At-Academy Activity: Animal Adaptations Scavenger Hunt

Through this scavenger hunt, students will learn about adaptations that help animals survive in underwater habitats or desert habitats. While observing examples of aquatic animals and desert animals, students will record their observations using drawings and words.

Through this scavenger hunt, students will: 

1. learn about adaptations that help animals survive in underwater habitats or desert habitats.
2. observe examples of aquatic animals and desert animals.
3. record observations using drawings and words.

• Animal Adaptation Scavenger Hunt (one copy per student)
• pencils (one per student)
• optional: clipboards (one per student)

• adaptation: a structure or behavior that increases an organism’s chance of surviving and reproducing in a particular environment.

Preparation

1. Make copies of the Animal Adaptation Scavenger Hunt.

Introduction

• Clearly define the word “adaptation” for your students.  Explain that an adaptation is a structure or behavior that helps an organism survive in its environment.  Provide a few examples and ask your students to think of other examples.
• Explain that you will be visiting an exhibit where you will see some animals that live surrounded by water and other animals that live with very little water.  Have students brainstorm adaptations that might help animals survive in each of these situations.
• Go over the questions on the scavenger hunt with your students and make sure they understand what they will be doing. 
• Remind your students to be careful not to drop or lose their pencils, clipboards, or scavenger hunts while they are exploring the exhibits.  Be especially cautious with these items around open-top tanks.  Objects that fall into the tanks could be harmful to the animals!
• Go over the scavenger hunt questions with your adult chaperones ahead of time and make sure they are familiar with the activity and vocabulary.

Procedure

1. Take your students into the Water Planet Exhibit, located in the Aquarium on the Lower Level.  (Note that this exhibit can get crowded on busy days; you may want to bring only a small group of students into the area at a time.)
2. Orient students to the layout of the exhibit.  Show them where the exhibit begins and ends.
3. Allow time for students to explore, observe, and answer the questions on the scavenger hunt.

Wrap-Up

• Discuss the adaptations that your students observed in the exhibit.  Ask students to share examples of adaptations that they drew or wrote about, and to explain how each adaptation helps the animal survive.

Grade Three

Life Science

• 3a.  Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
• 3b.  Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.

The Water Planet Exhibit in the Aquarium displays some animals that live surrounded by water and some animals that live with very little water.  Different parts of the exhibit highlight different adaptations that help the animals deal with the challenges of their particular habitat.

Look for signs high on the walls to see what theme is being highlighted in each section of the exhibit.  Adaptations for reproduction, movement, feeding, defense, and sensing are featured for animals in underwater environments.  The desert section focuses on adaptations for survival in areas where water is scarce.

 The interior pages of this scavenger hunt guide students to focus on adaptations for feeding and moving underwater.  While students should start by looking in the “Feeding” and “Moving” sections of the exhibit, they should also feel free to use animals from other sections as examples.  The back page focuses on adaptations for survival in dry environments.  The questions on that page will be best answered in the “Precious Little Water” section of the exhibit.