Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

Science lesson plan · 8th grade (Year 9 in England) · 45 minutes

Structural, behavioural and functional adaptations

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.MS-LS4-4CCSS NGSS.HS-LS4-4England: GCSE Combined Science: Ecology (adaptations)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Structural, behavioural and functional adaptations.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Adaptations to habitats

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Adaptations to habitats). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Why do ducks have webbed feet? (to keep their feet warm / to dig burrows / to push through water when swimming / to grip branches) → to push through water when swimmingPrompt: Webbed feet work like flippers.
  2. Adaptations: which statement is true? (A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Animals choose to grow adaptations when they need them. / An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive in its habitat. / Every animal can live in every habitat.) → An adaptation is a feature that helps a living thing survive in its habitat.Prompt: Adaptations take many generations to appear.
  3. Adaptations: which statement is NOT true? (Fish have gills to take oxygen from water. / A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched. / Cactus spines help reduce water loss and protect it from animals. / Some animals use camouflage to hide from predators.) → A giraffe's neck grew longer because its parents stretched.Prompt: Can an animal decide to change its body for its babies?

Hook · 5 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Structural, behavioural and functional adaptations. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: What type of adaptation is this: a camel producing very little urine?
  • Step 1: Functional adaptations are processes inside the body.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: functional (body processes)
  • Answer: functional (body processes)
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. What type of adaptation is this: a fennec fox's very large ears? (structural (body shape or parts) / behavioural (what it does) / functional (body processes)) → structural (body shape or parts)Prompt: Is it a body part, an action, or a process inside the body?
  2. Why do many desert plants open their stomata only at night? (To reduce water loss when it is cooler / To catch insects / Because they photosynthesise at night / To keep warm) → To reduce water loss when it is coolerPrompt: Water evaporates faster in the hot day.

You do: independent practice · 10 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Organisms living in extreme places, such as deep-sea vents, are called… (decomposers / extremophiles / invasive species / carnivores) → extremophilesPrompt: The name means "loving extremes".
  2. What type of adaptation is this: a hedgehog hibernating? (structural (body shape or parts) / behavioural (what it does) / functional (body processes)) → behavioural (what it does)Prompt: Is it a body part, an action, or a process inside the body?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Adaptations to habitats.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-8.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Structural, behavioural and functional adaptations

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    What type of adaptation is this: swallows migrating to warmer places in winter?

    • A. structural (body shape or parts)
    • B. behavioural (what it does)
    • C. functional (body processes)

  2. Question 2

    Organisms living in extreme places, such as deep-sea vents, are called…

    • A. decomposers
    • B. carnivores
    • C. extremophiles
    • D. invasive species

  3. Question 3

    Adaptations: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Adaptations are inherited features that help an organism survive.
    • B. Thick blubber is a structural adaptation of seals.
    • C. Migration is a structural adaptation.
    • D. Some bacteria are adapted to live in boiling hot springs.

  4. Question 4

    What type of adaptation is this: a snake making venom?

    • A. structural (body shape or parts)
    • B. behavioural (what it does)
    • C. functional (body processes)

  5. Question 5

    What type of adaptation is this: a polar bear's thick fur and fat layer?

    • A. structural (body shape or parts)
    • B. behavioural (what it does)
    • C. functional (body processes)

  6. Question 6

    What type of adaptation is this: meerkats taking turns as lookouts?

    • A. structural (body shape or parts)
    • B. behavioural (what it does)
    • C. functional (body processes)

  7. Question 7

    Why do many desert plants open their stomata only at night?

    • A. Because they photosynthesise at night
    • B. To catch insects
    • C. To reduce water loss when it is cooler
    • D. To keep warm

  8. Question 8

    What type of adaptation is this: a hedgehog hibernating?

    • A. structural (body shape or parts)
    • B. behavioural (what it does)
    • C. functional (body processes)

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Structural, behavioural and functional adaptations

  1. 1. B. behavioural (what it does)

  2. 2. C. extremophiles

  3. 3. C. Migration is a structural adaptation.

  4. 4. C. functional (body processes)

  5. 5. A. structural (body shape or parts)

  6. 6. B. behavioural (what it does)

  7. 7. C. To reduce water loss when it is cooler

  8. 8. B. behavioural (what it does)