The Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney

What are adaptations?

An adaptation is an evolved trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment. To decide whether a characteristic is an adaptation or not, we need to study the environment that the organism lives in because the environment influences the way organisms evolve.

Lizard adoptation

Adaptations can take many forms

Things an animal does to survive

Example: The mail Satin Bowerbird creates a nest decorated with blue ornaments to show females that he is a superior mate!

Bird in her nest

Physical features that allow an organism to survive

Example: This stick insect looks like leaves and sticks to belnd in with its environment so it cannot be found by predators.

stick insect close up

Internal and/or cellular features of an organism that enable them to survive.

Example: Red-bellied black snakes produce venom to ward off predators and capture prey.

snake close up

Watch the video below showcasing examples of extreme adaptations.

As you watch the video, record the name of five adaptations you found interesting, and classify them as either behavioural, structural, or physiological. Write a brief description of the advantages this offers the organisms.

Exploring environments

Plants and animals inhabit many challenging environments and have unique adaptations to survive such conditions.  

Imagine you found yourself in one of the environments below. Write a short paragraph describing the conditions of that place, and how you feel. Are you equipped to deal with these conditions?

Activity: Write a paragraph about the conditions of each environment shown in the gallery. 

  • Rainforest
  • Desert
  • Alpine
  • Marine
  • Woodland
  • Grassland

 

  • Rainforest
    Rainforest
  • Desert
    Desert
  • Alpine
    Alpine
  • Marine
    Marine
  • Woodland
    Woodland
  • Grassland
    Grassland

Extension (for Year 10 and 11 students)

So how do animals and plants get their adaptations in the first place?

The answer lies in Natural Selection…

girl and boy illustrator

We are all unique – humans have different eye colours, hair, skin, heights, and shapes.

In nature, plants and animals also are unique. But when the environment changes, the plants and animals that have traits which allow them to better survive are the ones that will successfully reproduce and pass on the features that helped them survive. This is called ‘Natural Selection’. As this process continues over many generations, organisms come to have traits that make them very well suited to their environments. These traits are what we call ‘adaptations’.

Paper Daisies

An example of genetic diversity within a species is shown here: these are all the same type of flower, Paper Daisies, but they can be different colours!

Natural selection: The Rock Pocket Mouse

An example of recent adaptations forming over a short period of time is the story of the Rock Pocket Mouse found in the American Southwest desert. This species is normally sand-coloured, camouflaging with their dry, rocky habitat. However, lava flows from a volcanic eruption changed the colour of the earth to a dark brown. In these areas, sandy coloured mice stood out, allowing predators such as owls, snakes and coyotes to find and hunt them much easier. Through genetic variation, some mice are born with darker fur. Sandy coloured mice were preyed on more than darker coloured mice who had a greater chance of survival and reproduction. This led to the population being now mostly brown, matching the volcanic dark earth.

The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation (Rock Pocket Mouse)

Further activities and resources

  1. Surveying local adaptations
    • Survey for plant adaptations in your school. 
    • Survey for bird adaptations in your school. 
  2. How do scientists observe behavioural adaptations?
    • An ethogram is a catalogue or table of all the different kinds of behaviour or activity observed in an animal. Survey the behavioural adaptations of local birds using your own ethogram.
  3. Calling out!
    • Model the importance of mating calls as a behavioural adaptation by mimicking frog calls.
  4. Model natural selection
    • Model the development of adaptations in this Red Lolly Frogs practical activity.
  5. Battle of the beaks
    • Research the evolution of specialised bird beaks and model the adaptive advantage of each beak.