. Point out the
examples of the animals on the chart for each adaptation. Ask the students what
kind of adaptation each of the living things has in the following examples:
• A whale has a blowhole to help it breathe air. (physical feature)
• A crab’s shell protects it from other animals. (physical feature)
• Canada geese fly south for the winter. (migration / behavior)
• Wolves hunt in packs. (behavior)
• Birds have hollow bones and light feathers so they can fly. (physical feature)
• Arctic ground squirrels sleep during the winter months. (hibernation /
physical feature and behavior)
• Salmon fry migrate out to sea but return to spawn in the river years later.
(migration / behavior)
• Arctic hares are white in the winter and brown in the summer. (camouflage /
physical feature)
3. Have students give other examples and record them on the chart. Discuss
how these adaptations help animals survive. Have them decide if they are a
behavioral adaptation or a physical feature.
4. Discussion Questions (student assessment):
• What are some physical features of living things that live on land?
• What are some physical features of living things that live in water?
• What are some behaviors that living things do on land?
• What are some behaviors that living things do in water?
• How are animals and plants different in how they adapt?
• How are animals and plants the same in how they adapt?
Part 2
1. Review vocabulary terms from Part 1 and remind the students of what they
learned from the chart.
2. Introduce the Living Things Information Cards and explain that they will be
reading about living things from the local environment. Explain that students
will be exploring the adaptations, both physical features and behaviors, of the
living things. They will be classifying the living things by adaptation. Tell the
students that a living thing may have more than one adaptation. Give examples
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8. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
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such as:
• A beluga whale has white skin that camouflages them against the arctic ice.
(Camouflage)
• A beluga whale migrates to coastal water in summer, deep ocean water in
winter. (Migration)
• A beluga whale has five inches of blubber to keep warm in cold water.
(Physical Feature)
3. Instruct the students on the following procedure:
• Students will be divided into groups of five. (If you have smaller groups,
each student will just have more cards to read.)
• Each student will get the Student Worksheet: Adaptations of Living Things.
• One person in the group will deal out the “Living Things Information Cards”,
so that each student has about four cards.
• Each student will read their cards to the others in their group.
• As a group, they will determine which living things are good examples
of each category of adaptation. They will discuss the examples, but each
student will complete their own worksheet. They will start with camouflage
and decide on two living things to list as examples. For instance: beluga
whale could be written in the middle column next to the word camouflage.
In the third column I would write, “white skin blends in with the arctic ice”.
Then I would list another living thing that has camouflage, such as the
snowshoe hare. In the example column I would write, “fur is brownish grey
in summer, white in winter”. Then we will move on to the migration row,
and we could also list the beluga whale in the middle column there, and
write “moves to coastal water in summer and deep water in winter” for the
example, and so on.
• Student groups may use additional resources and books if they need
additional information on their living things.
• Student groups that finish early may look at the additional resource
materials and discuss the adaptations of other living things they read about.
4. After the activity, ask (student assessment):
• How did your living things adapt to the environment?
• How many ways were you able to classify your living thing?
• What physical features did your living thing have that showed an adaptation
to the environment?
• What behaviors did your living thing do to adapt to the environment?
• Were any of the living things similar in their adaptations? How were they
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9. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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different?
• If we classify living things into plants and animals, how were the adaptations
of plants and animals similar? How were they different?
• What would happen if your living thing switched environments and went
from land to water, or water to land?
• Why do living things adapt to their environments?
• How would the behaviors of living things affect the people in the local
community?
• If changes in the seasons and the climate affect living things in the local
environment, how does that affect the people in the local community?
5. Optional: Have students complete the Student Worksheet: What Helps Living
Things Survive, using the Living Things Information Cards for ideas. They may
begin in class and finish at home for homework. Have them return to class the
next day to share with the class.
Extension Activities
• Invite a cultural knowledge bearer to the classroom to talk about how the
seasons have changed over the past few years in the local environments. Ask
them to comment on how this has affected the local plants and animals.
• Explore the relationship between temperature, body heat, and insulation and
how animals have made adaptations to cold environments.
• Write a short paragraph describing why blubber helps animals stay warm in icy
conditions.
• Draw a picture(s) of the local environment and show the adaptations a living
thing makes during the different seasons of the year.
Part 1
1. Pictures of students (pre-assessment):
• Features you have that help you survive in the local environment: ability to
think, hands with fingers and thumbs, legs and feet, answers will vary.
• Behaviors you have that help you survive: ability to walk, run, and climb,
building a fire, making and/or wearing clothes, answers will vary.
