Adaptations. Laboratory work 4

The aim of the laboratory work is to identify adaptive traits in the structure of a bird (air), a fish (water) and a tortoise (land, desert). Equipment: a caged bird or a set of bird feathers shown by the teacher, fish in an aquarium (or pictures), a tortoise (in the living corner or a picture), a magnifier and a notebook. Safety and conduct: observe live animals only when the teacher shows them, without disturbing them, without tapping glass or cages; do not feed them yourself; handle an animal only with an adult’s help and wash your hands with soap afterwards (birds, tortoises and aquarium water can carry bacteria). Procedure: 1) look at the bird’s outer structure: body shape (streamlined), feathers (contour and down), wing, tail, beak; 2) from your zoology knowledge, write internal traits: light hollow bones, keel on the breastbone, four-chambered heart, lungs with air sacs, toothless beak; 3) in the fish: body shape, scales and mucus, fins, lateral line, gills; 4) in the tortoise: carapace (shield), horny covering, thick limbs, water saving, daily behaviour; 5) fill in a table for each group: trait – which function it serves; 6) write an example of the relativity of adaptation (penguin and ostrich cannot fly, a fish dies out of water). Conclusion: structure and function are adapted to the environment, but an adaptation is useful only in its own conditions.