Animal Adaptations

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Why Do Animals Adapt?

• An adaptation is a way an organism's body helps it to survive in its environment.
• A behavioral adaptation is something an animal does or how it acts to live in its environment.
• A physical adaptation is the physical design of an animal's body that aids in its survival.

Lesson 2: Adapting to Climate

• Estivation is similar to hibernation, but estivating animals go into deep sleep to escape the hot rather than the cold.
• Blubber is a thick layer of fat that helps keep the bodies of animals warm in cold climates.

Lesson 3: Living in the Dark

• Echolocation is when an animal makes high-pitched sounds that travel through the air, hit objects, and bounce back to the animal. The animal is then able to tell what the object is.

Lesson 4: Hiding Out

• Camouflage is the markings on animals that allow their bodies to blend in with their habitats.
• Mimicry is when animals look like other animals or objects in nature.

Lesson 5: Finding Food and Taking Care of Babies

• Herbivores are animals that eat plants.
• Carnivores are animals that eat other animals.
• Reproduction is the process by which animals make babies.

Lesson 6: Protection

• Predators are animals that hunt and eat other animals.
• Prey are the animals that are eaten by predators.

Lesson 7: Aquatic Adaptations

• Bioluminescent animals have cells that produce light.
• Filter feeders eat by straining suspended food particles from the water.
• Amphibians are cold-blooded animals that spend part of their life in water.

Lesson 8: Adapting to Humans

• Extinct animals are those that are no longer found living on earth.
• Endangered species are those that are at risk of becoming extinct.

Final Project: A New Species

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