• Behaviors you change when the seasons change and it becomes colder:
wearing warmer clothing, rubbing hands together to keep them warm;
using snowshoes or snow machines, answers will vary.
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10. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
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• How your behaviors differ between a land and water environment: would
not go in water in the winter; need a boat for water; swim in water, walk on
land; answers will vary.
• How behaviors would be the same between a land and water environment:
hunt or search for food; move to stay warm; answers will vary.
• Meaning of adapting to one’s environment: any feature or behavior a living
thing does to survive.
2. Discussion Questions (student assessment):
• Physical features of living things that live on land: legs, leaves, claws, spruce
needles, lungs, eyes, noses, answers will vary.
• Physical features of living things that live in water: fins, blowholes, tails,
baleen, teeth, eyes, answers will vary.
• Behaviors that living things do on land: hunt, grow, breathe, dig dens,
migrate, hibernate, change colors, drop leaves; answers will vary.
• Behaviors that living things do in water: migrate, grow, breathe, swim, climb
on the ice, answers will vary.
• How animals and plants differ in how they adapt: plants cannot move from
one place to another, animals cannot produce green leaves, animals eat
plants or other animals, plants make their own food.
• How animals and plants are the same in how they adapt: both prepare for
when the seasons change, both grow, need shelter, need air, need wate.r
Part 2
3. Student Worksheet: Adaptations of Living Things: Answers will vary depending
on which living things are classified.
4. Discussion Questions (student assessment):
• How living thing adapts to its environment: developing physical features
over long periods of time or changing behaviors so that the living thing can
survive.
• Physical features that showed an adaptation to the environment: growing
long hair, changing hair color, specialized claws or fangs, specialized body
parts that have developed to do a specific job; answers may vary.
• Behaviors that showed an adaptation to a change to the environment:
migration, hibernation, eating excess food to store fat for winter, storing
food for winter, defensive actions, answers may vary.
• Number of ways able to classify living thing: answers will vary.
• Similarity of adaptations of land and water living things: defensive actions,
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11. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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migration, fat storage, staying active.
• Differences of adaptations of land and water living things: water things
limited in ability to hibernate; plants lose leaves and go dormant.
• Similarity of adaptations of plant and animals: hibernation of animals and
dormancy of plants are similar; defensive physical features; answers will vary.
• Differences of adaptations of plants and animals: animals migrate, animals
have defensive actions; answers will vary.
• Results of living thing switching environments: living things would probably
not survive; if a living thing did survive, adaptations would probably appear
in future generations.
• What was learned about how living things adapt to their environments:
living things adapt to threats and change in their environment in order to
thrive and to ensure that they keep reproducing.
• How behaviors of living things affect the people in the local community: if
living things migrate away or are scarce, the local community would not
have access to it; when an animal’s food source becomes scarce, it may come
closer to town in search of food; an abundance of living things would mean
an abundance for the community; answers may vary.
• Seasonal change in the environment effect on local living things and the
local community: seasonal changes that cause living things to go dormant,
hibernate, or migrate will cause a shortage or scarcity of local living things
which means the local community will have less access to that living thing;
answers may vary.
5. Optional Student Worksheet: What Helps Living Things Survive: Answer Key with
sample answers provided
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12. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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Alaska Department of Fish and Game (2001). “Tundra Adaptations.”
Alaska Department of Fish and Game: “Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series,” Accessed
from: www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=educators.notebookseries
Charles, Walkie. 2002. “See Connections — All Things are Related.” In Alaska Native
Ways: What the Elders Have Taught Us. Roy Corral, Ed. Portland: Graphic Arts
Center Publishing.
Divoky, George, and Rosa, Cheryl. “Habitats Shift as Arctic Temps Creep Above
Freezing.” Science Friday. 20 February 2015. Accessed from:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/02/20/2015/habitats-shift-as-arctic-
temps-creep-above-freezing.html.
Ecokids: “Reindeer Moss,” Accessed from:
www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/field_guide/plants/reindeer_moss.cfm
Fienup-Riordan, Ann, and Alice Rearden. (2012) ”Ellavut: Our Yup’ik World and
Weather. Continuity and change on the Bearing Sea Coast.” Seattle and London:
University of Washington Press.
Garibaldi, Ann. 1999. “Medicinal Flora of the Alaska Natives: A Compilation of
Knowledge from Literary Sources of Aleut, Alutiiq, Athabascan, Eyak, Haida,
Inupiat, Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Yupik Traditional Healing Methods Using Plants.”
