A Museum of Science Traveling Program

Animal Adaptations

Description

Animal Adaptations is a 50-

minute presentation that helps

students observe and identify

evolutionary changes in living

animals and animal skulls. It is

designed to build on NGSS-

based curricula.

NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards

Needs

We bring all materials and

equipment, including a

camera, video projector, and

screen. Access to 110-volt

electricity is required.

Space Requirements

The program can be set up in any room with at

least 25´ by 25´ of cleared floor area. All sessions

must be taught in the same room.

Goals: Observing Animals

Students observe up to three

live animals, from a variety of

classes, in a very intimate

setting.

Goals: Adaptations

The students identify

common characteristics

like how animals get their

energy, avoid predators

and reproduce. They

understand these are

adaptations for survival.

Goals: Classification

A secondary goal is to clarify

how adaptations are used as

the basis of biological

classification.

Goals: Skull Activity

The program culminates with

an activity. The students

observe a variety of animal

skulls and try to identify the

adaptations that determined

that animal’s diet .

Goals: Science Skills

Both the presentation and

activity exercise science

process skills, such as

observation, making valid

predictions, and data

collection.

Program Details

• Can only be booked for

school groups during the

school year.

• Only available for third- or

fourth-grade students

studying the program

content.

Program Details

• Capacity is two classes (50

students) per session.

• Up to three consecutive

sessions can be taught per

day.

Program Restrictions

• Maximum time offsite is 6

hours

• Maximum range is 100 miles

from MoS

• Not possible to split schedules

around lunch

• Not offered from mid-

December through mid-March

• Teaching spaces must have

temperatures between 70 and

85 degrees Fahrenheit

NGSS Connections• 3-LS3-1. Provide evidence, including through the analysis of data,

that plants and animals have traits inherited from parents and that

variation of these traits exist in a group of similar organisms.

• 3-LS3-2. Distinguish between inherited characteristics and those

characteristics that result from a direct interaction with the

environment. Give examples of characteristics of living organisms that

are influenced by both inheritance and the environment.

• 3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the

variations in characteristics among individuals within the same

species may provide advantages to these individuals in their survival

and reproduction.

• 3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular

environment some organisms can survive well, some survive less

well, and some cannot survive.

NGSS Connections• 3-LS4-4. Analyze and interpret given data about changes in a habitat

and describe how the changes may affect the ability of organisms that

live in that habitat to survive and reproduce.

• 3-LS4-5. Provide evidence to support a claim that the survival of a

population is dependent upon reproduction.

• 4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that animals and plants have internal

and external structures that support their survival, growth, behavior,

and reproduction.

NGSS Scientific and Engineering

Practices

• Asking questions and defining problems.

• Developing and using models.

• Analyzing and interpreting data.

• Constructing explanations and designing solutions.

• Engaging in argument from evidence.

• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information.

2019 – 2020 Prices

Sessions per Day Price

1 Session $450

2 Sessions $550

3 Sessions $650

No mileage fees charged in New England in 2019-20 School Year.

Animal Adaptations

For information/reservations:

mos.org/travelingprograms

travelingprograms@mos.org

617-589-0354