OUTREACH : 90-min. HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS : Alien Adaptations

Is there life beyond Earth? Just how could life adapt to a foreign environment? Examine various adaptations and discuss how these help an animal to survive. Students will then build an alien adapted to a specific niche.

Michigan Grade Level Content Expectations, Science, 2007

• Identify how variations in physical characteristics of individual organisms give them an advantage for survival and reproduction. (L.EV.04.22)
• Explain how fossils provide evidence of the history of the Earth. (E.ST.04.31)
• Explain how behavioral characteristics (adaptation, instinct, learning, habit) of animals help them to survive in their environment. (L.EV.05.11)
• Describe the physical characteristics (traits) of organisms that help them survive in their environment. (L.EV.05.12)
• Explain how two populations of organisms can be mutually beneficial and how that can lead to interdependency. (L.EC.06.22)

Alien Adaptations Pre-visit Vocabulary

Adaptation: Any change, physical or behavioral, that makes it easier for an organism to survive in its environment.

Alien: Foreign or different from a specific region.

Carnivorous: A diet consisting predominately of animal matter.

Environment: The surroundings of an organism (biological and physical).

Herbivorous: A diet consisting predominately of non-animal matter.

Niche: An organism’s particular ecological place and role in an environment.

Omnivorous: A diet consisting of both animal and non-animal matter.

Trait: A distinguishing characteristic.

Alien Adaptations Post-visit Activity

Post-visit activities provide your students with an opportunity to review workshop-presented concepts and introduce related subjects. Below you will find a classroom extension activity and a list of suggested resources for further exploration. We hope that you enjoyed our Outreach Hands-On Workshop and we look forward to visiting your students again!

Hands-On Activity: Doodle Wars!

This two-person pen and paper activity recreates an evolutionary arms-race, defined as minor adaptations and counter-adaptations between a predator and prey. A good example of this type of battle is the interaction between diseases and antibiotics. When antibiotics are used to kill specific bacteria, a small percentage survives which is resistant to the antibiotic. This strain spreads and requires a new antibiotic. This repeats until either these bacteria are completely wiped out or a “super-bug” has been created.

The games

• Player 1 draws a stick figure in the middle of a piece of paper
• Player 2 draws something else on the page that is meant to harm the stick figure
• Player 1 draws a “counter-attack” to keep their figure safe
• Player 2 responds again either with a new attack or a “counter-counter-attack”

Rules

1. No player can draw anything within 1 inch of the stick figure.
2. Escalations should not go immediately to total world destruction.
3. The original stick-figure cannot move.
4. ALL action drawn on the page is assumed to be occurring simultaneously.
5. No attack or defense can be repeated.
6. The game goes on either until one person cedes or both decide to move on.

Suggested Resources

Books

Internet