Anchorage: Alaska Natural Heritage Program.
Kingeekuk, Kenneth. (2010). “Overview of Impacts from Savoonga.” Stories About
Adaptation and Subsistence: Native Voices from the Frontlines of Climate Change.
Aksik. Accessed from: http://aksik.org/content/2010-overview-impacts
Wikipedia, “Bering Sea”, Accessed from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bering_Sea
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13. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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ANSWER KEY REACH
Student Worksheet: What Helps Living Things Survive
Name ___________________________________________________________________
Answers will vary but examples for each question are given.
1. Name two living things that migrate.
caribou, arctic fox, ptarmigan, beluga, bowhead whale, puffin, phalarope, walrus
2. Name two living things that hibernate.
brown bears, spruce trees, arctic bumblebees, lichen
3. Name two living things that use camouflage:
Arctic fox, snowshoe hare, caribou, belugas, lemmings, ptarmigan, ermine
4. Choose a living thing and name two behaviors that help them adapt to winter.
Answers will vary – Examples follow:
Name of Living Thing: Arctic Bumblebee
Behaviors that help adapt 1. Uses large wings to shiver to keep body heat
to colder seasons 2. Queen hibernates for nine months
Name of Living Thing: Walrus
1. Migrate south in the winter following ice pack
Behaviors that help adapt
to colder seasons 2. Tusks make holes in the ice to help them climb
out of the water
5. Choose a living thing and name two physical features that help them adapt to
winter.
Name of Living Thing: Spruce tree
1. Cone shape of tree fosters shedding of snow and
Physical features that help stops branch loss
adapt to winter 2. Dark green needles help absorb warmth from the
sun
Name of Living Thing: Ptarmigan
Physical features that help 1. Feathers on feet to keep warm in winter
adapt to winter 2. Feathers turn brown in summer, white in winter
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14. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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ANSWER KEY REACH
6. Name a living thing that changes the local environment in order to help it thrive
and survive? Explain how it does this.
Answers will vary. Examples:
• A beaver builds a dam to make the water deeper at lakes and along rivers or streams.
The deeper water protects the beaver from other animals and provides a way for it to
get safely into its lodge.
• The phalarope is a bird that lives mostly at sea. When it is feeding in deeper water it
will rapidly swim around in a circle to create a whirlpool. As zooplankton rises to the
surface, the phalarope will pick the zooplankton out of the center of the whirlpool
and eat it.
7. Describe how the community and their dependence on living things in the local
environment change when the seasons change.
Answers will vary. Example:
• The local community depends on the local animals for food. When the seasons
change, the plants become dormant and are no longer producing food for some
of the plant-eating animals. If it snows, the plants may also be covered in snow.
Animals that depend on the plants for nourishment will migrate and search for
food in other areas. The local people must then search for game further from the
community.
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15. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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STUDENT WORK REACH
Student Worksheet: Adaptations of Living things
Name ___________________________________________________________________
Record examples of each type of adaptations. Record the name of each plant or animal
in the Living Thing column next to the adaptations it shows. In the Example column,
describe what the living thing has or does to survive in its environment.
Adaptations of Living Things
Adaptation Living Thing Example
1. 1.
Camouflage
2. 2.
1. 1.
Migration
2. 2.
1. 1.
Hibernation
2. 2.
1. 1.
Behavior
2. 2.
1. 1.
Physical feature
2. 2.
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16. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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STUDENT WORK REACH
Student Worksheet: What Helps Living Things Survive
Name ___________________________________________________________________
1. Name two living things that migrate:
__________________________________ _____________________________
2. Name two living things that hibernate:
__________________________________ _____________________________
3. Name two living things that use camouflage:
__________________________________ _____________________________
4. Choose a living thing and name two behaviors that help them adapt to winter.
Name of Living Thing:
1.
Behaviors that help adapt
to colder seasons
2.
5. Choose a living thing and name two physical features that help them adapt to
winter.
Name of Living Thing:
1.
Physical features that help
adapt to colder seasons
2.
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17. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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STUDENT WORK REACH
6. How does a living thing change the local environment in order to help it thrive
and survive?
7. Describe how the community and their dependence on living things in the local
environment change when the seasons change.
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18. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
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APPENDIX REACH
Teacher Chart: Adaptations of Living Things
Adaptations of Living Things
Adaptation Living Thing Example Student Examples
A color or pattern
Snowshoe hare –
Camouflage that helps a living
white fur
thing hide.
Movement by a
Caribou – moving to
Migration living thing from one
find food
place to another.
