Oceans: Animal Adaptation

 

While the big kids made a long list of animal adaptations, on sea and land, the little kids covered two experiments to demonstrate adaptation: Webbed Feet and Oiled Feathers.

We talked about animals that have webbed feet: ducks, geese, frogs, otters, beavers...Then the kids pulled their fingers through a bowl of water before testing out webbed extremities! We used plastic bags, as they spread their fingers wide and felt the resistance pulling the water.

The second Adaptation Experiment was observing what is the result when feathers and fur have oil in them and they're placed in the water. For this, we took two strips of paper; one plain, the other greased in vegetable oil. When dipped in a bowl of water, the plain strip of paper became soggy and absorbed a lot of liquid, whereas the oiled piece of paper repelled the water. We talked about why this would be important in the wild for animals whose habitats are wet.

Lastly, we read an amazing picture book on adaptation and Darwin: The Island by Jason Chin.