Critter Creatures, A Study Of Animal Adaptations

By Susan Coney

Sixth grade students in Todd Stentiford’s class at Reed Intermediate School just completed a project that required them to use critical thinking as well as a hefty dose of creativity.

Mr Stentiford, who teaches science at Reed, challenged the students to research how animal adaptations have evolved through time. The children learned that physical adaptations of an animal, which develop over many generations, help that species of animal to survive.

The students were to brainstorm and come up with a species of animal that has adapted into a superior version of an animal or from a combination of two animals. In addition, they were to research and write up a report explaining why the animal mutated in that way. The research and written report were completed at school, while the artistic rendering of the critter creatures where part of a homework assignment.

Ryan Washburn came up with the idea of a dracaton, a combination of a dragon and a cat. He said “My animal developed because of a nuclear melt down. My two favorite animals are dragons and cats. Cats are my favorite real animals and dragons are my favorite mythological animal. I like mythology and thought it would be fun to combine the two.” Ryan’s dracaton had claws and a tail like a cat and the head and wings of a dragon.

Ryan continued saying, “What I liked about the project is that I could create my own completely different creature. I liked that I got to add my creativity and pretty much do what I wanted.”

Kyra Middeleer created an amiplio exinde, which she explained is the Latin term for a giant mosquito. Kyra’s scenario explained that global warming caused all the ice in the world to melt, making ocean waters rise and creating a tropical climate throughout the world, causing a much larger, more fierce mosquito species to evolve.

Kyra said, “The project was fun. You had to change an animal but you had to think up a realistic reason for how it could happen. It took a lot of thought but still allowed you to be creative.”

Rhea Schneider made a clay sculpture of a water fox. She stated that a meteor hit the earth, causing the land masses to shift and pushing North America up into the North Pole. From those conditions a water fox evolved making it capable of swimming in areas of water between the disjointed land. Rhea commented, “I liked the project because it gave us an opportunity to be imaginative.”

Upon completion of the projects the students displayed their models around the classroom along with the reports. In a silent museum fashion, classmates read the reports, examined the sculptures, and, on a feedback sheet placed in front of each creature, wrote any comments or suggestions.