Tuesday December 9, 2014
LTLT#3 Final Adaptations Project

LTLT#3 Adaptations Project

Assigned Tuesday December 9, 2014       Due Monday December 15, 2014

Name: __________________________ Date: ______________ Class Period: _________________

Objective: For this project, you will be writing an article about a newly found fossil.

1.  You will need to describe what was found (Traits)

2.  What the organism once was (A land animal, a sea animal, a flying animal)

3.  What can you infer (guess) about it. (Example: if it is a fish, then it probably lived in an ocean)

You can borrow features from other animals to help create yours, but your final animal must be unique.

You also need to draw a picture for your animal, and label it telling what each adaptation is and how it helped the animal survive.

Get creative! Have fun!!!

NEWS ARTICLE RUBRIC

EXEMPLARY	·       Creative and highly interesting to read
ACCOMPLISHED	·       Includes at least 6 paragraphs about your findings (5-7 sentences per paragraph) ·       Give the organism a name ·       Describe the organism, with 5-7 traits ·       Includes interesting details about the trip and the organism found. ·       Includes a labeled picture of your animal ·       Must be legible (able to be read) Can be handwritten or typed ·       Proofread and grammatically correct ·       Includes at least 2 drafts
DEVELOPING/ACCOMPLISHED	Missing one to three of the above items
DEVELOPING	Missing three to five of the above items
BEGINNING	Missing more than five of the above items

Project Steps:

Step 1: Answer the following questions

Step 2: Write a first draft. Can be handwritten neatly, or typed.

Step 3: Meet with a peer editor

Step 4: Revise your draft

Step 5: Conference with Ms. Mac

Step 6: Write a final draft

Outline/Prompt Questions

1.    Introduce your article

a.      What is the organism you will be talking about in the article?

b.     Give your organism a name

c.      What is a fossil? Define it.

d.     Who discovered the organism? What are their names?

e.      When was this organism discovered?

f.       Where was this organism discovered??

g.      How old is the organism?

2.    Provide some background or interesting details about the trip

a.      How long did it take for the people to discover the organism?

b.     Were there any hardships the people encountered??

c.      Did the scientists find any other organisms near or around the big find?

3.    Findings

a.      Describe your organism’s physical features: what traits does it have? List 5-7 traits

b.     Where did the animal live?

c.      What did it eat? (Predator/prey)

d.     What ate it? (Predator/prey)

e.      Did it have any competition?

f.       Did it work with another other organisms? (Mutualism)

g.      Was it neighbors with any other organisms? (Commensalism)

4.    Animal Adaptations 

a.     How does this organism get its food?

b.     What parts of its body helps it get food?

c.     How does it protect itself from predators?

d.     How does it survive?

e.     How does your organism protect itself? Does it run fast? Is it big? Is it armored?

5. Evolution & Changes over time

a.      What is the theory of evolution? Define or describe it.

b.     Does your animal have any ancestors? What are their names?

c.      How has your organism has changed over time? What was it like in the past?

d.     What might have happened to make it change? Did the environment change, did the climate or weather change, was there a flood or a drought?

6.    Conclude your article

a.      What are the people going to do with their newly discovered organism?? Are they going to sell it, study it, put it in a museum?

b.      How has finding the organism changed their lives? Are they famous?

c.       What are they going to do next?