Monday, October 20, 2014

Awesome Adaptations!

Who knew that beavers are such amazing animals? Mrs. LaRussa, that's who. We went to CLIC as part of our study of adaptations. Plant and animal adaptations are behavioral or structural features that help an organism survive. We learned that the beaver is an animal built to survive with more adaptations than we can list here. Max volunteered to demonstrate the beaver's many adaptations. For example, they have a third eyelid which is clear (like goggles) to help them see underwater, ear flaps so water does not harm their hearing, and, of course, their famous tails which they use in many ways (as a stool when building or chewing down a tree, as a warning device, and more.)

Watch this video witness a beaver rebuilding their lodge. It is a very personal look at the "engineers of nature" at work.







What do you know about adaptations? Pick your favorite animal and explain some of its adaptations in the comment section.

MA State Standard #6. Give examples of how inherited characteristics may change over time as adaptations to changes in the environment that enable organisms to survive, e.g., shape of beak or feet, placement of eyes on head, length of neck, shape of teeth, color.

15 comments:

  1. Hi Mrs. kelleher
    I thought it was funny in the video when the beaver noticed the guy filming and he got scared and fell over on his tail.
    From,
    Stella

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  2. Dear Mrs.Kelleher,
    That was very exsiting. The beaver got really scared when the guy scared him. I liked when they were jaming the sticks in the nests.

    From,Will

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  3. Dear Mrs. Kelleher,
    I watched the video. It was cool. I liked when the beaver fell in the water. I learned that it builds most of its life.
    From, Grady

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  4. I had a lot of fun learning more about beavers one thing I learned was the mom flaps her tail one time to tell the kids to go in the house or they will be eaten. Two flaps is the dad saying listen to youre mom or you really will be eaten.
    From Madison C.

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  5. Dear Mrs.Kelleher,
    I thought it was funny in the video when the beaver found out that the guy was filming and fell over on his tail.
    Sincerly,Piper

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  6. That beaver video was cool. I wish I could chew down trees but that whould probably hurt and taste bad...... but if I was a beaver that whould not be a problem. By Maddie

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  7. Dear .Mrs.kellher
    I thought it was very funny when Maxie dressed up. My favorite part was when he put the tail on. The tail helps a beaver for slapping the ground to call their babies for protection.
    From.Sean

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  8. Dear Mrs.Kelleher

    My favorite animal is a Lion.One of there adaptations is that its yellow and it has sharp claws on its feet.Lions have a big neck and they also have very sharp teeth to catch their prey.Lions do not have beaks they have eyes on their head like us.

    From,Christopher Esposito

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  9. Dear Mrs. Kelleher
    My favorite animal is a dog. One of their adaptations is a big coat of fur they have that so they dont get cold in the winter. They also can hear really well they can hear twice as loud as us. Dogs have kanine teeth they use them for ripping appart food. Dogs can smell really well. That is what I know about dogs.
    From,
    Riley

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  10. Dear Mrs. Kelleher,
    My favorite animal is a Guinea pig. I know some adaptions about it. I will tell you them, did you know that Guinea pigs like shelter more than being shown to other people. Hawks like to eat them but when they see them they find shelter to help them survive so the hawks wont eat them. Another one is that Guinea pigs can have colors so they can blend in with the sorroundings. They do that because when they are out side they did not want the hawks to eat them. That is my animal adaptions.

    From,
    Julia

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  11. Dear Mrs.Kelleher,
    It is amazing how fast and how easy beavers make it look buliding dam. Also the beavers have very sharp and long teeth to chop or chew down tree wood.
    From, Maguire Sturgis

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  12. Dear Mrs. Kelleher,
    I watched the video and read the post the video was really cool. I can't believe the
    Beavers let that man video tape them rebuild their lodge. My animal I pick is the cheetah it has long lean legs to help it run. It also has sharp teeth. If they hunt in packs they hunt even larger animals like a grown up lion.

    From, Matthew Long

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  13. Dear Ms.Kelleher,
    My favorite wild animal is a wildcat called the Lynx. The Lxnx has giant paws and it uses them like snowshoes. It is a very sneaky animal since it lives in Canada, which is a snowy area, it hides behind the snow banks and big rocks. It catches Snowshoe Hares and other small animals in the snow. My favorite of the three is gthe giant paws.
    From,
    Justin

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  14. Awesome is right!! I love all the animals mentioned!

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  15. Dear Mrs. Kelleher,
    I enjoyed watching the video. Beaver's are really interesting animals. My favorite thing about them is their long tails and I thought that was the funniest thing to put on Max. My favorite animal is a horse because I have always wanted to ride one. I like that they are sometimes very big and sometimes very little. However, I don't know much about horses except you shouldn't walk behind them.
    From Kate (your favorite student)

    ReplyDelete