Authentic Performance Activities facilitate a student’s understanding of a lesson’s usefulness in real life. They are also an Understanding by Design (UbD) assessment tool. Focus questions act as pre- and post-assessment indicators of the activity’s effectiveness.
Focus Questions:
1. Why do we learn about adaptation?
2. Can you think of any other jobs where knowing about adaptations might be helpful?
3. Can you think of any ways where knowing about adaptations could affect your home and property (flower and vegetable garden)?
Authentic Performance
You are an inventor working for the defense department and decide that you might learn some things from how animals defend themselves in nature. How might looking at the adaptations of the following animals help you think of ideas to protect soldiers or people in every day life? Look at the adaptations of the armadillo, skunk, hedgehog, kangaroo rat, and walking stick. Use the Adaptations database on Exploringnature.org to find the information about these 5 animals and their adaptations.
