A polar bear has thick fur and a layer of fat. A camel can go days without drinking. Each is built for the place it lives.
Key idea
An adaptation is a body part or a behavior that helps a living thing survive and have young where it lives.
| Living thing | Adaptation | How it helps |
|---|---|---|
| Duck | webbed feet | paddling in water |
| Cactus | spines, thick waxy stem | saves water, keeps animals off |
| Owl | big eyes, silent feathers | hunting at night |
| Arctic fox | white winter fur | hiding in the snow |
| Camel | hump of fat, long eyelashes | stored energy, keeps sand out |
| Geese | flying south in fall | finding food in winter |
Some adaptations are behaviors: bears hibernate, birds migrate, possums play dead. Camouflage (colors that hide) and mimicry (looking like something dangerous) are adaptations too.
Worked example: Which fits?
An animal has a long sticky tongue and strong claws for digging. What might it eat?
- Claws dig into nests; a sticky tongue picks up tiny things.
Answer: Ants or termites (it is an anteater).
Common mistake
Thinking an animal grows an adaptation because it wants or needs it. A giraffe does not stretch its neck longer by trying. Adaptations are passed down from parents to young over many, many generations.
Try it at home
- Watch birds at a feeder or in a park. Look at their beaks: short and thick, long and thin, hooked?
- Guess what each eats. (Thick beaks crack seeds; thin ones probe for insects and nectar.)
Going further. Structural Adaptations in Life Science, and the young readers' path of Darwin: The Origin of Species.