SEEd Storylines

Storyline Narrative 7.4.2

Standard 7.4.2: Obtain, evaluate and communicate information about specific animal and plant adaptations and structures that affect the probability of successful reproduction. Examples of adaptations could include nest building to protect young from cold, herding of animals to protect young from predators, vocalization of animals and colorful plumage to attract mates for breeding, bright flowers attracting butterflies that transfer pollen, flower nectar and odors that attract insects that transfer pollen, and hard shells on nuts that squirrels bury.

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Student Friendly Objective: I can present information that shows how specific adaptations and structures will make an organism more likely to survive and reproduce.

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Anchor Phenomenon: Males of certain species have different physical characteristics than females of the same species (think, peacocks, white campion, etc.)

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Big Idea: Specific adaptations and structures affect the probability of successful reproduction and offspring survival.

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Students are introduced to this standard by being presented with pictures of various organisms with different structural traits between the males and females of the species (e.g. different plumages, presence or absence of antlers, etc.) that influence the reproductive success of these organisms. Students are engaged as they discover patterns in the examples given to them. As students work together, they are obtaining information, evaluating it as they look for patterns, and then communicating their explanations for these examples.

 

This leads into students being introduced to animal behaviors that also play a role in how successful an organism is at finding a mate. Students explore the behaviors they see to obtain more information about them. This allows students to form explanations using evidence

 

As students understand that animal behaviors play a role in the success of finding a mate, they will also be given an opportunity to see patterns in behaviors that animals exhibit after reproducing, specifically referring to parental behaviors. Students will see various organisms, evaluate and explain the information given to them, and communicate how behaviors of organisms influence reproductive success.

 

To elaborate on the idea of adaptations influencing reproductive success, students will investigate how the structures of plants function to contribute to successful plant reproduction.  This is achieved first by focusing on a specific example, and then by expanding that to include a larger range of examples. Students will be able to use the patterns they saw in animals and apply those patterns to plants. Students will communicate their understanding through written explanations and class discussions.

In order for the teacher to evaluate student understanding of the concept, students will construct explanations about the reproductive strategies, both behaviors and structures, of different types of organisms shown on the University of Utah Genetics page on reproduction. Furthermore, students will apply the patterns they have seen in other episodes to a final evaluation episode, where they will predict the probability of successful reproduction of various organisms within the same species (just containing different traits).