• Lion Country Safari Animal Adaptations Program I
  Designed for grades 4-5
  
• Lion Country Safari Animal Adaptations Program II
  Designed for grades 6-8

Lion Country Safari Animal Adaptations Program I

Purpose:
To expand students' knowledge of animal features and behaviors that can help or hinder their survival in a particular habitat.

Program length: 30-45 minutes

Background:
Animals come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. They live in different habitats around the world. Over time, they have developed special body parts and special behaviors that help them survive in their habitat. Each animal has adapted to the conditions of their habitat and has developed ways to use the available resources.  These changes are called adaptations. An adaptation is an inherited characteristic. It is not developed over an animal's lifetime but over generations. Adaptations may be physical, behavioral, or physiological. The high hind legs of a cheetah are a physical adaptation. The annual migration of the monarch butterfly is a behavioral adaptation; while a chameleon, changing its skin color for camouflage, displays a physiological adaptation. This program uses live animals and hands-on activities to reinforce the students' understanding of how animals' adaptations help them to survive in the wild.

This program meets the following Sunshine State Standards:
SC.5.L.15.1, SC.5.L.17.1

Pre-Visit Activity:
Adaptations I Activity 1
This activity is designed to introduce students to some of Lion Country Safari's animals and their adaptations. Answers: Amazon parrot, giraffe, Solomon Island prehensile-tailed skink, zebra, spider monkey, African crested porcupine.

Post-Visit Activity:
Adaptations I Activity 2
Print a copy of this chart for each student (or group of students, if you would prefer that they work on this as a group activity) and ask the students to complete it on their visit. When you get back to class, review their charts.

Purpose:
To expand students' knowledge of how environmental factors and genetic variations affect species' survival. 

Program length: 30-45 minutes

Background:
Animals come in various shapes, sizes, and colors. They live in different habitats around the world. Over time, they have developed special body parts and special behaviors that help them survive in their habitat. Each animal has adapted to the conditions of their habitat and has developed ways to use the available resources.  These changes are called adaptations. An adaptation is an inherited characteristic. It is not developed over an animal's lifetime but over generations. Adaptations may be physical, behavioral, or physiological. The high hind legs of a cheetah are a physical adaptation. The annual migration of the monarch butterfly is a behavioral adaptation; while a chameleon, changing its skin color for camouflage, displays a physiological adaptation. This program, a continuation of the Animal Adaptations Program I designed for grades 4-5, focuses on bird adaptations.

Pre-Visit Activity:
Adaptations II Activity 1
This activity is designed to introduce students to some adaptations of animals that they may see at Lion Country Safari. Use our website to find information about our animals prior to your visit. Answers: SW Birds: Amazon parrot, lory, flamingo, sarus crane, marabou stork; SW Reptiles: green iguana, alligator, prehensile-tailed skink, Burmese python, African spurred tortoise; SW Mammals: Hoffman's sloth, African crested porcupine, squirrel monkey, pot-bellied pig, siamang; Safari Mammals: zebra, giraffe, llama, aoudad (Barbary sheep), Nile lechwe; Safari Birds: pelican, ostrich, rhea, black vulture (native; not in our collection), and moorhen or gallinule (native; not in our collection).

Post-Visit Activity:
Adaptations II Activity 2
Print a copy of this chart for each student (or group of students, if you would prefer that they work on this as a group activity) and ask the students to complete it on their visit. When you get back to class, review their charts.