Adaptations

Objectives

• Know that adaptations of organisms help them survive

• Identify and explain adaptations of animals

Background info

• Fish live in water. • They need to move through water efficiently. • They move to escape predators or to catch their

food. • If they cannot move quickly they will not be

successful. • Water is more dense than air so a fish must be

designed to pass through water with minimum resistance

Which shape is best……2mins to make a prediction

Method sheet (see yours)• Take a block of modelling clay (approximately 2 cm3) and weigh it.• Decide on at least three shapes of body for the model of the fish, such as fish

shape, cube shape, and cylinder shape.• Fill the 500 cm3 measuring cylinder with 500 cm3 of thickened water.• Shape the modelling clay into one of the shapes you have chosen.• Next you will need to time how long it takes for the shape to move through

the liquid.• One person should hold the clay shape above the water and then drop it into

the measuring cylinder carefully. You do not need to drop the shape from very high above the measuring cylinder.

• The other person should record the time taken for the shape to sink to the bottom of the cylinder. Record your results in a copy of the table shown below.

• Repeat three times making sure that you drop the clay shape from the same height each time.

• Carefully remove the modelling clay from the measuring cylinder; do not throw the liquid away.

• Change the shape of the modelling clay, and repeat steps 3–8.

Adaptations of Fish

Follow the method sheet you have been given to complete the experiment

Questions

• Which was the fastest shape?• Which was the slowest shape?• What affects the speed of the shape moving through

the water?• Explain why the fastest shape was the fastest.• Is this shape the most common for fish shapes?• What advantage is this to the animal?• Were there any errors, and what improvements

could be made to the experiment?

Task 2- Design your own

• For this task you must design your own organism to live in the sea. You must state the adaptations you have given it and explain how this will enable the organism to survive in its environment.

• You must consider – Food– Camouflage– Body size– Special adaptations to give it an advantage