Unit: Habitats and Communities
WebQuest - Structural Adaptations in Plants and Animals
Plants and animals have parts of their bodies that have adapted to live in a specific environment. Today, we will explore some of the adaptations plants and animals have, which will allow them to survive in their habitat.
Types of Adaptations in Different Habitats:
Habitat: A place that provides the needs for survival to all living things.
Some examples of habitats might be:
Some examples of habitats might be:
All living organisms need: air, water, food, shelter, space, and warmth (sunlight) to stay alive. These habitats; tree, den, and a carpet provides for living things.
- Tree can be a habitat to birds, squirrels and other animals.
- Den can be a habitat for wolves, badgers, and other rodents.
- Carpet can be a habitat for smaller living organisms, such as bacteria and dust mites.
Trophic Levels
Living organisms are broken up into levels:
1) Producers - they produce their OWN food. These are plants - they produce fruits etc. They produce their own energy
2) Consumers - they CAN NOT produce their own food. They get their energy from eating. These are usually animals.
3) Decomposers - they break down decaying organisms and return the nutrients back to the producers. These are usually bacteria and fungi.
Here is an image that explains everything:
1) Producers - they produce their OWN food. These are plants - they produce fruits etc. They produce their own energy
2) Consumers - they CAN NOT produce their own food. They get their energy from eating. These are usually animals.
3) Decomposers - they break down decaying organisms and return the nutrients back to the producers. These are usually bacteria and fungi.
Here is an image that explains everything:
Food Chain Members
Herbivores - Plant eaters. Only eat plants. Ex. rabbits.
Omnivores - Plant and meat eaters. Ex. bears.
Carnivores - ONLY meat eaters. Eat ONLY meat. Ex. cat.
Omnivores - Plant and meat eaters. Ex. bears.
Carnivores - ONLY meat eaters. Eat ONLY meat. Ex. cat.
Unit: Pulley and Gears
Unit: Light and Sound
Principles (Properties) of Light
- Light travels in a straight line
- Light can be reflected
- Light can be absorbed
- Light can be refracted (bend)
Principles (Properties) of Sound
- Sound travels.
- Sound can be absorbed.
- Sound can be reflected.
- Sound can be modified.
- Sound is caused by vibrations.
Unit: Rocks and Minerals
Minerals
Minerals: A substance found in nature and has one substance only. It can be identified through many different tests, we will use 6 different tests to identify minerals in class.
Here are the tests used to identify minerals
1. Colour: Minerals come in many colours. But sometimes, this does not always work because some minerals can be very similar in colour.
3) Lustre: This is the reflection of light from the surface of a mineral. If it is shiny, it has a metallic lustre. If it is not shiny, it has a non-metallic lustre. But, there can be some non-metallic lustre that are sparkly (diamonds), glassy (broken edge of a glass) that looks metallic, but are not!!
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4) Hardness: The hardness of a nail can be an important clue to its identity. Friedrich Mohs, designed a scale that measures the hardness of a mineral by scratching it.
1 = soft mineral – Example: sulphur (scratched by a fingernail) 5 = medium hardness – Example: quartz (scratched by a steel nail) 10 = hardest mineral – Example: diamond (nothing scratches it) |
5) Magnetism: Some minerals are attracted to magnets. If a magnet is pulled towards the mineral, it is magnetic
6) Transparency: Some minerals can be see-through. Those minerals are transparent.
There are three types of rocks:
Igneous Rock: Form when hot, liquid rock from deep below the earth's surface rises (possibly through a volcanic eruption) and cools to form new rocks.
Igneous Rock: Form when hot, liquid rock from deep below the earth's surface rises (possibly through a volcanic eruption) and cools to form new rocks.
Sedimentary Rock: Form when layers of minerals are pressed and compacted together because of the pressure from water. Occurs in oceans, rivers, lakes. It has fossils.
Metamorphic Rock: When igneous and sedimentary rocks change because of heat and pressure. Has some fossils.