Long periods of
seasonal sleep by a Brown Bear – sleeps
Hibernation
living thing in order during the winter
to save energy.
Actions done by Ermine – has side
Behavior living things to help rooms in its den for
them survive. storing food
The parts that can be
Beaver – paddle tail
Physical features seen or observed on
and webbed feet
a living thing
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 18

19. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
APPENDIX REACH
Living Things Information Cards
Arctic Fox Caribou
• Coat gets thinner and turns brown • Hooves made for digging through
in summer, white and longer in the ice and snow
winter • Hair is hollow to give warmth
• Will travel a long way out on sea ice • Coat turns to mostly brown in
to eat the remains of seals left by summer, mostly white in winter
polar bears • Moves to different areas to find
food, return to same calving
grounds in the spring.
Snowshoe Hare Ermine
• Back feet are large, long, with lots • Mainly active at night
of fur for moving in deep snow • Dens have side rooms for storing
• Eats grass, ferns, and leaves in extra food
summer, twigs and bark in winter • Fur is dark brown and short in the
• Fur is brownish grey in summer, summer, white with a black tip on
white in winter the tail in winter
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 19

20. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
APPENDIX REACH
Living Things Information Cards
Brown Bear Ptarmigan
• Eats fish, berries, grasses, small • Feathers on feet to keep them warm
mammals, roots in winter
• Usually found alone, but large • Migrates 100 to 150 miles in the fall
numbers may be at fishing areas from lower areas to the treeline
• Eats a lot in the summer, then stays • Feathers turn brown in summer,
in its den most of the winter white in winter
Beaver Lemming
• Paddle shaped tail, webbed back • Double digging claws on the front
feet, and waterproof fur toes to dig through the ice and
• Builds dams across streams to make snow
water deeper to protect itself • Coat is dark grey with a reddish
• Builds lodge and stores food in brown tone in summer, white in
lodge for winter winter
• Tunnels under the snow
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 20

21. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
APPENDIX REACH
Living Things Information Cards
Arctic Bumblebees Spruce Tree
• Velvet coat helps it stay warm • Cone shape of tree fosters shedding
• Can fly at low temperatures for long of snow and stops branch loss
distances • Thin needles help tree not lose
• Uses large wings to shiver to keep water, dark green color helps
body heat absorb warmth from the sun
• Queen hibernates for nine months • Grows in the summer, is dormant or
inactive in the winter
Lichen Labrador Tea
• Hard, strong tissues seal out wind, • Sprouts from its roots
rain, and cold • Evergreen leaves
• Can go long periods without water
• Fuzzy leaves limit the loss of water
• Becomes dormant with low
temperatures and limited light in • Leaves curl when exposed to the
winter wind
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 21

22. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
APPENDIX REACH
Living Things Information Cards
Beluga Whale Walrus
• Five inches of blubber keeps them • Blubber stored under skin keeps
warm in cold water them warm
• White skin blends in with the • Moves north in the spring, south in
arctic ice the winter following ice pack
• Moves to coastal water in summer, • Tusks make holes in the ice to help
deep ocean water in winter them climb out of the water
Bowhead Whale Bearded Seal
• Thick blubber used to keep warm, • Makes breathing holes in ice with
save energy, and for padding their claws
• Have two blowholes that help them • Rests close to holes or cracks in the
breathe from small holes in the ice ice so they can escape quickly
• Moves north to feeding areas in • Moves north as sea ice melts in
summer, south to have babies in summer, south as sea ice forms in
winter winter
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 22

23. WHAT HELPS PLANTS AND UNIT 7: Your Environment
ANIMALS LIVE IN PLACES? Lesson 17 — Grades 2-3
APPENDIX REACH
Living Things Information Cards
Alaska King Crab Polar Bear
• Shell is called an exoskeleton, • Waterproof, hollow hair
protects its body • Large feet help them swim and walk
• Sheds shell in order to grow on thin ice
• Moves to shallow water in summer, • Eats small mammals, bird eggs,
deeper water in winter plants, and berries in summer,
ringed seals, walrus, and beluga
whales in winter
Puffin Phalaropes
• Nests underground • Swims to make a whirlpool so it can
• Webbed feet help them change pick up food from the center.
direction in the water and in the air • Moves to Alaska to have chicks in
• Lives on land to breed in summer, in summer, tropical oceans in winter
open ocean in winter • Eats insects and invertebrates in
summer, zooplankton, krill, and
arrow worms in winter
REACH ©2015 K-12 Outreach, UA 23

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