Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.B.2.1.5
Grade 08 Science - EC: S8.B.2.1.5
Continuum of Activities
The list below represents a continuum of activities: resources categorized by Standard/Eligible Content that teachers may use to move students toward proficiency. Using LEA curriculum and available materials and resources, teachers can customize the activity statements/questions for classroom use.
This continuum of activities offers:
- Instructional activities designed to be integrated into planned lessons
- Questions/activities that grow in complexity
- Opportunities for differentiation for each student’s level of performance
Grade Levels
8th Grade
Course, Subject
Science
Related Academic Standards / Eligible Content
Activities
- Define adaptation.
- Define inheritance.
- Why do adaptations develop?
- Discuss whether adaptations are intentional or naturally occurring. Why?
- Does an adaptation have to occur in an individual or a population for it to become permanent?
- Discuss how adaptations are passed from one generation to another in a species.
- How are adaptations relevant to the theory of evolution?
Answer Key/Rubric
- Adaptations are behaviors or physical attributes that help animals adjust to their surroundings and thrive.
- Inheritance involves the passing on of genetically encrypted traits from a parent to an offspring.
- Adaptations develop to help species survive in their environment over a long period of time. When a species has structures or behaviors that threaten survival, a species must adapt to its changing environment to live on. Many adaptations result from mutations.
- Adaptations are naturally occurring. An organism does not choose to adapt, as it is a result from change in its environment in an attempt to impact its chance of survival.
- Adaptations have to occur in a population. Although individuals may need to make changes to adapt, that adaptation will not affect the species as a whole.
- Adaptations help animals survive. When adaptations are a mutation, they become part of the species’ genetics. Thereafter, the trait is passed from generation to generation in a species.
- Evolution is the theory that over time, species have inherited traits which help organisms adapt to their environment and survive. Evolution is the result of adaptation because in order to survive, species must adapt to their environment, altering their physical and/or behavioral traits.
